The invasive New Zealand mudsnail (NZM) was identified in the Musconetcong River in 2018, and marked the beginning of the MWA’s quest to track its distribution throughout the stream. The NZM poses a threat to river ecosystems due to its rapid asexual reproduction. Over the course of 3 years, one female snail has the potential to produce 40 million offspring. Without any natural predators keeping populations down, NZMs have the potential to rob native macroinvertebrates of

New research finds that biodiversity commitments will be key to freshwater protection A press release from: "Durable Protections for Free-Flowing Rivers" New science about the fate of freshwater ecosystems released today by the journal Sustainability, finds that only 17% of rivers globally are both free-flowing and within protected areas, leaving many of these highly-threatened systems – and the species that rely on them – at risk. “Populations of freshwater species have alre

A regular blog sharing a biology observation from my hike on the Musconetcong Wildlife Management Area trail in Asbury. -Tish Lascelle, MWA Board of Directors The best time of year to walk the Musky Trail is early spring. We had so much snow this winter that I hadn’t been using it much. Spring has the benefit of minimal bugs (especially ticks, which everyone says are already very bad this year) and great visibility, because the plants aren’t leafed out yet. It changes so fast