The role of recreational boating in the introduction and spread of marine invasive species
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Introduction and spread of non-indigenous species is a significant threat to the preservation of global biodiversity. Human-mediated vectors are responsible for transporting potentially invasive species to new habitats throughout the world. This research investigates the role of recreational boating movements as a vector for introduction and spread of invasive species. A baseline survey of subtidal fouling communities was conducted using artificial substrates in marinas of the southern Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. There was both a high presence of non-indigenous species and high non-indigenous species fouling cover in some marinas, indicating a likely negative impact on native communities. A dive survey which examined the species present on the underwater surfaces of recreational boats in marinas throughout British Columbia showed that more than two-thirds of boats examined had macrofouling present and one-quarter had one or more known non-indigenous species. In combination, a boater questionnaire was used to describe the movements and behaviours of the boaters themselves and behaviour patterns indicated a risk of non-indigenous species transport. The results of the dive survey and boater questionnaire were then used to develop a model that predicts the presence of fouling on boats based on three variables (age of antifouling paint, time in water and incidence of long trips). The biomechanical properties of non-indigenous species were compared to native species and non-indigenous species had both stronger attachment and lower drag than similar native species, indicating they have the ability to remain attached to fast-moving marine vessels. Finally, a statistical analysis was conducted comparing environmental, demographic and vector variables in explaining the spatial distribution of non-native species. The results showed that recreational boating played a stronger role in the distribution of subtidal non-native species than the original introduction vectors, aquaculture and shipping. This body of research demonstrates that recreational boating is a significant vector for the introduction and spread of invasive species in this region and around the world. It is the first comprehensive study of the recreational boating vector in Canadian marine waters and the results have important implications for the prevention of new introductions and the preservation of biodiversity.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".