Lakes SOS

Lakes SOS is a field guide developed to help the public learn to correctly identify invasive plants, fish, mollusks, algae, reptiles and mammals in lakes, wetlands, rivers and streams. An email reporting feature is available to state and federal agencies, universities, lake and watershed associations and any nonprofit organizations collecting data from citizen scientists.

Learning to correctly identify these species and report them to the proper organizations can save the public, lake and watershed associations, as well as state and federal agencies years of headaches and costly control.

If the public is able to identify invasive species early (in their first year of growth or introduction), appropriate steps can be taken to remove and hopefully eradicate them. In many cases, it is too late, and lakes, ponds, wetlands, rivers and streams are infested by invasive plants, fish and mollusks. These waterbodies then lose wildlife habitat, recreation potential and aesthetic value. Fish kills as well as decreased property value becomes a real possibility when a lake is overrun by an invasive species.

Lakes SOS includes photos, descriptions and maps of many of the aquatic invasive species plaguing the United States and parts of Canada.

We welcome your suggestions and feedback about Lakes SOS. Please contact us using the Feedback email in the slide out menu if you have any questions.