The US Geological Survey is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner to study Grass Carp reproduction in Lake Erie.

Grass Carp is a non-native obligate herbivore that consumes primarily rooted and attached aquatic vegetation, but can consume algae, some terrestrial vegetation, and

credit:

occasionally invertebrates.

At high abundances Grass Carp can consume large percentages of aquatic vegetation, and because they have strong preferences for some species over others can alter species distributions and relative abundances.

The potential for ecological damage in the Great Lakes is high if Grass Carp become established and produce large populations.