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Lessons learned from broad-spectrum early-detection monitoring in the Laurentian Great Lakes
Citation:
Trebitz, A., J. Hoffman, E. Pilgrim, AND G. Peterson. Lessons learned from broad-spectrum early-detection monitoring in the Laurentian Great Lakes. International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species, Montreal, N/A, CANADA, October 27 - 31, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Understanding the utility of various tools and approaches for biological monitoring is a major goal of SSWR research area 3.01A-2.1. This presentation will synthesize findings from across various sampling efforts to broadly address monitoring lessons learned. Data sets used in the analyses come from various ORD partnerships (e.g., with US-FWS, GLNPO) and will help inform aquatic invasive species early-detection monitoring efforts being conducted by multiple federal, state, and tribal entities.
Description:
Motivated by decades of ecologic and economic impacts from a growing list of nonindigenous species, the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the United States calls for establishment of an aquatic non-indigenous species early detection and rapid response network. This presentation focuses on lessons learned from broad-spectrum (i.e., cross-species) early-detection monitoring conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of this Great Lakes network. Such monitoring is inherently resource-intensive, with surveys capable of detecting 95% of the species pool taking on the order of 100, 200, and 500 samples for fish, benthic invertebrates, and zooplankton respectively. We have found a random probability design an effective starting point for monitoring; once information concerning species distributions is generated the design can be optimized by emphasizing habitats and collection devices that contribute most strongly to the species pool. Effective tools for generating such information include occupancy modeling and community rarefaction, neither of which hinge on the presence or identity of any particular non-indigenous species. In applying a combination of organism collections identified via morphology and DNA and water samples identified only via contained eDNA, we have learned to temper enthusiasm for DNA metabarcoding with constraints stemming from sequencing difficulties and still limited invertebrate barcode availability. An adaptive monitoring cycle involving repeated assessment, refinement, and outcome communication has proven a helpful framework for broad-spectrum early-detection monitoring in the Great Lakes.