A tough egg to crack: recreational boats as vectors for invasive goby eggs and transdisciplinary management approaches
نویسندگان
چکیده
Non-native invasive species are a major threat to biodiversity, especially in freshwater ecosystems. Freshwater ecosystems are naturally rather isolated from one another. Nonetheless, invasive species often spread rapidly across water sheds. This spread is to a large extent realized by human activities that provide vectors. For example, recreational boats can carry invasive species propagules as "aquatic hitch-hikers" within and across water sheds. We used invasive gobies in Switzerland as a case study to test the plausibility that recreational boats can serve as vectors for invasive fish and that fish eggs can serve as propagules. We found that the peak season of boat movements across Switzerland and the goby spawning season overlap temporally. It is thus plausible that goby eggs attached to boats, anchors, or gear may be transported across watersheds. In experimental trials, we found that goby eggs show resistance to physical removal (90 mN attachment strength of individual eggs) and stay attached if exposed to rapid water flow (2.8 m·s(-1)for 1 h). When exposing the eggs to air, we found that hatching success remained high (>95%) even after eggs had been out of water for up to 24 h. It is thus plausible that eggs survive pick up, within-water and overland transport by boats. We complemented the experimental plausibility tests with a survey on how decision makers from inside and outside academia rate the feasibility of managing recreational boats as vectors. We found consensus that an installation of a preventive boat vector management is considered an effective and urgent measure. This study advances our understanding of the potential of recreational boats to serve as vectors for invasive vertebrate species and demonstrates that preventive management of recreational boats is considered feasible by relevant decision makers inside and outside academia.
منابع مشابه
Biochemical and histological studies of over-ripened oocyte in the Caspian brown trout (Salmo trutta caspius) to determine biomarkers for egg quality
The aims of the present study were to determine the best time for egg stripping after ovulation and to study oocyte over-ripening in the Caspian brown trout (Salmo trutta caspius). Eggs were retained in the female abdominal cavity for 40 days post ovulation (DPO). Partial volumes of eggs stripped from 10 individually identified females at 10 days intervals and fertilized with a pool of semen ...
متن کاملOverland Dispersal of Aquatic Invasive Species: a Risk Assessment of Transient Recreational Boating
Predictions of the geographic spread of introduced species are often limited by a lack of data on their mechanisms of dispersal. We interviewed boaters and inspected boating equipment at public boat launches on Lake St. Clair (Michigan, USA) to assess the potential for the zebra mussel, an invasive bivalve, to be dispersed overland to inland waters by transient recreational boating activities. ...
متن کاملماشین بینایی تشخیصگر باروری تخممرغ و ارزیابی کارایی شبکههای عصبی و ماشین بردار پشتیبان در آن
In this research, a system is proposed for detecting fertility of eggs. The system is composed of two parts: hardware and software. The fabricated hardware provides a platform to obtain accurate images from inner side of the eggs, without harming their embryos. The software part includes a set of image processing and machine vision processes, which is able to detect the fertility of eggs from c...
متن کاملTranscription of growth hormone mRNA as a molecular marker of egg quality in Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii)
The Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) is an economically important species. Sturgeon stockassessment during fingerling production is considered to be one of the most difficult phases ofhatchery rearing. The present study investigated the expression of growth hormone (GH)mRNA in unfertilized eggs, fertilized eggs, eyed eggs (2 day before hatching), non-viable eggsand newly-hatched Siberian st...
متن کاملاثر وزن و مدت زمان نگهداری بر pH آلبومین و قدرت جوجه درآوری تخم مرغهای قابل جوجه کشی
This study aims to determine the effects of storage period and egg weight on albumen pH and hatchability of hatching eggs. For this purpose, the eggs produced by native breeder hens (28 - 31 weeks of age) were used in a completely randomized design with a 3 × 8 factorial arrangement. The main factors were 3 egg weight ranges (46 - 49, 50 - 52 and 53 - 56) and 8 storage periods (1, 3, 6, 9, 12, ...
متن کامل