U.S. - China Planning Visits: Forecasting the Potential Impacts of Invasive Species in Aquatic Ecosystems

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The US has a number of aquatic invasive species from Asia and the threat of future invasions from the continent of Asia is on the rise due to increasing traffic amongst the two continents. Likewise, North American species are currently invading waters in Asia. The overall goal of the project is to initiate and sustain a long-term collaboration with researchers in China to understand ecosystem resiliency and sustainability so as to prevent and/or minimize the negative impacts of invasive species on native aquatic fauna, preserving aquatic ecosystems services. Specific research objectives are to 1) develop ecosystem models to quantify invasive species impacts on Great Lakes and Chinese lake and reservoir ecosystems; 2) exchange information on invasive species; 3) develop a full proposal to the NSF Environmental Sustainability program on the independent and synergistic effects of invasive species, climate change and eutrophication on aquatic ecosystem resiliency and sustainability; and 4) train a US postdoctoral fellow and Chinese students to conduct ecosystem modeling, write grant proposals, establish collaborations. To complete our project, US researchers will travel for two weeks to China twice over the course of a year. During these trips, the US and Chinese teams will hold meetings and presentations on ecosystem modeling, invasive species, and ecosystem resiliency. Researchers and students will participate in monthly conference calls to report progress and discuss proposal development.This collaboration will help shape the way scientists study invasive species, including Asian carps, toward a proactive and holistic research approach that utilizes expert knowledge from researchers in the country of origin. It also will mutually benefit researchers in both the US and China who are studying invasive species by providing access to well-developed knowledge bases in these countries. As a result, researchers in both countries can build better ecosystem models to address research questions, provide more reliable predictions to policy-makers, and ultimately improve management of invasive species. This collaboration will benefit broadly three aspects of scientific study: research, education, and outreach. This collaboration is expected to create a pathway for future collaborations involving researchers and students from multiple disciplines on issues of invasive species of concern in both countries. Educationally, this initial grant and the follow-on proposal will provide educational and research opportunities for students from both China and the US. Outreach activities include attendance at scientific seminars and meetings and publications in scientific journals to disseminate critical information to managers, the public and other researchers on invasive species ecosystem impacts.