Environment and shipping drive environmental DNA beta-diversity among commercial ports.

The spread of nonindigenous species by shipping is a large and growing global problem that harms coastal ecosystems and economies and may blur coastal biogeographical patterns. This study coupled eukaryotic environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding with dissimilarity regression to test the hypothesis that ship-borne species spread homogenizes port communities. We first collected and metabarcoded water samples from ports in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas.

Global marine biosecurity and ship lay-ups: intensifying effects of trade disruptions.

Recent global trade disruptions, due to blockage of the Suez Canal and cascading effects of COVID-19, have altered the movement patterns of commercial ships and may increase worldwide invasions of marine non-indigenous species. Organisms settle on the hulls and underwater surfaces of vessels and can accumulate rapidly, especially when vessels remain stationary during lay-ups and delays. Once present, organisms can persist on vessels for long-periods (months to years), with the potential to release propagules and seed invasions as ships visit ports across the global transportation network.

Characteristics of global port phytoplankton and implications for current ballast water regulations.

The International Maritime Organization and U.S. Coast Guard have implemented regulations to reduce introductions of non-indigenous species via ballast water (BW).

Formation of Brominated Organic Compounds and Molecular Transformations in Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) after Ballast Water Treatment with Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate Dihydrate (DICD).

Estuarine water treated with a ballast water management system (BWMS) using a solution of dissolved dichloroisocyanurate dihydrate (DICD) resulted in the formation of newly described brominated disinfection byproducts (Br-DBPs). Analysis of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in untreated water with ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) identified 3897 / ions and their exact molecular formulas. After DICD treatment, a total of 213 halogenated molecular ions with relative abundance of at least 1% were assigned and confirmed using isotope simulation.

Potential application of SMART II for Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 detection in ship's ballast water.

Ballast water is used to safely stabilize and operate shipping vessels worldwide, in a multitude of aquatic settings, including inland, coastal and open oceans. However, ballast water may pose ecological, public health, and/or economic problems as it may serve as vehicles of transmission of microorganisms. Current ballast water regulations include limits of Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp.

Long-term algal toxicity of oxidant treated ballast water.

National and international regulations require that ships' ballast water is treated to minimize the risk of introducing potentially invasive species. A common approach employed by commercial ballast water management systems is chlorination. This study presents the algal toxicity findings for three chlorination-based BWMS and their implications to environmental safety of port waters receiving treated ballast water from ships.

Feasibility of potable water generators to meet vessel numeric ballast water discharge limits.

Ballast water is taken on-board vessels into ballast water tanks to maintain vessel draft, buoyancy, and stability. Unmanaged ballast water contains aquatic organisms that, when transported and discharged to non-native waters, may establish as invasive species. Technologies capable of achieving regulatory limits designed to decrease the likelihood of invasion include onboard ballast water management systems.

Evaluation of approaches to quantify total residual oxidants in ballast water management systems employing chlorine for disinfection.

With the maturation and certification of several ballast water management systems that employ chlorine as biocide to prevent the spread of invasive species, there is a clear need for accurate and reliable total residual oxidants (TRO) technology to monitor treatment dose and assure the environmental safety of treated water discharged from ships. In this study, instruments used to measure TRO in wastewater and drinking water applications were evaluated for their performance in scenarios mimicking a ballast water treatment application (e.g.

How many organisms are in ballast water discharge? A framework for validating and selecting compliance monitoring tools.

As regulations governing the discharge of living organisms in ships' ballast water enter into force, tools to rapidly and easily measure compliance with the discharge standards will be essential. To assess, validate, and select compliance tools, a framework-consisting of three parts-is presented: proof-of-concept, validation and verification, and final selection stages. Next, a case study describing the proof-of-concept stage is discussed.

Stratification of living organisms in ballast tanks: how do organism concentrations vary as ballast water is discharged?

Vertical migrations of living organisms and settling of particle-attached organisms lead to uneven distributions of biota at different depths in the water column. In ballast tanks, heterogeneity could lead to different population estimates depending on the portion of the discharge sampled. For example, concentrations of organisms exceeding a discharge standard may not be detected if sampling occurs during periods of the discharge when concentrations are low.

Enumerating sparse organisms in ships' ballast water: why counting to 10 is not so easy.

To reduce ballast water-borne aquatic invasions worldwide, the International Maritime Organization and United States Coast Guard have each proposed discharge standards specifying maximum concentrations of living biota that may be released in ships' ballast water (BW), but these regulations still lack guidance for standardized type approval and compliance testing of treatment systems. Verifying whether BW meets a discharge standard poses significant challenges. Properly treated BW will contain extremely sparse numbers of live organisms, and robust estimates of rare events require extensive sampling efforts.