And here is one more feedback loop that your lake’s addiction to algaecides creates.

The research shows that beneficial native plants that you want to grow in your lake are more susceptible to copper poisoning. But invasive weeds are far more tolerant and resistant.

So the invasives have a competitive advantage that increases with every algaecide application.

Eurasian milfoil, one of the most aggressive invasive weeds in North American lakes, is not nearly as sensitive to copper as the native plants are.

This study showed that invasive milfoil are far more tolerant of heavy metal copper contamination than their native counterparts
The result? Survival of the fittest, most resistant again – you end up with a lake where the native plant community has been wiped out from copper toxicity, and tolerant Eurasian milfoil moves in and takes over, choking out other species, and making the lake unusable for swimming and boating.

It’s just like the cyanobacteria – you create conditions that the nuisance invaders can exploit – and they do – they take over before you know it, and before you realize that you have opened the door, invited them in, made them feel comfortable and nourished their growth with your algaecides!