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LAND PATHWAYS AND VECTORS <br />__C land pathway includes highways, <br />roads, trails, and paths that could be <br />used to transport zebra mussels. The <br />primary means of long distance <br />I overland dispersal of zebra mussels has <br />been by transport on small boats on <br />trailers (Griffiths et al. 1991). It is <br />presumed that transport of zebra <br />mussel by land pathways would <br />principally occur by transport of boats <br />that have zebra mussels attached to <br />them, or by transferring contaminated <br />equipment, such as nets and live wells, <br />from one body of water to another. <br />Adult zebra mussels may be entangled <br />in nets and equipment, or the free- <br />living larva may also be present in <br />water entrapped in the boat motor, live <br />well, or any other moist area. Zebra <br />mussels that are attached to boat hulls <br />and other exposed areas can be killed in <br />hot weather (e.g., if exposed for 2 days <br />at 35°C; Jenner and Janssen-Mommen <br />1992). However, recent studies have <br />shown that even at about 0% relative <br />humidity, it takes an exposure duration <br />of at least 3 days (McMahon et al. <br />1993) to kill adult zebra mussels at <br />25°C, and more than 10 days is <br />required if the temperature is 15°C or <br />less. Thus, it is likely that adult zebra <br />mussels could be inadvertently <br />transported to the West by boaters, <br />especially during cool weather. <br />The zebra mussel has been found as <br />far west as Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, <br />Arkansas, and Louisiana, and it was <br />recently found in the Arkansas River in <br />Oklahoma (Figure 2). Although yet <br />undetected, it probably invaded the <br />Missouri River system via barge traffic <br />to the head of navigation at Sioux City, <br />Iowa, and it may soon be found in the <br />waters of Nebraska, South Dakota, and <br />North Dakota. It is also presumed that <br />there may be further invasion into <br />Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado, <br />and New Mexico from the Arkansas <br />River, Because there has been <br />widespread dispersal and transport of <br />zebra mussels in Canadian waters, the <br />