Examining risk of, and management strategies for, ship biofouling as a vector of aquatic nonindigenous species to Canada

在其本地范围之外建立种群的物种被称为非本地物种，而那些具有负面影响的物种被称为入侵物种。随着全球化在全球范围内有意和无意的物种转移的增加，物种入侵的影响变得越来越成问题。入侵物种可能通过与本地物种竞争有限的资源，破坏自然食物网，导致当地物种灭绝，破坏许多陆地和水生系统的生态系统功能和自然资源，从而影响接收生态系统。国际航运提供了一种有效的传播机制，使物种能够绕过生物地理障碍，到达远远超出其原生范围的地区。各种各样的海洋物种可以附着在船体上，并作为生物污垢被转移到遥远的港口。这项拟议的研究将通过检查与物种引入风险较高相关的船舶操作因素（如航行速度、港口停留时间、防污管理实践和航行历史），为加拿大水域启动一个全面的船舶生物污染计划。本研究将根据气候和先前的入侵历史，研究物种引入后的建立潜力和负面影响。这项研究将确定哪些航运途径可能通过生物污染将水生非本地物种引入加拿大，以及加拿大哪些港口/地点最容易受到未来引入的影响。该项目将开发一个决策支持工具，可用于预测/优先考虑未来研究或监测活动中抵达加拿大的船只；并将确定一份“加拿大最不受通缉”的非本地物种名单，该名单可用于指导高风险港口/地点的监测（早期发现）活动。最后，该项目将研究评估和管理生物污染的工具，潜在地确定可用于管理或降低与航运相关的新引入风险的做法。这项研究有望改善与水生非本地物种全球转移有关的海洋运输实践。这项研究将使政府能够做出监管决定，使工业界能够根据科学证据制定最佳管理实践，从而更好地保护加拿大的水生生态系统。

Species that have established populations outside of their native range are known as nonindigenous species and those having negative impact as invasive species. The impact of species invasions has become increasingly problematic as globalization has increased both intentional and unintentional species transfers worldwide. Invasive species may impact recipient ecosystems by competing with native species for limited resources and disrupting the natural food web, causing local extinctions and damaging ecosystem function and natural resources in many terrestrial and aquatic systems. International shipping provides an effective dispersal mechanism that allows species to bypass biogeographic barriers and reach areas far beyond their native range. A wide variety of marine species can attach to ship hulls and be moved to distant ports as biofouling. This proposed research will initiate a comprehensive ship biofouling program for Canadian waters by examining the ship operational factors (e.g. sailing speed, port layover time, antifouling management practices, and voyage history) that are associated with higher risk of species introductions. This research will examine the potential for establishment and negative impacts after species are introduced based on climate and prior invasion history. This study will identify which shipping pathways are likely to pose the greatest risk of introduction of aquatic nonindigenous species to Canada by biofouling, and which Canadian ports/locations are most vulnerable to future introductions. This project will develop a decision-support tool that can be used to predict/prioritize ships arriving to Canada for future research or monitoring activities; and will identify a “Canada's least wanted” list of nonindigenous species that could be used to guide monitoring (early detection) activities at the high risk ports/locations. Finally, this project will examine tools for the assessment and management of biofouling, potentially identifying practices that can be used to manage or reduce the risk of new introductions associated with shipping. This research is expected to improve marine transportation practices related to the global transfer of aquatic nonindigenous species. This research will enable government to make regulatory decisions and industry to institute best management practices, based on scientific evidence, that will provide better environmental protection of Canada's aquatic ecosystems.