Bridging information domains to improve ecological understanding of biological invasions in a marine ecosystem

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 km 2. 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 km 2. 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.

Public contributions to early detection of new invasive pests

“…The role of citizen science in augmenting biological monitoring efforts also has been extensively explored (Blackburn et al, 2020;Conrad & Hilchey, 2011;Crall et al, 2010;Dickinson, Zuckerberg, & Bonter, 2010;Johnson et al, 2014;Larson et al, 2020;McKinley et al, 2017). Empirical studies show that volunteer-based citizen science programs can significantly improve understanding of invasive species distributions (e.g., Crall et al, 2015;Delaney, Sperling, Adams, & Leung, 2008;Gallo & Waitt, 2011;Maistrello, Dioli, Bariselli, Mazzoli, & Giacalone-Forini, 2016;Meentemeyer, Dorning, Vogler, Schmidt, & Garbelotto, 2015;Pocock et al, 2016;Rothenberger et al, 2020;Scyphers et al, 2015). In addition, a recent analysis shows that species characteristics are significant factors in reporting probability, demonstrating that public contributions are not equally distributed across species types (Caley, Welvaert, & Barry, 2020).…”