University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 2012 Domestic 'laker' ships as a potential pathway of nonindigenous species in the Great Lakes Abisola Aderemi Adebayo University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Adebayo, Abisola Aderemi, "Domestic 'laker' ships as a potential pathway of nonindigenous species in the Great Lakes" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5590. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/5590 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). 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Domestic 'laker' ships as a potential pathway of nonindigenous species in the Great Lakes by Abisola Adebayo A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2012 © 2012 Abisola Adebayo Domestic 'laker' ships as a potential pathway of nonindigenous species in the Great Lakes by Abisola Adebayo APPROVED BY: ______________________________________________ Dr. Lynda Corkum Department of Biological Sciences ______________________________________________ Dr. Sarah Bailey, Co-advisor Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research ______________________________________________ Dr. Hugh MacIsaac, Co-advisor Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research ______________________________________________ Dr. Aaron Fisk, Chair of Defense Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research February 17, 2012 DECLARATION OF CO-AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that this thesis incorporates material that is a result of joint research, as follows: the outcome of a molecular species identification project undertaken in collaboration with Dr. Aibin Zhan under the supervision Dr. Hugh MacIsaac. I am aware of the University of Windsor Senate Policy on Authorship and I certify that I have properly acknowledged the contribution of other researchers to my thesis, and have obtained written permission from each of the co-author(s) to include the above material(s) in my thesis. I certify that, with the above qualification, this thesis, and the research to which it refers, is the product of my own work. iii ABSTRACT Domestic ballast is considered a low risk vector of nonindigenous species introductions within the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River, and is unregulated. I examined establishment risk posed by taxa contained in domestic ballast, biological and environmental similarities between St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes ports, and identified invertebrates through 454 pyrosequencing of 18S rDNA. Ballast samples contained 12 brackish potential nonindigenous species, while St. Lawrence River port samples contained two fresh and 27 brackish species. Québec City poses the greatest establishment risk due to high environmental matching with recipient ports, and because it is the only St. Lawrence River port with freshwater species (two oligochaetes: Aeolosoma viride and Rheomorpha neiswestonovae) not yet present in the Great Lakes. Pyrosequencing effectively identified invertebrates. Pyrosequencing, but not traditional taxonomy, identified the freshwater potential nonindigenous species in this study. iv For my parents Isaac and Anna v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am extremely grateful for the generous support and guidance provided by my supervisors, Drs. Hugh MacIsaac and Sarah Bailey, throughout my studies at the University of Windsor. I am also grateful that they supported my travel to many conferences, enabling me to develop my presentation skills and network with international colleagues. Special thanks go to Dr. Lynda Corkum, for being part of my supervisory committee. I would like to acknowledge Colin van Overdijk and the ballast water sampling team at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Burlington. Special thanks to Drs. Aibin Zhan and Ian Duggan, for their invaluable help with species identification. I would not have been able to complete a project of this scale without help from many people. Many thanks to Boris Beric, Amy Tanner, Russell Hepburn, Stacey MacDonald, Farrah Chan, Drs. Daniel Heath, Elizabeta Briski, Francisco Sylvester and Andrew Drake for laboratory support, encouraging, discussing and commenting on my work. The support and encouragement I received from my friends, officemates, and labmates, was very instrumental in the preparation of this thesis. Most importantly, I would like to thank those closest to me. My parents Isaac and Anna, and brothers, Ade, Toks, Niyi and Segun, have been extremely supportive through my education, providing me the opportunity to arrive at this point. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF CO-AUTHORSHIP ........................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION .....................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................................... xi INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………….1 Evaluating establishment risk ...............................................................5 MATERIALS AND METHODS…………………………………...…..7 Sampling strategy .................................................................................7 Sampling area .......................................................................................8 Port and ballast water sampling ..........................................................11 Sample processing ..............................................................................12 Species identification ..........................................................................13 DATA ANALYSIS……..………………………………………………16 Port .... .................................................................................................16 Ballast water .......................................................................................19 Species identification ..........................................................................20 RESULTS……………………………………………………………….22 Port… ..................................................................................................22 Ballast water .......................................................................................28 Species identification ..........................................................................31 DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………33 Port… ..................................................................................................33 Ballast water .......................................................................................35 Species identification ..........................................................................39 vii CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………………….41 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 71 APPENDICES Appendix 1 ..................................................................................................................84 Appendix 2 ..................................................................................................................88 Appendix 3 ..................................................................................................................90 Appendix 4 ..................................................................................................................92 Appendix 5 ..................................................................................................................95 Appendix 6 ..................................................................................................................96 Appendix 7 ..................................................................................................................98 Appendix 8 ..................................................................................................................99 VITA AUCTORIS……………………………………………………………………...103103 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Reported dates of discovery of Great Lakes‟ invaders that are either 43 native to or were first sighted in the St. Lawrence River Table 2 Risk categories assigned to St. Lawrence River ports