Bridging information domains to improve ecological understanding of biological invasions in a marine ecosystem |
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Authors: | Megan Rothenberger Andrea Armstrong Trent Gaugler Sarah Massaro William Pfadenhauer Juliana Ventresca |
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Affiliation: | 1. Biology Department, Lafayette College, Kunkel Hall, Easton, PA, 18042 U.S.A.;2. Environmental Science & Studies Program, Lafayette College, Pardee Hall, Easton, PA, 18042 U.S.A.;3. Mathematics Department, Lafayette College, Pardee Hall, Easton, PA, 18042 U.S.A.;4. Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Rita Hollings Science Center, Charleston, SC, 29401 U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | We devised a practical method for integrating information on 2 marine invasive species using 3 different approaches: standardized ecological monitoring, online-reporting databases, and surveys of anglers and crabbers. Focusing on 2 recently introduced species with different characteristics, the Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) and Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis), in the Hudson-Raritan watershed of New York and New Jersey, we used sensitivity analyses to explore the relative contribution of each information source to knowledge of species abundance and distribution. All 3 information sources contributed something unique to understanding abundance and distribution of the introduced crabs. Online and survey data on Asian shore crabs significantly affected predictions of abundance, whereas monitoring data did not. When survey data were omitted, abundance estimates were unchanged over time, but when they were included, the model predicted an increased abundance in 2012. All 3 data sets for the Asian shore crab significantly affected estimates of species coverage; surveys had the biggest influence, increasing range size by 4097.25 km2. For the catadromous Chinese mitten crab, ecological monitoring data collected in freshwater shortly after the original sighting significantly shaped model estimates for abundance and documented the establishment phase of the mitten crab in an area outside the spatial scope of the surveyed resource users. However, the survey data significantly enlarged mitten crab range-size estimates by 6498.01 km2. By demonstrating that data integration produced an image of the invasion process that would not have emerged had we used any 1 method individually, model results provide evidence for the advantages of an interdisciplinary approach. |
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Keywords: | Asian shore crab bioinvasion Chinese mitten crab data integration marine risk assessment bioinvasión evaluación de riesgo integración de datos Eriocheir sinensis Hemigraspus sanguineus 数据整合 海洋 生物入侵 风险评估 中华绒螯蟹 肉球近方蟹 |
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