Climate Change and Invasive Species Interact to Impact Succession And
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University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Fall 2007 Climate change and invasive species interact to impact succession and diversity in Gulf of Maine marine fouling communities Jennifer Anne Dijkstra University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Dijkstra, Jennifer Anne, "Climate change and invasive species interact to impact succession and diversity in Gulf of Maine marine fouling communities" (2007). Doctoral Dissertations. 394. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/394 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CLIMATE CHANGE AND INVASIVE SPECIES INTERACT TO IMPACT SUCCESSION AND DIVERSITY IN GULF OF MAINE MAIRNE FOULING COMMUNITIES BY JENNIFER ANNE DIJKSTRA B.A. University of New Brunswick, 1995 Diplomarbeit, Universitat Bremen, 2000 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology September, 2007 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3277138 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3277138 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation has been examined and approved. rwa_________ Dissertation Director, Dr. Larry G. Harris Professor of Zoology / / / '! ■a,m s - 1' Dr. Thomas D. Lee, Associate Professor of Natural Resources Dr. James F. Haney, Chair, Zoology Department Dr. Judith Pederson, Coastal Resources Specialist & Manager, Center for Coastal Resources Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Dr. Robert Whitlatch, Professor of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, CT 9 C u u v m T___________ 0 Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Larry Harris for his support and guidance, particularly during the first years after the birth of my daughter. I greatly appreciate his open attitude towards family and academic learning that enables his students to study whatever peaks their interests. For me it was the interactive impacts of invasive species and climate change on succession. I truly appreciate the opportunity to utilize your old slides and knowledge for comparative studies. I would also like to thank my committee members Drs. Judy Peterson and Jim Haney for their constructive comments in this work. Drs. Tom Lee and Bob Whitlatch were mentors from beginning to end and were consistently available to provide insight and guidance. This project could not have been completed without my dive buddies, Rebecca Toppin, Kinsey Frick, Liz Kintzing, Nate Rennels and Noel Carlson who helped me photograph panels, particularly during the cold winter months. Rebecca Toppin and Kinsey Frick were helpful in constructing and deploying the underwater panel set-up. I also thank the rest of the Harris lab: Megan Tyrrell, Patricia Madigan, Sarah Teck, and Erica Westerman for their support. Other people that made this work possible through their friendship include: Gabby Martinez, Shane Bradt, Sara Cathey, Melissa Brown, Christine Verhille, and the zoology graduate students. My family (David and Douglas Wright; Semme, Hermien and Tjaard Dijkstra) were unceasingly encouraging. My late mom, Sandra, provided much iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. needed faith, emotional, and child care support - it was greatly appreciated and needed. I miss you very much. Semme has been a wonderful and loving husband throughout this process. He encouraged me to pursue my dreams and persevere through difficult tasks and times. Finally, I would like to thank my daughter, Sydney, for keeping me grounded and setting my priorities. Their support enabled me to keep “plugging away”. This work was supported by grants from the Center for Marine Biology, the Marine Program, the Zoology Department, and the Graduate School. Additional grant support was provided by the New Hampshire Estuaries Project and a dissertation fellowship from the University of New Hampshire. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEGMENTS.......................................................................................iii LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES.............................................................................................xi ABSTRACT......................................................................................................xiv CHAPTER GENERAL INTRODUCTION..................................................................................... 1 Fouling communities ..............................................................................................5 Natural history of invasive species ..................................................................... 7 Botrylloides violaceus..............................................................................7 Diplosoma listerianum............................... 8 Didemnum sp..............................................................................................8 Membranipora membranacea.................................................................9 I. DISTRIBUTION AND LONG-TERM TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF FOUR INVASIVE COLONIAL ASCIDIANS IN THE GULF OF MAINE............................11 Abstract ....................................................................................................................11 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 13 Study Species ........................................................................................... 14 Materials and Methods ..........................................................................................15 Field Sites ................................................................................................... 15 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Predators .................................................................................................... 17 Temporal Patterns ....................................................................................17 Data Analysis .............................................................................................18 Results and Observations ....................................................................................19 Habitats....................................................................................................... 19 Predators .................................................................................................... 19 Temporal abundance patterns of invasive species ...........................20 Annual patterns of abundance ...............................................................20 Discussion ...............................................................................................................21 Timing and mechanism of the introductions of Botryllus, Botrylloides, Diplosoma and Didemnum in the Gulf of Maine 22 Temporal patterns of invasive ascidians ..............................................22 II. THE ROLE OF COLONIAL ASCIDIANS IN ALTERING BIODIVERSITY IN MARINE FOULING COMMUNITIES............................................................................. 34 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 34 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................ 35 Results .................................................................................................................... 36 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 37 III. COMMUNITY LEVEL EFFECTS OF INVASIVE SPECIES...............................50 Abstract ...................................................................................................................41 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction