{"id":4781,"date":"2015-08-05T04:47:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T04:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blog.sdps-bbs.com\/?p=4781"},"modified":"2025-07-29T15:45:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T19:45:58","slug":"indiana-dnr-looking-for-volunteers-to-monitor-spreading-of-aquatic-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/indiana-dnr-looking-for-volunteers-to-monitor-spreading-of-aquatic-species\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana DNR Looking For Volunteers to Monitor Spreading of Aquatic Species"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Purdue

Photo credit: Tom Campbell<\/p><\/div>\n

As boats enter and exit public bodies of water, they risk transferring aquatic plants, mussels or invertebrates that attach themselves to the bottom of the boat. While this might seem pretty harmless at first, this spreading of aquatic species runs the risk of introducing\u00a0invasive species into new environments.<\/p>\n

Invasive species cause harm to local ecosystems by reproducing exponentially when they are outside of their usual habitat and the organisms that keep their populations in check. They can then cause great damage by feeding on local species and the food they depend on. Once an invasive species is detected, it is oftentimes very expensive and difficult to control. For example, around 1991,\u00a0the U.S. and Canada spent\u00a0an estimated $20 million per year to control invasive sea lampreys and restore the trout populations that were damaged by them. In Indiana alone, we spend around $800,000 a year to attempt to control the growth of Eurasian watermilfoil, another nuisance invasive species.<\/p>\n

In an attempt to avoid more cases like this in the future, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a> (INDNR) is looking for help. Volunteers can sign up to record information about boats and their potential aquatic hitchhikers\u00a0entering and leaving lakes during times of heavy use. The DNR Division of Fish and\u00a0Wildlife<\/a> can take this data and use it for public outreach and planning species management.<\/p>\n

Those interested are highly encouraged to sign up on INDNR’s Volunteer Program page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Resources<\/b>
\nAquatic Invasive Species (AIS)<\/a>,\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources
\nDNR Seeks Help Gathering Info on Spread of Aquatic Species<\/a>, WFYI
\nIndiana Invasive Species Council<\/a>,\u00a0Purdue Entomology Extension
\nInvasive Plants<\/a>,\u00a0Purdue Agriculture Weed Science
\nThe Education Store<\/a>, Purdue Extension Resource Center (search “invasive”)<\/p>\n

Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As boats enter and exit public bodies of water, they risk transferring aquatic plants, mussels or invertebrates that attach themselves to the bottom of the boat. While this might seem pretty harmless at first, this spreading of aquatic species runs the risk of introducing\u00a0invasive species into new environments. Invasive species cause harm to local ecosystems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,46,48,49,51],"tags":[57,64,66,67,69],"class_list":["post-4781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aquaculturefish","category-invasiveanimalspecies","category-invasiveplantspecies","category-plants","category-ponds","tag-aquaculturefish","tag-invasive-animal-species","tag-invasive-plant-species","tag-plants","tag-ponds","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4781"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33670,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4781\/revisions\/33670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}