A question on biology?

Question

Sometime in 1986, near Detroit, a freighter pumped out water ballast containing larvae of European zebra mussels. The molluscs have multiplied wildly, spreading through Lake Erie and entering Lake Ontario. In some places in the Great Lakes region, they have become so numerous that they have blocked the intake pipes of power plants and water treatment plants, fouled boat hulls, and sunk buoys. What makes this type of population explosion occur? What might happen to native organisms that suddenly must share the Great Lakes ecosystem with zebra mussels? Why is this a problem? How would you suggest trying to solve the mussel population problem?

Answer 1

This happens with all sorts of living creatures that are suddenly shifted into a different environment.  European zebra mussels probably normally live in one of 3 types of environments: 1 is an area with just very little nutrients in general, another is the presence of predators in the previous environment, and the other is that they are in an area with other animals that can effectively compete with them over nutrients.  As is the case often with weeds among plants, these mussels were then moved to another area, in which either the nutrients were more plentiful or the competition over them was less fierce.  Basically, these mussels had a better source of nutrients in either case, and they utilized it very quickly and better than competitors.  Other organisms in the area probably were reduced in population, though really only if they happen to require the same nutrients or are in some other way affected.  This can disrupt the ecosystem in the area, damaging other species.  The way to solve this is to introduce a predator or some sort that could wipe out this specific species and not necessarily others.