Invisible invasive species are all around

Terra Daily: While Asian carp, gypsy moths and zebra mussels hog invasive-species [attention]…, many invisible invaders are altering ecosystems and flourishing outside of the limelight.A study by Elena Litchman, Michigan State University associate professor of ecology, sheds light on why invasive microbial invaders shouldn't be overlooked or underestimated.

"Invasive microbes have many of the same traits as their larger, 'macro' counterparts and have the potential to significantly impact terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems," said Litchman, whose research appears in the December issue of Ecology Letters. "Global change can exacerbate microbial invasions, so they will likely increase in the future."

The public and scientists seem to be well-informed of the spread of Asian carp, zebra mussels and gypsy moths - all invasive macroorganisms. But what about exotic cyanobacteria, also called "blue-green algae," which have found their way into North American and European lakes? Or a nitrogen-fixing rhizobium, a soil microorganism that has emigrated from Australia to Portugal?

In the Great Lakes, a brackish diatom (a microscopic alga), has colonized Lake Michigan probably via ballast-water discharge and is now the largest diatom in the waterways. How will it change the ecosystem? What changes has it caused already?...

Various diatoms, imaged by Rovag, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative CommonsAttribution 3.0 Unported license