The Great Lakes Invasives Sentinel Sites Network: preliminary analysis of data from multi-year biodiversity monitoring in Duluth Harbor
Citation:
Brown, S., A. Chang, C. Arriola, M. Noble, K. Pagenkoop Lohan, P. Pappalardo, J. Geller, E. Haggard, G. Ruiz, AND J. Darling. The Great Lakes Invasives Sentinel Sites Network: preliminary analysis of data from multi-year biodiversity monitoring in Duluth Harbor. 2024 International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species (ICAIS), Halifax, CANADA, May 12 - 16, 2024.
Impact/Purpose:
Describes preliminary analysis of biodiversity measures derived from a sentinel site in Duluth Harbor aimed at understanding rates of species invasion over time. Provides evidence for the value of the sentinel sites approach for understanding changes to biodiversity in the Great Lakes, including arrival of new species
Description:
Long term monitoring using standardized repeated measures is an invaluable approach not only for early detection of non-native aquatic species (NAS), but also for understanding rates of invasion and for assessing the impacts of relevant changes to recipient systems (e.g. climate change or regulatory intervention). The Great Lakes Invasives Sentinel Sites Network (GLISSNet) is a longitudinal early detection and monitoring program established by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Lake Superior Research Institute, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and other partners. The aim of the program is to establish a sentinel site network within the Great Lakes for efficient early detection of aquatic non-indigenous invertebrates using systematic sampling and standardized protocols. Here we report preliminary results based on monitoring in Duluth-Superior Harbor, the first sentinel site established in the Great Lakes. GLISSNet deployed benthic colonization devices and collected soft sediment and plankton pump samples to characterize the invertebrate community at 50 different locations within the St. Louis River Estuary. We describe invertebrate biodiversity patterns, including NAS observations, based on both morphological and DNA-based analysis of collections made over the course of the study thus far. We also discuss plans for future expansion of the GLISSNet and we explore the value of sentinel sites data for investigating broadly interesting ecological questions on biodiversity and invasion dynamics in the Great Lakes and for evaluating impacts of regulatory interventions such as those intended to reduce ballast water borne NAS introductions.
