Protect Your Shoreline With An Itasca Waters Shoreland Advisor

Invasive Freshwater Jellyfish (Craspedacusta sowerbii) - Why Are They Increasing So Fast and What Do They Do in Lakes? 

Presented by: Dr. Beatrix Beisner, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal. She has over 30 years of experience in limnology with expertise on lake ecology, plankton communities, spatial ecology, functional traits and biodiversity.

Many people have recently noticed small jellyfish floating around in summer in lakes. These are mostly a single invasive species known officially as Craspedacusta sowerbii or sometimes as the peach-blossom jellyfish. If you have seen them, you may think you are seeing things, but you probably aren’t. I will discuss some of the known history of this invasive species in North American lakes and why they are being noticed more often now. Scientists still have a lot to learn about these organisms, but we have some knowledge that I will discuss in this webinar. I will provide some insight into their life histories and ecology and how they might be affecting food webs in our lakes.