About
125
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Introduction
My research interests focus on aquatic invasions, with emphasis on ship-mediated introductions in the Laurentian Great Lakes and the Canadian Arctic. I study planktonic invaders, vectors and pathways of introduction, conduct risk assessment, evaluate strategies to prevent introductions and tools for monitoring. I am also interested in advancing invasion theory, such as understanding the relationship between population density and invasion success.
Additional affiliations
July 2010 - present
University of Toronto at Scarborough
Position
- Professor (Associate)
September 2007 - present
April 2007 - present
Publications
Publications (125)
At least 39,215 alien species and more than 37,000 established alien species have been recorded worldwide and occurrences of established alien species have been reported from all countries and all ecosystems globally. The number of established alien species has risen at continuously accelerating rates for centuries, recently reaching the highest to...
Ships’ ballast water and sediments are vectors that contribute to the unintentional spread of aquatic non-native species globally. Ballast water management, as well as commissioning testing of ballast water management systems and compliance monitoring under the regulations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) aim at minimizing the unwan...
Standardized terminology in science is important for clarity of interpretation and communication. In invasion science – a dynamic and rapidly evolving discipline – the proliferation of technical terminology has lacked a standardized framework for its development. The result is a convoluted and inconsistent usage of terminology, with various discrep...
Marine ecosystem-based management (EBM) is recognized as the best practice for managing multiple ocean-use sectors, explicitly addressing tradeoffs among them. However, implementation is perceived as challenging and often slow. A poll of over 150 international EBM experts revealed progress, challenges, and solutions in EBM implementation worldwide....
The Working Group on Ballast and Other Ship Vectors under the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and Inter-national Maritime Organization (ICES/IOC/IMO WGBOSV) aims to provide scientific support to international decision-making to reduce the risk of spread and establishment of...
Approximately 65% of established non-indigenous species (NIS) identified in the Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence River basin (GLSLR) since 1959 were introduced by ballast water discharges from transoceanic vessels. While the rate of new detections has sharply declined, NIS already present may spread within the system—including upstream—through secondary...
Standardized terminology in science is important for clarity of interpretation and communication. In invasion science — a dynamic and quickly evolving discipline — the rapid proliferation of technical terminology has lacked a standardized framework for its language development. The result is a convoluted and inconsistent usage of terminology, with...
A number of ballast water compliance monitoring devices (CMDs) have been made commercially available to verify the efficacy of ballast water management systems by quantifying the living organisms for both plankton size classes (≥50 μm and ≥10–<50 μm). This study aimed to examine whether new CMDs can provide a reliable indication of compliance regar...
The environmental similarity scores between source and recipient locations are essential in ballast water risk assessment (BWRA) models used to estimate the potential for non-indigenous species (NIS) introduction, survival, and establishment, and to guide management strategies aiming to minimize biodiversity loss and economic impacts. Previous BWRA...
Arctic warming is occurring at a much faster rate than in other parts of the globe, with potentially devastating consequences for the diverse array of species within ecologically and biologically sensitive areas in the Arctic marine region. However, climate change research in this region is sparse compared to other biomes, hindering conservation ef...
Biofouling is the accumulation of organisms (such as algae, mussels, barnacles, and other taxa) on underwater surfaces. Biofouling on vessels is seen as undesirable, as it reduces vessel fuel efficiency through increased drag, and has potential to transfer organisms over long distances to locations outside their natural biogeographic region. Compar...
Ballast water is recognized as a leading pathway for the introduction of aquatic non‐indigenous species which have caused substantial ecological damage globally.
Following international regulations, most international ships will install a ballast water management system (BWMS) by 2024 to limit the concentration of aquatic organisms in ballast water...
To minimize the global transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has introduced the standard in Regulation D-2 to limit the number of viable organisms in ballast water discharged by ships. To meet the standard, many ships are installing ballast water management systems. Concurrently, regulato...
Ballast water is a leading pathway for the global introduction of aquatic nonindigenous species. Most international ships are expected to install ballast water management systems (BWMS) by 2024 to treat ballast water before release. This study examines if ballast water discharges managed by BWMS are meeting standards for organisms ≥50 μm in minimum...
Ship biofouling is a major vector for the introduction and spread of harmful marine species globally; however, its importance in Arctic coastal ecosystems is understudied. The objective of this study was to provide insight regarding the extent of biofouling (i.e., percent cover, abundance, and species richness) on commercial ships operating in the...
Global ballast water management aims to reduce the transport and introduction of non-indigenous species through practices such as ballast water exchange and ballast water treatment. Comprehensive enforcement to ensure vessels are meeting ballast water management requirements are a key part of success, but such activities are
limited by available re...
The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Ballast Water Management Convention permits nations to grant exemptions from specific ballast water management requirements to ships travelling or exclusively operating between specified ports. Furthermore, exemptions must be granted based on scientifically robust risk assessments that indicate a ship...
The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) aims to mitigate the introduction risk of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens (HAOP) via ships’ ballast water and sediments. The BWM Convention has set regulations for ships to utilise exceptions and exemptions from ballast water m...
Global coastal aquatic ecosystems are negatively impacted by the introduction of harmful aquatic species through the discharge of ships’ ballast water. To reduce discharges of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens, such as toxic phytoplankton species, ships are now transitioning to the use of ballast water management systems (BWMS) instead of bal...
To verify ships' compliance with ballast water regulations, samples may be collected and tested for viable organisms. This task is completed using a sample probe, which is placed in the ballast discharge pipe through a sample port (a flanged opening). To collect representative samples, the placement of the sample port and the size of the sample pro...
Despite the availability of research which has direct applications to environmental management, there is often a disconnect between scientific research and applied management that presents challenges for using academic knowledge in day‐to‐day operations by non‐scientists.
A science‐based decision support tool was developed in partnership with Canad...
The movement of ballast water by commercial shipping is a prominent pathway for aquatic invasions. Ships’ ballast water management is now transitioning from open ocean exchange to a ballast water performance standard that will effectively require use of onboard treatment systems. Neither strategy is perfect, therefore, combined use of ballast water...
Aim
The introduction of aquatic non‐indigenous species (ANS) has become a major driver for global changes in species biogeography. We examined spatial patterns and temporal trends of ANS detections since 1965 to inform conservation policy and management.
Location
Global.
Methods
We assembled an extensive dataset of first records of detection of A...
New global standards on sulphur content in marine fuels have led to an increasing number of ships installing exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS), also known as scrubbers, to reduce their emissions of sulphur oxides to the atmosphere. Ships equipped with a scrubber can continue to use heavy fuel oil, and the process results in discharges of large vo...
Understanding the likely future impacts of biological invasions is crucial yet highly challenging given the multiple relevant environmental, socio‐economic and societal contexts and drivers. In the absence of quantitative models, methods based on expert knowledge are the best option for assessing future invasion trajectories. Here, we present an ex...
With the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments now in force, determining abundance and distribution of phytoplankton inside ballast tanks is critical for successful ballast water management, particularly when assessing compliance. The relationship be...
The movement of ballast water is a prominent pathway for the dispersal of harmful aquatic
species. As a continuous effort to better prevent invasions via this high-risk pathway, the current
management strategy of ballast water exchange (BWE) will be gradually replaced by the
International Maritime Organization’s D-2 ballast water performance sta...
The Working Group on the Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms (WGITMO) has contributed several major achievements to the ICES vision, including the first ICES Viewpoint on Biofouling and its source document, two Cooperative Research Reports, and numerous pub-lications related to ToRs, and the continued population of the AquaNIS database....
Biofouled vessels create novel, mobile habitats characterized by great abundances of opportunistic and non-native species. Vessel biofouling affects the environment as well as the economics of vessel management. If established in new regions, these vessel-transported species can affect gene flow, population dynamics, community structure, distributi...
Climate change and increased anthropogenic activities are expected to elevate the potential of introducing nonindigenous species (NIS) into the Arctic. Yet, the knowledge base needed to identify gaps and priorities for NIS research and management is limited. Here, we reviewed primary introduction events to each ecoregion of the marine Arctic realm...
Chlorine efficacy as a biocide for ballast water treatment was investigated under cold- and warm-water temperatures across winter and summer seasons. Freshwater phytoplankton samples were collected and acclimated under in situ environmental conditions ranging from 2 to 22 °C. Samples were exposed to seven chlorine treatments (from 0.02 to 5.0 ppm),...
Following the Editorial addressing the BALMAS project, we open the ballast water management special issue for the Adriatic Sea by providing background information on non-indigenous species and the mechanisms (vectors) of transport. Problems allocating introduction mechanisms for various species with certainty are described; in general, key introduc...
Biological invasions are largely considered to be a “numbers game”, wherein the larger the introduction effort, the greater the probability that an introduced population will become established. However, conditions during transport – an early stage of the invasion – can be particularly harsh, thereby greatly reducing the size of a population availa...
The article Domestic ships as a potential pathway of nonindigenous species from the Saint Lawrence River to the Great Lakes, written by Abisola A. Adebayo, Aibin Zhan, Sarah A. Bailey, Hugh J. MacIsaac, was originally published Online First without open access. After publication in volume 16, issue 4, page 793–801, the author decided to opt for Ope...
Invasions of freshwater habitats by marine and brackish species have become more frequent in recent years with many of those species originating from the Ponto-Caspian region. Populations of Ponto-Caspian species have successfully established in the North and Baltic Seas and their adjoining rivers, as well as in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River r...
Zooplankton populations are spatially heterogeneous in nature and inside ship ballast tanks. Sampling methods should take heterogeneity into account, particularly when estimating quantitative variables such as abundance or concentration. It is particularly important to generate unbiased estimates of zooplankton concentration in ballast water when a...
Non-indigenous species seriously threaten native biodiversity. To reduce establishments, the International Maritime Organization established the Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments which limits organism concentrations at discharge under regulation D-2. Most ships will comply by using on-board treatment sy...
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set limits on allowable plankton concentrations in ballast water discharge to minimize aquatic invasions globally. Previous guidance on ballast water sampling and compliance decision thresholds was based on the assumption that probability distributions of plankton are Poisson when spatially homogeno...
A model-based assessment was conducted to estimate the ecological risk of recreational boating as a pathway for the secondary spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) in the Great Lakes basin (GLB). Boater-mediated spread was quantified based on the number, type, and spatial distribution of recreational boating trips in the GLB, the infestation of...
With the recent ratification of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004, it will soon be necessary to assess ships for compliance with ballast water discharge standards. Sampling skids that allow the efficient collection of ballast water samples in a compact space have been developed f...
Regulatory discharge standards stipulating a maximum allowable number of viable organisms in ballast water have led to a need for rapid, easy and accurate compliance assessment tools and protocols. Some potential tools presume that organisms present in ballast water samples display the same characteristics of life as the native community (e.g. rate...
To prevent new ballast water-mediated introductions of aquatic nonindigenous species (NIS), many ships will soon use approved Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) to meet discharge standards for the maximum number of viable organisms in ballast water. Type approval testing of BWMS is typically conducted during warmer seasons when plankton concen...
Promising approaches for indicative analysis of ballast water samples have been developed that require study in the field to examine their utility for determining compliance with the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments. To address this gap, a voyage was undertaken on board the RV Meteor, sai...
Many commercial ships will soon begin to use treatment systems to manage their ballast water and reduce the global transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens in accordance with upcoming International Maritime Organization regulations. As a result, rapid and accurate automated methods will be needed to monitoring compliance of ships' ballas...
Human-mediated vectors often inadvertently translocate species assemblages to new environments. Examining the dynamics of entrained species assemblages during transport can provide insights into the introduction risk associated with these vectors. Ship biofouling is a major transport vector of nonindigenous species in coastal ecosystems globally, y...
The unintentional release of aquatic nonindigenous species (NIS) via ballast water has long been recognized as a primary vector of biological invasions. To reduce the risk of ballast-mediated invasions, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will direct ships to meet standards regarding the maximum number of viable organisms discharged in ba...
Understanding the functional relationship between the sample size and the performance
of species richness estimators is necessary to optimize limited sampling resources
against estimation error. Nonparametric estimators such as Chao and Jackknife
demonstrate strong performances, but consensus is lacking as to which estimator performs
better under c...
Correct species identifications are of tremendous importance for invasion ecology, as mistakes could lead to misdirecting limited resources against harmless species or inaction against problematic ones. DNA barcoding is becoming a promising and reliable tool for species identifications, however the efficacy of such molecular taxonomy depends on gen...
In a world where invasive alien species (IAS) are recognised as one of the major threats to biodiversity, leading scientists from five continents have come together to propose the concept of developing an international association for open knowledge and open data on IAS—termed " INVASIVESNET ". This new association will facilitate greater understan...
Are genetic databases sufficiently populated
to detect non-indigenous species?
Correct species identifications are of tremendous importance for invasion ecology, as mistakes could lead to misdirecting limited resources against harmless species or inaction against problematic ones. DNA barcoding is becoming a promising and reliable tool for species identifications, however the efficacy of such molecular taxonomy depends on gen...
Species invasions depend on the abundance and rate at which organisms are introduced to new localities, known as propagule pressure. Due to the challenges of measuring propagule pressure, proxy variables are often used; however, untested proxy variables may obscure the role of propagule pressure vs. ecological factors that facilitate invasion, lead...