Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Invasive Adirondack smallmouth bass populations have responded to eradication efforts by rapidly evolving to grow faster and mature earlier, leading to a larger population of smaller fish in the region.
Smallmouth bass were introduced widely across the Adirondacks in the 1900s, where they flourished and competed with native fish species, such as brook and lake trout, for the same prey. Efforts to remove thousands of bass from a midsized Adirondack lake each year with the goal of triggering a rapid population crash were meant to eradicate the invasive smallmouth bass. Yet, after just a few years, researchers noticed their catch rates not decreasing, but increasing, as the population of young bass expanded.
Now, native brook and lake trout in the Adirondacks not only face the pressure of competing with bass for prey but also face threats from warming surface waters and depleted oxygen at the lake bottom where the fish retreat to over the summer.
A Northeast CASC-supported study on smallmouth bass eradication efforts in the Adirondack demonstrates the value of long-term studies of management efforts to increase scientists' understanding of evolutionary responses to management actions.
Learn more about the study in the Northeast CASC news story ""Evolution in Fast Forward": Novel NE CASC Study Yields Surprising Findings Regarding Invasive Fish Management" and the Cornell Chronicle news story "Invasive Adirondack smallmouth bass evolve to counter control efforts."
Decades of invasive smallmouth bass removal from the Adirondacks resulted in a novel discovery of rapid evolution. Despite the absence of a clear physiological adaptation pathway, intensive manual removal produced a larger population of the invasive predatory fish, growing faster and maturing earlier.
Decades of invasive smallmouth bass removal from the Adirondacks resulted in a novel discovery of rapid evolution. Despite the absence of a clear physiological adaptation pathway, intensive manual removal produced a larger population of the invasive predatory fish, growing faster and maturing earlier.
Decades of invasive smallmouth bass removal from the Adirondacks resulted in a novel discovery of rapid evolution. Despite the absence of a clear physiological adaptation pathway, intensive manual removal produced a larger population of the invasive predatory fish, growing faster and maturing earlier.
Decades of invasive smallmouth bass removal from the Adirondacks resulted in a novel discovery of rapid evolution. Despite the absence of a clear physiological adaptation pathway, intensive manual removal produced a larger population of the invasive predatory fish, growing faster and maturing earlier.