Stranger on the Shore

Dr Jane Pottas What do we know about ?

Globally ~ 10,000 species Britain - 644 species Including ~31 non-native species in Britain Ochrophyta, Rhodophyta – 348 – 110 Phaeophyceae – 186

Brodie et al. (2016). A revised check-list of the seaweeds of Britain. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK. 96: 1005-1029.

YNU Annual Conference 2018 2 How to spot a non-native

YNU Annual Conference 2018 3 How to spot a non-native

• Know what’s there already • Recognise something as different • Check the identification • Report • Prepare and lodge a herbarium specimen

YNU Annual Conference 2018 4 Non-natives in UK

• Reported sightings don’t 'count' until they are in the literature • Important to establish whether it is a transient occurrence or a permanent resident

YNU Annual Conference 2018 5 YNU Annual Conference 2018 6 Bonnemaisonia hamifera

Bonnemaisonia hamifera (gametophyte) Trailliella intricata (tetrasporophyte)

Falmouth in Cornwall, and Studland in Dorset Dorset 1890 1893 Holmes, E.M. (1897). Note on Bonnemaisonia hamifera. Journal of Botany, London. 35: 408-409.

YNU Annual Conference 2018 7 Bonnemaisonia hamifera

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YNU Annual Conference 2018 8 Using herbaria • Advantages – Long time scale – Permanence of collection – Stability of specimens – No preconceptions – Phycological philately • Disadvantages – Locality – Species selection – Time of year/season – Frequency – Correspondence – Phycological philately NHM Herbarium

• 250,000 specimens • ~80,000 UK and specimens • Type and voucher specimens • >300 years of records • ~20% of algal collection databased

Verifiable records • Date • Locality • Collector information • Specimens  Morphology  Ecology  Molecular analysis YNU Annual Conference 2018 11 YNU Annual Conference 2018 12 Capturing the aliens Using herbarium specimens to track the arrival and spread of non-native seaweeds Juliet Brodie, Linda M. Irvine, Jane Pottas, Jo Wilbraham Natural History Museum, Department of Botany, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK

Introduction Examples of present day distribution maps based Aims First herbarium SPECIES Natural history collections are an invaluable on herbarium specimens at NHM This project aims to capture collections data for record in NHM tool in documenting changes in biodiversity. alien seaweed specimens in the NHM Litosiphon laminariae 1795 Herbarium specimens are verifiable records herbarium. These data will then provide a which can be used to describe temporal and platform for further analysis of the subsequent Porphyra leucosticta 1813 spatial distributions. The biological material spread of these species and assessment of fragile subsp. fragile 1853 can also be used for ecological, their effect on the existing flora. Zanardinia typus 1853 morphological and genetic analysis. The During the project we found that no standard Natural History Museum herbarium (BM) Neosiphonia harveyi 1887 list of alien species had been produced. holds c. 250,000 seaweed specimens Bonnemaisonia hamifera Therefore another aim of the project is to 1890 including 60,000 specimens from the UK and produce a comprehensive up to date list of Antithamnionella ternifolia 1906 Ireland dating back to the 17th century. alien seaweed species for the UK. Colpomenia peregrina 1907 The specimen data generated by this project Antithamnionella spirographidis 1936 will be made available via the Marine Biological Asparagopsis armata 1936 Fig 2. Bonnemaisonia hamifera Fig 3. Sargassum muticum Association for the GB Non-Native Species Studland, 1890 Southsea, 1971 Information Portal. Grateloupia subpectinata 1946 Pikea californica 1967 Grateloupia turuturu 1968 Cryptonemia hibernica 1971 Sargassum muticum 1971 Solieria chordalis 1976 Agardhiella subulata 1977 Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii 1977 Cryptonemia lomation 1983 Anotrichium furcellatum 1985 Aglaothamnion feldmanniae 1990 Ceramium circinatum 1990 Fig. 1. The first record of Bonnemaisonia hamifera in Fig 4. Porphyra leucosticta Fig 5. Pikea californica Fig. 6. Porpyhra leucosticta: an example of the BM herbarium. Arrival point unknown , 1967 species where molecular techniques have Porphyra yezoensis 1990 revealed a probable Pacific origin. Porphyra drachii 1994 Alien seaweeds Future work Pterosiphonia pinnulata 2002 • Determine the identity of taxonomically We are using the term ‘alien seaweed’ here Undaria pinnatifida 2004 loosely to refer to species which have arrived unresolved alien seaweed specimens in the in the last 100-150+ years and where NHM herbarium (BM) Ulva californica 2009 anthropogenic agencies are involved either • Collect herbarium and silica gel material for Umbraulva olivascens 2009 morphological and genetic analysis directly (e.g. via import of shellfish, shipping) Caulacanthus ustulatus 2010 or indirectly (e.g. climate change). We • Liaise with other herbaria to augment NHM estimate that c. 6% of the UK seaweed flora data Fig. 9. Earliest dates of the are alien species. The trend globally is that Fig 7. Solieria chordalis Fig 8. Codium fragile subsp. • Deliver training on the identification of alien specimen records for alien Weymouth, 2010 fragile Swanage, 2010 seaweeds in the NHM the rate at which alien seaweeds are being seaweeds References herbarium. added to floras is increasing. The arrival of Farnham, W. et al. (1973). Attached Sargassum found in Britain. Nature, 243: 231-232. • Organise a systematic collecting programme alien species to the UK and Ireland from Pyke, G.H. & Ehrlich, P.R. (2010). Biological collections and ecological/environmental research: A to develop a long term data set review, some observations and a look to the future. Biological Reviews, 85: 247-266. Acknowledgments warmer waters is anticipated, e.g. from the Walther, G.-R. et al. (2009). Alien species in a warmer world: risks and opportunities. Trends in This work is supported by funding from the Natural History Museum and Marine Biological Association. We are grateful to Bill Mediterranean. Ecology & Evolution, 24: 686-693. Farnham (University of Portsmouth) and Jack Sewell (MBA). Sargassum muticum

YNU Annual Conference 2018 14 YNU Annual Conference 2018 15 YNU Annual Conference 2018 16 Sargassum muticum

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YNU Annual Conference 2018 17 YNU Annual Conference 2018 18 Seaweed Collections Online

• Museum specimens • Booth Museum of Natural History • Manchester Museum – Place • National Museum of Wales – Time • National Museums Liverpool • Norfolk Museums and Archaeology • Specimen data Service – Biodiversity • Oxford University Herbaria • Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery – Conservation • Natural History Museum, London • Species • Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh • Museum and Archives – Non-native seaweeds • Somerset Heritage Service – Conservation concern • Stromness Museum – Indicator species • The Essex Field Club

YNU Annual Conference 2018 19 Recent arrivals • Dictyota cyanoloma Blue-fringed fan weed (Falmouth marinas, 2014) • Chrsymenia wrightii Golden membrane weed (Falmouth marinas, 2014) • Grateloupia turuturu Devil’s Tongue Weed (Sound of Barra, 2016) • Gracilaria vermiculophylla Rough Agar Weed (North Wales, 2017) • Polysiphonia morrowii (Plymouth, 2017)

YNU Annual Conference 2018 20 The future for herbarium collections? • Opportunities – Huge, largely untapped resource • Distribution • Phenology • and molecular systematics • Climate change and human impact • Baseline data • Threats – Funding cuts – fewer people employed to curate collections – Few university courses teach id and taxonomy – Amateur experts are an ageing and diminishing group – Few young members in natural history societies – Short term funded projects – HLF, EF etc – leading to lack of continuity

YNU Annual Conference 2018 21 The future for herbarium collections?

Who will take on the role of identifying the less charismatic/sexy groups?

Who will recognise the stranger on the shore?

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