Larger lakes are hit harder and longer by Dreissena invasion.
9 affiliations
- 1Great Lakes Center, SUNY Buffalo State University, Buffalo, NY 14222 USA.
- 2Department of Aquatic Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
- 3Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD USA.
- 4Cornell Biological Field Station at Shackelton Point, Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment, Cornell University, Bridgeport, NY 13030 USA.
- 5Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55811 USA.
- 6Department FA Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
- 7International Commission for the Protection of the Waters of Lake Geneva (CIPEL), Geneva, Switzerland.
- 8Department of Community and Ecosystem Ecology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), 12587 Berlin, Germany.
- 9Biology Department, Oneonta Biological Field Station, SUNY at Oneonta, Oneonta, NY USA.
Abstract
Invasive quagga mussels are swiftly spreading across Europe and North America, causing major ecological and economic impacts even in lakes already invaded by zebra mussels. A key challenge is to understand the magnitude and timing of mussel impacts across a wide range of freshwater ecosystems, to predict potential impacts on uninvaded systems. We assembled high-resolution data sets spanning 18 North American and European invaded lakes and five key ecosystem variables (Secchi depth, phosphorus and chlorophyll concentration, phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass). We then address the questions: How have the pace and magnitude of dreissenid impacts varied with lake morphometry (area, depth, volume)? How have impacts differed between polymictic and stratified lakes? Which lakes have exhibited recovery following zebra and quagga mussel invasions? We found that impacts manifest earlier in polymictic than in stratified lakes. After the initial impacts, lakes invaded by zebra mussels usually exhibited signs of partial ecosystem recovery, which was interrupted in lakes that experienced a secondary invasion by quagga mussels. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, mussel populations reached maximum biomass later, and ecosystem impacts manifested more slowly but culminated at a higher overall impact level. Furthermore, no ecosystem recovery in the Great Lakes has been observed to date, even 30 years after mussel invasions, though recovery may be delayed in large lakes. Our results indicated that lake size is more important than other parameters in determining Dreissena impact, and findings from smaller inland lakes cannot be directly applied to larger systems (e.g., the Great Lakes) and vice versa.Supplementary information
The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-026-03964-7.
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BibTeX
@article{karatayev2026larger,
title = {{Larger lakes are hit harder and longer by Dreissena invasion.}},
author = {Alexander Y Karatayev and Vadim A Karatayev and Lyubov E Burlakova and Lars G Rudstam and James M Watkins and Katya E Kovalenko and Alexander L Koeberle and Salomé E Boudet and Bas W Ibelings and Nikolai V Barulin and Nicole Gallina and Jonas Mauch and Alexandra A-T Weber and Holly Waterfield and Matthew Albright and Piet Spaak},
journal = {Biological invasions},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1007/s10530-026-03964-7},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927042},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Larger lakes are hit harder and longer by Dreissena invasion.
AU - Alexander Y Karatayev
AU - Vadim A Karatayev
AU - Lyubov E Burlakova
AU - Lars G Rudstam
AU - James M Watkins
AU - Katya E Kovalenko
AU - Alexander L Koeberle
AU - Salomé E Boudet
AU - Bas W Ibelings
AU - Nikolai V Barulin
AU - Nicole Gallina
AU - Jonas Mauch
AU - Alexandra A-T Weber
AU - Holly Waterfield
AU - Matthew Albright
AU - Piet Spaak
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Biological invasions
DO - 10.1007/s10530-026-03964-7
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927042
AB - Invasive quagga mussels are swiftly spreading across Europe and North America, causing major ecological and economic impacts even in lakes already invaded by zebra mussels. A key challenge is to understand the magnitude and timing of mussel impacts across a wide range of freshwater ecosystems, to predict potential impacts on uninvaded systems. We assembled high-resolution data sets spanning 18 North American and European invaded lakes and five key ecosystem variables (Secchi depth, phosphorus and chlorophyll concentration, phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass). We then address the questions: How have the pace and magnitude of dreissenid impacts varied with lake morphometry (area, depth, volume)? How have impacts differed between polymictic and stratified lakes? Which lakes have exhibited recovery following zebra and quagga mussel invasions? We found that impacts manifest earlier in polymictic than in stratified lakes. After the initial impacts, lakes invaded by zebra mussels usually exhibited signs of partial ecosystem recovery, which was interrupted in lakes that experienced a secondary invasion by quagga mussels. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, mussel populations reached maximum biomass later, and ecosystem impacts manifested more slowly but culminated at a higher overall impact level. Furthermore, no ecosystem recovery in the Great Lakes has been observed to date, even 30 years after mussel invasions, though recovery may be delayed in large lakes. Our results indicated that lake size is more important than other parameters in determining Dreissena impact, and findings from smaller inland lakes cannot be directly applied to larger systems (e.g., the Great Lakes) and vice versa.Supplementary information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-026-03964-7.
SN - 1387-3547
SN - 1573-1464
ER -