"Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!" Temporary Tattoos

The Illinois Natural History Survey Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Team has added four Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers! Temporary Tattoos to their products page. These tattoos are a fun way to teach children about the spread of aquatic invasive species and their impact on local habitats.

If you’re interested in ordering some these Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers! Temporary Tattoos, please visit the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant products webpage. There are four different aquatic invasive species to choose from: Asian carp, Eurasian Watermilfoil, Fishhook Waterflea, and the Zebra Mussel. Individual species may be ordered in packs of 100 or opt for a combination pack including all four species (25 each species).

The Illinois Natural History Survey's Aquatic Invasive Species outreach team is part of the Lake Michigan Biological Station in Zion, Illinois and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. 

INHS brings AIS message to high school fishing tournament

While parents, coaches, and friends gathered around to watch high school anglers show off their catch from a fishing tournament held early this week, INHS’s Sarah Zack was onsite to introduce competitors and on-lookers to simple practices that can prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS). Hosted by the Illini Bass Fishing Club, the event brought high school clubs from across Illinois to Clinton Lake on April 7 to see who could catch the most and the biggest bass. The tournament, one of few held at the high school level each year, gave INHS’s AIS outreach team an important opportunity to talk with young anglers about the threat of AIS to local waterways.   

“Talking with the kids now plants that seed for future years,” said Brian Bevill, coach of the Illini Bluffs High School Bass Fishing Club.

During the few hours that INHS was onsite at Clinton Lake, Sarah talked with dozens of anglers and boaters from across Illinois. Frequent announcements from the tournament emcee also reminded the audience of the negative impact AIS can have on the health of aquatic environments. Many of the people who visited the INHS booth had heard about Asian carp. But fewer people knew about the need to REMOVE, DRAIN, and DRY all equipment after a day on the water. Most were also interested in learning about a new Illinois law that makes it illegal to drive with plants or mud still clinging to boats and trailers.

This High School Open is one of many fishing tournaments INHS’s AIS outreach team plans to attend this year in both Illinois and Indiana. This season especially, the team hopes to reach out to more amateur and semi-professional anglers with information about how they can prevent the spread of invasive species.

“These anglers want to make sure they’re doing their part to prevent the spread of AIS because they know that is an important part of preserving the sport of fishing for the future,” said Sarah. “It is encouraging that the message is being embraced. I was especially excited to work with the Illini Bass Fishing Club because of their commitment to AIS prevention.”

Sunday’s tournament was the second High School Open hosted by the Illini Bass Fishing Club in as many years.

“We started this because we wanted to show kids in high school that if they care about fishing enough, and work hard enough, they can take it somewhere,” said Luke Stoner, executive administrator for the club. “What we really like to see, are smiling faces and big old bass.”

This year, 134 students fought to catch the most and the biggest fish. For many of the teams, the tournament marked their first day on the water this year. But after months of casting practice and learning how to “flip and pitch” the lure to trick the bass into biting, the student anglers were prepared. Three teams brought in bags of fish weighing more than 17 lbs, and three fish came in at over 6 lbs. Their successes at this event will help students qualify to compete in sectional and state competitions slated for later this year.  

“The competition in fishing is unlike any other sport,” said Kyle Sweet, a senior at Illini Bluffs High School in Glasford, IL. “In football, for example, you only play one other team at a time. Here we are competing with 67 teams and the fish at the same time.”

For more information about how to prevent the spread of AIS, visit the website. And watch for a new public service announcement this June with how-to information on basic steps to take before leaving a marina or boat ramp.

Flirty Spring Frogs

It’s spring sometime around dusk, and as you walk near a pond you hear clucking sounds and peeps. You wonder, what’s making those noises? An insect? A bird? Though those are good guesses, chances are what you’re actually hearing is a frog. After the first warm rains in early spring the male frogs are out, filling the air with their amorous calls in hopes of becoming at least one female’s prince charming.


1. Who’s Who  |  Upon approaching the pond, you get a quick glimpse of a frog before it disappears with a splash of water. But which species was it? In Illinois, wood frogs, spring peepers, and western chorus frogs are some of the most common spring-breeding species. They can be identified by just a few distinguishing characteristics:

• Wood frogs are generally tan to reddish-brown and have a dark mask on each side of their face, which obscures the lower half of their eyes.
• Spring peepers have a dark colored “X” on their backs, a narrow dark colored stripe between their eyes, and large toe pads. (Fun Fact: Spring peepers can alter their skin color to camouflage with their environment!)
• Western chorus frogs have a white stripe on their upper jaw, three thin, dark colored stripes down their back, and small toe pads.

2. Frozen But Not Finished  |  Just a week or two previous to these mild, spring days, temperatures were well below freezing, as evidenced by the chunks of ice that still litter the pond banks. To humans and other endotherms, the freezing temperatures are not much more than a sign of the season because we can regulate our body temperature via internal metabolic processes. Amphibians, however, are ectothermic such that their internal temperature is entirely determined by the temperature of their environment. Consequently, many amphibians hibernate under cover (e.g., leaf litter, logs, bark) over the cold, winter months to maximize their chance at survival. Some frogs, like wood frogs, spring peepers and western chorus frogs are much more tolerant of below-freezing temperatures than other species. In fact, they themselves are able to freeze and then thaw out when the temperature rises above a certain threshold. After a brief recovery phase, these frogs are able to migrate toward breeding ponds, and begin their chorus. Wood frogs, the most cold tolerant of the three species, have been shown to survive freezing 65% of their body for up to 2 weeks without death or permanent damage. This isn’t surprising as wood frogs are one of the few amphibians that live north of the Arctic Circle.


3. A Flirty Chorus  |  As evening progresses, the initial chorus of clucks and peeps grows louder until it is almost deafening. Although wood frogs, spring peepers, and western chorus frogs are tiny (they only reach maximum lengths of 6 cm, 3.5 cm, and 4 cm, respectively,) the cumulative volume of their calls can be great. Each frog species exhibits its own unique call or assortment of calls. For instance, male wood frogs’ mating call consists of five to six clucks. If a male successfully attracts a female, they will dive to the pond bottom where she will lay her eggs while he holds onto her (amplexus.) Afterwards, the male fertilizes the eggs and releases the female. In some cases “mating balls” will form, when several aggressive males grasp a single female. Unfortunately, this often results in the death of the over-desired female. In addition to its mating call, male wood frogs sometimes utter a release call if they are grabbed by another male. This happens occasionally, as wood frogs are unable to differentiate males from females. The mating call of spring peepers, as their common name suggests, is an ascending “peeeep,” that is repeated about 15 to 25 times per minute. Western chorus frogs have the most bizarre sounding call of the three species, as it has often been likened to the sound created by running your finger down the length of a comb.


To see wood frogs, spring peepers, and western chorus frogs in action, watch the video “The Early Frogs Get the Best Spots!”  


Written by Danielle M. Ruffatto

Skunk Cabbage - Symplocarpus foetidus

To celebrate the first days of spring I thought it would be good to highlight one of the earliest spring bloomers, skunk cabbage! Here are 10 fun facts about this unique, native species:

1 Eastern skunk cabbage belongs to Araceae, the same plant family as calla lilies, flamingo flowers, and titan arums!

2 Where might you find this odd little plant? If you live in Illinois, it’s mostly distributed in the northeastern corner of the state, but can be found in some central-Illinois counties. Generally it grows in wet areas like swamps, seeps, deciduous woodlands, wet thickets, fens, and bogs.

3 To many, skunk cabbage resembles a little garden gnome! In technical terms, its "hood" is called a spathe, while the internal flower cluster is called a spadix.

4 Skunk cabbage flowers are perfect (have male and female parts,) but lack petals. They do, however, have flesh colored sepals. Each flower goes through a female phase where you can see its stigma, followed by a male phase where the bright yellow pollen is apparent.

5 True to its name, skunk cabbage does smell! Its flowers give off an odor like rotten meat to trick its main pollinators, flies, into visiting. However, other pollinators like bees can also be seen visiting skunk cabbage flowers and gathering their pollen. Watch this video to see skunk cabbage pollination in action!

6 In addition to its rotten scent, skunk cabbage attracts pollinators due to its warmth (its flower heads generate heat during respiration as they use oxygen to break down starch.) In some cases, the air inside the spathe can be up to 95 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the surrounding air temperature!

7 This neat plant blooms in late winter or early spring when there is often still snow on the ground. Due to the heat its flowers produce, skunk cabbage is actually able to melt the snow immediately around itself!

8 Each successfully pollinated flower in a skunk cabbage spadix produces a berry fruit. The berries are clustered very close together, hence the plant’s genus name, Symplocarpus, which comes from the Greek symploke meaning “a connection” and karpos meaning “fruit.” Don’t ever eat skunk cabbage berries though; they’re poisonous!

9 After blooming is complete, the leaves of skunk cabbage unroll and grow, often reaching heights of over 20 inches. The leaves are seldom eaten by herbivores because they contain calcium oxalate crystals; these crystals can cause death or permanent kidney and liver damage if eaten! However, some brave, very hungry herbivores like snapping turtles and black bears may eat the leaves after hibernating.

10 Want to get skunk cabbage seeds to germinate? Then make sure to keep them wet! Also, be sure to plant skunk cabbage in a partly sunny location where the soil is mucky and constantly wet! 

Clean Boats Crew Leaders Needed for 2013 Boating Season

The Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, and the University of Illinois are hiring Clean Boats Crew site leaders again this year in time for the 2013 summer boating season.

Clean Boats Crew site leaders will work in Lake and Cook Counties, IL, and Lake and Porter Counties, IN, educating the public about aquatic invasive species and how these species are unintentionally spread. Site Leaders will manage a team of volunteers and be supervised by a program coordinator.

These positions are an excellent opportunity to gain experience while being directly involved in education and outreach to an audience that will be crucial in helping prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.

The link above associated with the counties will take you to the specific position information for either Illinois or Indiana.  Applications are being accepted now until March 22.

Information about volunteer opportunities at these locations throughout the summer will be posted later this spring.

Find out more about the Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers Campaign and the Clean Boats Crew at our CBC page. 

Indianapolis Boat, Sport, and Travel Show

Indianapolis, IN

February 15-17, 2013

IISG AIS Outreach Team educates hundreds at the Indianapolis Boat, Sport, and Travel Show

Zebra Mussels

Danielle Hilbrich from the IISG aquatic invasive species (AIS) outreach team attended the Indianapolis Boat, Sport, and Travel Show at the Indiana State Fair Grounds in Indianapolis, IN on February 15-17.  Danielle teamed up with the Indiana DNR to host a booth and educate recreational water users on the dangers of AIS. Danielle talked with 850 people about AIS, and handed out hundreds of Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!™ stickers and brochures. Many show attendees were very aware of problems that the invasive species like Zebra Mussel, Eurasian Watermilfoil, and Hydrilla can cause on aquatic ecosystems, and regularly boat on lakes infested with these invaders.  Although one young show attendee called zebra mussel shells her “lake treasures,” we know that they are unwanted invaders!

Attendees were educated about the proper techniques to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.  AIS spread can be slowed by following just a few simple steps: INSPECT and REMOVE any aquatic plants or animals from boats and recreational equipment, DRAIN all water from equipment, DISPOSE of unwanted live bait or fish into the trash, DRY equipment thoroughly, and NEVER release organisms from one waterbody to another.  One show-goer was surprised to find out that dumping bait in the trash was a way to prevent the spread invasive species. Thankfully, Danielle was there to educate this angler!  
 

For more information on aquatic invasive species or the Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!™ campaign please visit IISG’s Stop Aquatic Hitchhiker’s page at http://iiseagrant.org/ais/SAH.html or www.protectyourwaters.net.

The Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant AIS outreach team is part of the Illinois Natural History Survey Lake Michigan Biological Station, and is housed at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, IL. 

Let’s Go Fishing Show

January 4-6, 2013

IISG’s AIS Outreach Team starts Out the New Year with a Bang! 

Sarah Zack and Danielle Hilbrich from the Illinois–Indiana Sea Grant’s AIS outreach team attended the Let’s Go Fishing show in Collinsville, IL on January 4-6.  Show attendees were educated about aquatic invasive species and how they can help prevent their spread.  They further discussed the topic of Asian carp and what locals could do to protect themselves while fishing and boating in infested waters.  In addition, Danielle and Sarah encouraged attendees that might accidently catch an Asian carp to cook it up and eat it!  Asian carp have white flakey flesh similar to cod and take up seasoning and marinades very well.  They are also very healthy for you and have as many omega3 as salmon.  The only problem is they can be a little tricky to fillet due to their Y-bones.  Watch Louisiana Sea Grant’s video sponsored by IISG on YouTube to learn how to fillet an Asian carp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1NVUV8yhmU.

During the course of the show Danielle Hilbrich and Sarah Zack talked with more than 830 individuals about aquatic invasive species.  The booth was very well received by both show attendees and show organizers. 

The booth was even featured on a 92.3 WIL which is a local St. Louis radio station.  Bo Matthews, the radio host, briefly talked with Sarah Zack about aquatic invasive species.  Listeners learned the steps that they can take to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species; Inspect and Remove aquatic plants and animals from boats or other recreation equipment, Drain water from boats, bilges, and live wells, Dispose of water or live bait, Dry boats and other recreational equipment for five days before going to another waterbody, and Never release organisms from one body of water into another.

The IISG AIS team will also be hosting booths at upcoming outdoor and fishing shows including the Illinois Fish and Feather show in Bloomington, IL on January 25-27, 2013, and the Tinley Park Fishing and Outdoor show in Tinley Park, IL on February 9-10, 2013.

For more information on aquatic invasive species or the Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!™ campaign please visit www.protectyourwaters.net.

The Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant AIS outreach team is part of the Illinois Natural History Survey, and the Lake Michigan Biological Station in Zion, IL.  The AIS outreach team is housed at the Chicago Botanic Garden.