Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a threat to human health, local economies, and coastal ecosystems. Generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) were fitted using a 24-y database in order to predict future occurrences of three distinct species of HABs on the Canadian East Coast, the dinoflagellates Dinophysis acuminata and D. norvegica, and the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia seriata.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe 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 management under specific circumstances. This study evaluated local and regional case studies to provide clarity for situations, where ships could be excepted or exempted from ballast water management without risking recipient locations to new introductions of HAOP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDispersal heterogeneity is an important process that can compensate for downstream advection, enabling aquatic organisms to persist or spread upstream. Our main focus was the effect of year-to-year variation in larval dispersal on invasion spread rate. We used the green crab, Carcinus maenas, as a case study.
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