Klaipėda University Coastal Research and Planning Institute
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
KLAIPĖDA UNIVERSITY COASTAL RESEARCH AND PLANNING INSTITUTE ALEKSAS NARŠČIUS DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS ON AQUATIC NON-INDIGENOUS SPECIES Doctoral dissertation Biomedical sciences, ecology and environmental sciences (03B), hydrobiology, marine biology, aquatic ecology, limnology (B260) Klaipėda, 2013 Dissertation prepared 2008–2012 at Klaipėda University, Coastal Research and Planning Institute. Supervisor: prof. habil. dr. Sergej Olenin (Klaipėda University; Biomedical Sciences, Ecology and Environmental Sciences – 03B). TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 5 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................. 15 2.1. Essential features of a bioinvasion process .......................................................... 15 2.1.1. Non-indigenous, cryptogenic and invasive alien species .................................. 15 2.1.2. Invasion process, introduction pathways and vectors ....................................... 18 2.1.3. Understanding impacts of invasive alien species .............................................. 20 2.2. Sharing biological invasion data .......................................................................... 23 2.2.1. Data sharing needs and problems ...................................................................... 24 2.2.2. Publically available NIS information sources ................................................... 25 2.2.3. Towards an ideal NIS information system ........................................................ 28 3. MATERIAL AND METHODS ........................................................................ 32 3.1. Development of the information systems............................................................. 32 3.2. Data gathering ...................................................................................................... 35 3.3. Species taxonomy standardization ....................................................................... 36 3.4. Data sharing ......................................................................................................... 37 3.5. Biopollution index ............................................................................................... 38 3.6. Invasive alien species indicators .......................................................................... 41 3.7. Statistical and data mining methods ..................................................................... 42 4. RESULTS ......................................................................................................... 46 4.1. AquaNIS: Information system on Aquatic Non-Indigenous Species ................... 46 4.1.1. Concept ............................................................................................................. 46 4.1.2. Structure ............................................................................................................ 47 4.1.3. Functionality ..................................................................................................... 63 4.2. BINPAS: Biological Invasion Impact / Biopollution Assessment System ........... 68 4.2.1. Concept ............................................................................................................. 68 4.2.2. Structure ............................................................................................................ 68 4.2.3. Functionality ..................................................................................................... 69 4.3. Integration of AquaNIS and BINPAS .................................................................. 78 4.4. Application of AquaNIS ...................................................................................... 81 4.4.1. Recent data availability check ........................................................................... 81 4.4.2. Temporal trends of non-indigenous and cryptogenic species at pan-European and regional scales ...................................................................................................... 83 4.4.3. Metazoan NIS richness in different sea regions of Europe by phyla ................. 85 4.4.4. New NIS arrivals .............................................................................................. 86 4.4.5. The most invasive species ................................................................................. 87 4.4.6. Bio-geographical regions by NIS compositions ................................................ 87 4.4.7. Taxonomic distinctness analysis of the Baltic Sea region ................................. 90 4.5. Application of BINPAS ....................................................................................... 93 4.5.1. Visibility and recent data coverage ................................................................... 93 3 4.5.2. Biopollution level assessment scenarios ........................................................... 95 4.5.3. Patterns extraction from accumulated data ....................................................... 98 5. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................. 104 5.1. Added heuristic value of the NIS information systems ...................................... 104 5.2. Data quality control ........................................................................................... 106 5.3. Long-term maintenance ..................................................................................... 108 5.4. Future perspectives ............................................................................................ 110 6. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................. 113 7. REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 114 4 1. INTRODUCTION Relevance of the problem A broad spectrum of human activities may lead to introductions of non-indigenous species (NIS) into marine, brackish and freshwater areas. Some species are introduced deliberately for aquaculture, stocking or habitat management, while the great majority of other organisms are unintentionally transported, for example in ship ballast water or on the hulls of vessels (Carlton and Geller, 1993; Gollasch et al., 2002). Climate alterations and global trade are likely to result in further range extensions of taxonomically diverse invaders (Occhipinti-Ambrogi and Galil, 2010; Olenin and Minchin, 2011). Since the first generalization of the biological invasion phenomena in the fundamental study by Elton (1958), NIS expansions and their impacts have become an area of increasing interest for scientists, managers, policy makers and members of the public. Biological invasions (bioinvasions) are recognized as a worldwide threat to native biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, economies and human health (IUCN, 2000). It was indicated that the impacts of invasive alien species on ecosystems and society are increasing among all taxonomic groups, and in all environments causing at least € 12.5 billion damage each year in the European Union (Shine et al., 2008; NEOBIOTA, 2012). This, in turn, has led to global concern and management advice by international organizations (IUCN, 2000; IMO, 2004; Shine et al., 2008). Scientific and managerial attention to bioinvasion problem results in growing number of electronic resources on NIS. Currently there are more than 250 websites on NIS worldwide (GISIN, 2008). The geographical scope of these information resources varies from global (e.g. GISD, 2012), pan-European (EASIN, 2013) to regional (e.g. Baltic Sea Alien Species Database, 2013; CIESM Atlas of Exotic Species in the Mediterranean, 2013) and national (e.g. Mastitsky et al., 2013). NIS databases are increasingly being used for many aspects of 5 bioinvasion research, e.g. to aid the compilation of NIS lists for specific areas (e.g. Zaiko et al., 2007; Occhipinti-Ambrogi et al., 2011), to rank the most impacting NIS (e.g. Olenina et al., 2010; Savini et al., 2010; Zaiko et al., 2011), to define the major pathways and vectors responsible for NIS introductions (e.g. Savini et al., 2008; Minchin et al., 2009), to analyze species traits and ecological preferences (e.g. Paavola et al., 2005; Strayer, 2010), to assess the risks posed by alien species on economies and ecosystem functioning (e.g. Baker et al., 2005; Campbell et al., 2008). In general, it is widely acknowledged that scientifically validated, updated and continuously maintained databases are the most reliable source for integrated information on NIS, their population dynamics, ecology and means of control (Genovesi, 2001; Olenin et al., 2011). In order to be effective, information must be placed within the proper context and organized in a manner that is both logical and standardized (Simpson et al., 2006). In this study an information system consisting of the database on Aquatic Non-Indigenous Species (AquaNIS) and equipped with a special tool for Biological invasion impact assessment (BINPAS) is developed. It is designed to assemble, store and disseminate comprehensive data on NIS as well as to provide meaningful information for solving research problems and evaluating progress towards bioinvasion management. Aim and objectives of the study The aim of this study was to develop information systems on aquatic non-indigenous species, which provide additional exploratory