sealPurdue News
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September 20, 1996

Sea Grant establishes Web site about exotic invaders

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Anyone requiring science-based information on zebra mussels and other nonindigenous species now can obtain it through the Internet from the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network.

The Sea Grant Zebra Mussel and Nonindigenous Species World Wide Web site contains a comprehensive collection of research publications and education materials produced by Sea Grant programs across the country.

The site can be accessed through the World Wide Web, Telnet, or directly through a modem. The address is: https://www.ansc.purdue.edu/sgnis/. A CD-ROM version soon will be available for those users who do not have Internet access. The site was developed as a Great Lakes Network effort by the Sea Grant Programs in Illinois-Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin and is housed at Purdue University's Department of Animal Science.

This site should be useful for industrial and municipal water users, shoreland property owners, boaters, resource management agencies, students, teachers, outreach professionals, and researchers.

Although currently focused on zebra mussels, the site also contains Sea Grant information on four other invaders -- the Eurasian ruffe, the round goby, sea lamprey and the spiny waterflea.

"People who are concerned about the influx of these exotic invaders into our waters and the effects they can have on the economy and environment now have a place to learn more about it," said Brian Miller, outreach coordinator for Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. "Hopefully that will lead to more individual actions taken to stop the spread of these nuisance species."

More than 150 research reports and 60 educational items are available at the site, including four newsletters, proceedings of past international conferences and a slide library. The site also provides a brief introduction and pictures of the exotics, for those who aren't familiar with them.

All entries, with the exception of conference proceedings and newsletters, have been peer-reviewed to ensure they are the highest quality science.

The site provides links to the National Biological Service's Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Geographic Information System, the Great Lakes Information Network, as well as to nonindigenous species home pages of individual Sea Grant programs.

More Sea Grant research and educational information on zebra mussels and other aquatic nonindigenous species will be added in the future.

CONTACT: Miller, (765) 494-3586; e-mail, Brian_Miller@acn.purdue.edu


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