The eurasian ruffe, Gymnocephalus cernuus , has recently entered the community of North American fauna. Since then, it has proliferated and migrated, primarily along the south shore of the lake. It became part of the fish community of Chequamegon Bay, at Ashland, Wisconsin by 1993. Because the ruffe has extended its range to include Chequamegon Bay, our study area now includes two locations, which will enable us to conduct comparative studies. This research will involve studying similarities and differences between the responses of different ecosystems to invasion by an exotic fish, making comparisons between vulnerabilities and resistance to invasion, and studyingdifferences between the responses of individual species when present in different environments.
Opportunities exist to test current invasion theory, improve on it, or develop and test new ones.
Research approaches include detailed food web studies, species competition in using a food web and other essential elements of their environment, the reasons underlying the competitive edge of one species over another, niche dimensioning and resources partitioning, mechanisms of dispersal, and water quality factors as they influence species interaction and resource use. Our goal is to be more competent in predicting the fate of other ecosystems and their individual components, if invaded, and the likelihood of such invasions.