June 17 at 4:00 or June 18 at 4:00
Tours of the Urban Stream Research Center
Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
How bacteria, algae, detritus, and pollutants are naturally filtered out of lakes and rivers.
Tour the Urban Stream Research Center at Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville with NEST on Tuesday June 17 or Wednesday June 18.
Mussels play a vital, irreplaceable role in the overall health of aquatic habitats. They act as filter feeders by taking in large amounts of water, filtering out bacteria, algae, detritus, and pollutants before passing clean water back into the lake or river. One small adult mussel can filter more than 20 gallons of water in one day. The five most imperiled and vulnerable species in the United States are all freshwater aquatic organisms, with freshwater mussels at the top of the list.
The tour provides a rare look at how ecologists are improving the region’s watersheds by expanding populations of mussels, crayfish, insects, and fish. Environmental interpreters lead the tour, showcasing lab equipment as well as the overall conservation efforts of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.
Since its first release in 2016, the District has propagated, reared, and released more than 27,000 sub-adult mussels of six species into watersheds of the DuPage River, Fox River, Lake Michigan, and the Des Plaines River to boost low natural populations.
The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County manages more than 1,000 acres of aquatic habitats, including lakes, wetlands, streams, and rivers flowing through DuPage forest preserves.
Please RSVP early, Space is limited.
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