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A decade of aquatic invasive species (AIS) early detection method development in the St. Louis River estuary
Citation:
Meredith, C., C. Hatzenbuhler, A. Trebitz, J. Hoffman, J. Kelly, J. Lietz, AND Greg Peterson. A decade of aquatic invasive species (AIS) early detection method development in the St. Louis River estuary. St. Louis River Estuary Summit, Superior, WI, February 03 - 04, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
not applicable
Description:
As an invasion prone location, the St. Louis River Estuary (SLRE) 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 SLRE. In addition, because we’ve accumulated such a large body of data we now have the basis to show spatial-temporal trends for native and non-native species in the SLRE.