Fish Invasions in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States Nicolas
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Fish invasions in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States Nicolas W. R. Lapointe Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Paul Angermeier, Chairman Theo Light Brian Murphy Andrew Dolloff Walter Courtenay Jr. 14 July 2010 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: nonnative, introduced species, invasive, invasibility, freshwater, community, assemblage, richness, pathways, ecosystem, impact Copyright 2010, Nicolas W. R. Lapointe Fish invasions in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States Nicolas W. R. Lapointe ABSTRACT Nonnative fishes are a major threat to biodiversity and new species continue to be introduced. In this dissertation, I described patterns and assessed determinants of fish invasions in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Data on nonnative fish distributions were obtained from the United States Geological Survey’s Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database (NASD). Nonnative fishes are introduced by a variety of pathways, and prevention efforts can be optimized by focusing on pathways posing the greatest risk of new invasions. To assess the importance of existing pathways, I described the species associated with each pathway, analyzed the number of species introduced by decade for certain pathways, and estimated the detectability and probability of establishment of species introduced by each pathway. Additionally, I reviewed the efficacy of existing regulations for preventing introductions via each pathway. Historically, the intentional introduction of centrarchids and salmonids for sport was the dominant pathway. Pathways currently posing the greatest risks included bait release, illegal introductions, stocking of private ponds, and several pathways associated with economic activities. These pathways involved cyprinids, catostomids, and species exotic to North America. Regulations varied considerably among states, and I suggest that region-wide prohibitions on the release of nonnative species into the wild would help prevent additional introductions. Mid-Atlantic region watersheds differ considerably in nonnative species richness (NNSR), suggesting they are not equally invasible. I analyzed relationships between ecosystem characteristics and invasibility by compiling data on watershed characteristics and correlating these with NNSR. I included measures of colonization pressure (i.e., the number of species introduced) and research effort, which can bias patterns of NNSR. After controlling for these factors, the range in elevation in a watershed explained the greatest variation in NNSR. Highland watersheds had greater NNSR, probably because of greater habitat heterogeneity due in part to human activity. I suggest that NNSR can be reduced by restoration activities that reduce the diversity of artificial habitats available in highland watersheds Ecosystems with similar NNSR may be invaded by different species, because differences in ecosystem characteristics may regulate the types of species that are able to establish. To explain differences in nonnative species among ecosystem types, I grouped Mid-Atlantic region watersheds by nonnative community and tested for differences in ecosystem characteristics among groups. Four groups were identified. A large, speciose group in the north-west portion region was characterized by smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu). A large, speciose group in the south-west portion of the region was characterized by largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Two smaller groups with few species were found on the coastal plain; one to the north, characterized by black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) and a second to the south characterized by white crappie (Pomoxis annularis). Nonnative community type was correctly predicted 80% of the time by models based on temperature and range in elevation. Relatively uninvaded watersheds in the south-east part of the region were predicted to host the most diverse nonnative community, suggesting that risks of invasion are high there. These results demonstrate the importance of species identity in determining ecosystem invasibility. There is no consensus on how to estimate the relative impacts of nonnative species. I developed and compared several approaches for doing so. I estimated impact by surveying fish biologists regarding the abundance and socioeconomic and ecological impacts of each species. I obtained fish collection records as an additional estimate of abundance and consulted reports of impacts in the NASD. I consulted reports of impacts in global invasive species databases as a basis for comparison. I compared top-ranked species among approaches, and game and non-game biologists’ ratings of game and non-game species for each survey question. Top-ranked species differed considerably among approaches. Non-game biologists gave higher ecological impact ratings to both game and non-game species. Approaches assessing socioeconomic impacts are most appropriate for informing social decisions, such as restricting the possession or trade of a species. A combination of data from approaches assessing ecological impacts and abundance is most appropriate for studies of ecological patterns, such as testing for differences in traits between high- and low-impact species. These approaches are transferrable to other regions and taxa, and can inform management decisions and improve efforts to identify factors correlated with high-impact invaders. Collectively, my results can aid in reducing the effects of nonnative fish invasions by enabling managers to focus prevention efforts on high-impact species likely to invade particular ecosystems via known pathways. For example, bait releases, illegal introductions, private stocking, and several pathways associated with economic activities present the highest risks of future invasions, and warrant iii attention aimed at preventing invasions. Prevention could also be focused on several watersheds in the south-east part of the region, which currently have few established species but were predicted to be invasible by bluegill (Lepomis gibbosus), bluntnose minnow (Pimephales notatus) channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), and warmouth (Lepomis gulosus). This work represents major advancements in invasion biology, including new links between species identity and ecosystem invasibility and the development of methods for quantifying impact. iv Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my father, Claude Lapointe, who passed away many years before I began this work. I love him and miss him very much. He always pushed me to work hard and to pursue a good education, and I know he would be very proud. He would also be very surprised. v Acknowledgments I extend my greatest thanks to Paul Angermeier for his advice and help with designing these studies and seeking funding, and for his countless helpful comments and edits. Paul will serve as a coauthor on manuscripts resulting from three of the chapters. I thank my committee members (including Paul) for their encouragement and support, and for their efforts to revise and edit this work. Theo Light was particularly helpful with designing and revising the third chapter, and will coauthor the resulting manuscript. Theo also provided insightful and helpful comments on the second chapter, and originally pointed out that research effort can be a source of bias in analyses of nonnative species richness. I thank Brian Murphy for his many helpful suggestions for the abstract and general introduction. Two other colleagues deserve credit for particular sections of this dissertation. James Thorson will serve as coauthor for the manuscript resulting from the second chapter, as he conducted statistical analyses and wrote the analytical methods section of this chapter. I thank him for his help with this chapter, and his ongoing analytical advice. Richard Pendleton will serve as coauthor for the fourth chapter, as he helped design the study and survey, and wrote parts of the methods section. I thank him for his help with the study, and for collecting and compiling most of the data on ecosystem characteristics and bait regulations. Many others helped tremendously with this project, and I thank them profusely for their time and effort. I thank Amy Benson for her help and cooperation in providing data from the United States Geological Survey’s Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database in multiple formats, and answering any questions I had about the data. I thank Steve McMullin for his dedication to helping us design and implement the survey and Brian Murphy for his suggested improvements to the survey design. Tye Deweber and Scott Klopfer were extremely helpful with compiling GIS data, which I could not have gathered without their help. Similarly, I thank Emmanuel Frimpong for his time and advice on several statistical problems. I am particularly grateful to all of the survey respondents for their time and effort, especially those who were dedicated enough to complete multiple surveys. I thank the many fisheries managers and biologists who provided additional time and help by expanding my understanding of fish invasions in the Mid-Atlantic region, including Doug Besler, Zack Brown, Noel Burkhead, Tom Greene, Robert Jenkins, John Odenkirk, and Wayne Starnes. I also thank several researchers who provided helpful comments and edits at various stages, including Nicholas Mandrak, Michael Marchetti, and Emili García-Berthou; this dissertation