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Progress towards an AIS early detection monitoring network for the Great Lakes
Citation:
Hatzenbuhler, C., C. Meredith, A. Trebitz, J. Hoffman, J. Lietz, AND Greg Peterson. Progress towards an AIS early detection monitoring network for the Great Lakes. Upper Mid-West Invasive Species Conference, La Crosse, WI, October 17 - 19, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
not applicable
Description:
As an invasion prone location, the lower St. Louis River system (SLR) has been a case study for ongoing research to develop the framework for a practical Great Lakes monitoring network for early detection of aquatic invasive species (AIS). Early detection, however, necessitates finding new invaders before they are common. Here we outline our research (2005 present) approach and findings, including strategies to increase detection efficiency by optimizing specimen collection and identification methods. Initial surveys were designed to over-sample to amass data as the basis for numerical experiments to investigate to the effort required for a given detection probability. Later surveys tested the outcome of implementing these strategies, examined the potential benefits of sampling larval fish instead of adults and explored the prospect of using advanced DNA based methods as an alternative to traditional taxonomy. To date we have identified several previously undetected invertebrate invaders, developed survey design and gear recommendations and have refined the search strategy for systems beyond the SLR.