The Role of Citizen Science in the Research and Management of Invasive Lionfish across the Western Atlantic

Managing invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) in the Western Atlantic Ocean is beyond the capacity of natural resource organizations alone. In response, organizations have mobilized members of the public and citizen scientists to help. We used a structured survey to assess the activities and perceptions of 71 organizations that engage the public and citizen scientists in lionfish research and management throughout the invaded range of the Western Atlantic. Five case studies were also conducted that exemplified varied and multi-pronged approaches to engagement of the public and citizen scientists in lionfish control, monitoring, and knowledge-sharing. The public has been engaged to some extent in every approach, but organizations most frequently indicated engaging members of the public in raising awareness, promoting consumption, organized culling/removal, tournaments, and data collection. Sixty-five percent of organizations surveyed engaged the public in data collection, and data collection was ranked as the scientific research activity in which the public is most often involved. Most organizations indicated their data has contributed to scientific publications, management, and government agency research and/or policy. Collectively these findings demonstrate the conservation value of citizen scientists to assist organizational efforts to control, manage, and study a large-scale marine invasion.

Updated distribution of four stenohaline fish species in Labrador, Canada

Distributions of freshwater fish species in Labrador are poorly documented as the region is remote and sparsely inhabited. Here, we update distributions of four species native to the Labrador Peninsula based on data collected over 10 years: Burbot (Lota lota), Round Whitefish (Prosopium cylindraceum), Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush), and Slimy Sculpin (Cottus cognatus). In northern Labrador, our findings extend their ranges inland and northwest of their formerly reported distributions. Their presence in previously unknown locations indicates an alternative post-glacial colonization pathway to one previously proposed that suggested an isolated pocket of Lake Trout in a northern coastal area colonized through marine invasion. Instead, we suggest that overland colonization occurred when glacial Lake Naskaupi withdrew across Quebec into several northern drainages. In southern Labrador, we found Lake Trout and Round Whitefish to the southeast of their previously reported ranges. The discovery of an isolated population of Lake Trout in a remote location of southeast Labrador implies that they may have existed in the area historically (6000 years ago), but have undergone a range contraction with a warming climate. In addition, 22 new locations are documented for Lake Trout within their established range.

Considering Commercial Vessels as Potential Vectors of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is a troubling new disease that is spreading rapidly across the greater Caribbean region, but the etiological agent(s) and the mechanisms(s) of spread are both unknown. First detected off the coast of Miami, Florida, major ocean currents alone do not explain the pattern of spread, with outbreaks occurring across geographically disjunct and distant locations. This has raised concerns by researchers and resource managers that commercial vessels may contribute as vectors to spread of the disease. Despite existing regulatory and management strategies intended to limit coastal marine invasion risks, the efficacy of these measures is still unresolved for ship-borne microorganisms, and disease transport via ballast water and hull biofouling are under examination given the high ship traffic in the region. Here, to help inform the discussion of ships as possible vectors of SCTLD, we provide an overview of the current state of knowledge about ships and their potential to transfer organisms in the greater Caribbean, focusing in particular on ballast water, and outline a set of recommendations for future research.

An overview of the land subsidence phenomena occurring in Greece, triggered by the overexploitation of the aquifers for irrigation and mining purposes

Land subsidence caused by overexploitation of aquifers manifests with an increasing frequency in several regions of Greece. The first signs of land subsidence have been identified since 1965 at the west side of Thessaloniki (broader Kalochori village region), in the form of a progressive marine invasion. Since then several areas have been investigated and proved to be affected mainly by the overexploitation of the aquifers. The Multidisciplinary nature of the subsidence mechanism combining the geological, hydrogeological and morphological setting of the areas with the human activities and the land use data makes their study complicated and require the intervention of multiple scientific specialties. Furthermore, at several sites, beside ground truth data, the land subsidence trends and extends have been also identified via multi-temporal InSAR techniques, such as PSI and SBAS techniques. Among the sites to be presented in the current paper is the wider area of Kalochori village in the eastern part of Thessaloniki plain, the east and west Thessaly plain in central Greece and the region extending to the west–southwest of the Amyntaio opencast coalmine in West Macedonia.