Major
Physics
Anticipated Graduation Year
2021
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
The Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) connects the Mississippi River and Great Lakes Basins. An electric barrier system in the CAWS aims to deter the spread of bighead and silver carp. The barrier is not designed, nor has it been tested, for other invasive species including the amphipod Apocorophium lacustre (scud) and the crayfish Procambarus clarkii (red swamp crayfish). We built a lab-scale electric barrier to mimic the barrier in the CAWS and studied the effects of the electric field on scud and red swamp crayfish to investigate the efficacy of the barrier in deterring these species.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Robert Polak, Department of Physics; Reuben Keller, School of Environmental Sustainability; Rachel Egly, School of Environmental Sustainability
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Effectiveness of Electric Barriers in Preventing Spread of Invasive Invertebrates Apocorophium lacustre and Procambarus clarkii
The Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) connects the Mississippi River and Great Lakes Basins. An electric barrier system in the CAWS aims to deter the spread of bighead and silver carp. The barrier is not designed, nor has it been tested, for other invasive species including the amphipod Apocorophium lacustre (scud) and the crayfish Procambarus clarkii (red swamp crayfish). We built a lab-scale electric barrier to mimic the barrier in the CAWS and studied the effects of the electric field on scud and red swamp crayfish to investigate the efficacy of the barrier in deterring these species.