Biology of Humans 4th Edition by Judith Goodenough,Betty McGuire

Exercise 11

Asian carp were introduced in 1963 to control underwater veg- etation on fish farms, initially in Arkansas. A flood in 1993 allowed Asian carp to escape from the fish farms into rivers and eventually into the Mississippi River system. By 2010, Asian carp had expanded their range and were threatening to invade the Great Lakes. Asian carp are very large fish that eat plank- ton, which many other fresh-water fish also consume.
a. Explain why the Asian carp population was able to increase extremely rapidly in a new environment.
b. Explain why scientists are concerned that Asian carp will reduce the population size of other freshwater fish, even though the carp do not eat these other fish.