on the east coast. Bruce Sorrie has identified a substantial population in this location. Sorrie indicated that human-aided introduction of this species to Massachusetts is likely since Federal Pond has been used for various purposes since the late 18th century, though Sorrie also notes that transfer of propagules by waterfowl or herons from U. inflatas native range may be just as likely. Three years after the first collection in Massachusetts, a study of the area around Spruce Pond in Orange County, New York yielded the first record for U. inflata in New York State. The authors of the study speculate that, unlike the population found in Massachusetts, it is unlikely that the population in Spruce Pond was the result of human introduction because the pond is in a remote area and rarely used. More recently in 2005, a study in northern New York identified populations of U. inflata in six lakes in the Adirondack Mountains, representing another northern extension of its range. In two of these lakes U. inflata was the most frequently encountered species in 2000, whereas a census of the lakes found no U. inflata whatsoever in 1983. This impressive growth in what is probably a new location for the species is similar to the growth patterns of other invasive aquatic plant species. The authors of this study also noted that at one of these sites, many of the native species declined in frequency or could not be found, possibly due to the presence and proliferation of U. inflata. Lab experiments and observations in the field supported the authors' hypothesis that the presence of U. inflata in Adirondack lake systems damages the natural nutrient cycles that sustain the native flora. U. inflata likely shades out the native flora, specifically Eriocaulon aquaticum, a submersed macrophyte isoetid that releases oxygen into the sediment. In this case, U. inflata could indirectly change the biogeochemical cycle in the Adirondack lakes by hindering the growth of native isoetid macrophytes and subsequently having a negative effect on the proper balance of sediment chemistry. The consequence of this may include enhanced growth of algae and other changes to the ecology of the freshwater ecosystems that it may invade. Even earlier than the collections in Massachusetts and New York, a population of U. inflata was located in Horseshoe Lake in Kitsap County, Washington in 1980. Since then, further specimens of U. inflata have been recorded from