An Updated History of Nonindigenous Species in the Great Lakes

Session: 32. - Long-Term Monitoring: Achievements, Challenges, and Solutions

Rochelle Sturtevant, GLERL/NOAA, Sea Grant Extension, [email protected]
Ed Rutherford, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, [email protected]
Doran Mason, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, [email protected]
Felix Martinez, NOAA/National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, [email protected]

Abstract

Understanding the history of invasions - vectors and patterns of establishment – is critical to devising early detection and rapid response programs to prevent or mitigate inpacts.  In 1993, Mills et al published a comprehensive review of the non-indigenous flora and fauna of the Great Lakes basin, documenting 139 non-indigenous aquatic organisms established in the Great Lakes since the early 1800s.  They reported on the taxonomy, origin, and most probable entry mechanisms for each of these species.  NOAA used this list as the core of the Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information System (GLANSIS – https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/glansis/), tracking these species and adding information on additional nonindigenous species as they were recognized.  In the twenty-five years since the publication of Mills et al, we have clarified definitions resulting in the removal of 4 upland plants from Mills list and added 54 species (mostly post-1993 invasions).  We provide here an update to the inventory and re-analysis of the trends and patterns in the light of more recent events.  This analysis reveals a dramatic decline in the ballast vector (and overall invasion rate) coincident with ballast management regulations phased in over the period 1994-2006, a success story in the use of monitoring and analysis to guide management decisions. 

1. Keyword
invasive species

2. Keyword
ballast

3. Keyword
management