Ballast water exchange and invasion risk posed by ... - ACS Publications

global efforts to reduce risk of ballast water mediated invasions. ... the creation of various legal instruments for mitigating invasion risks posed b...
0 downloads 0 Views 1MB Size
Subscriber access provided by University of South Dakota

Environmental Measurements Methods

Ballast water exchange and invasion risk posed by intra-coastal vessel traffic: An evaluation using high throughput sequencing John Darling, John Martinson, Yunguo Gong, Sara Okum, Erik Pilgrim, katrina Lohan, Katharine J. Carney, and Gregory Ruiz Environ. Sci. Technol., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b02108 • Publication Date (Web): 30 Jul 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on July 31, 2018

Just Accepted “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. They are posted online prior to technical editing, formatting for publication and author proofing. The American Chemical Society provides “Just Accepted” as a service to the research community to expedite the dissemination of scientific material as soon as possible after acceptance. “Just Accepted” manuscripts appear in full in PDF format accompanied by an HTML abstract. “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been fully peer reviewed, but should not be considered the official version of record. They are citable by the Digital Object Identifier (DOI®). “Just Accepted” is an optional service offered to authors. Therefore, the “Just Accepted” Web site may not include all articles that will be published in the journal. After a manuscript is technically edited and formatted, it will be removed from the “Just Accepted” Web site and published as an ASAP article. Note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the manuscript text and/or graphics which could affect content, and all legal disclaimers and ethical guidelines that apply to the journal pertain. ACS cannot be held responsible for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in these “Just Accepted” manuscripts.

is published by the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036 Published by American Chemical Society. Copyright © American Chemical Society. However, no copyright claim is made to original U.S. Government works, or works produced by employees of any Commonwealth realm Crown government in the course of their duties.

Page 1 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

TITLE: Ballast water exchange and invasion risk posed by intra-coastal vessel traffic: An evaluation using high throughput sequencing SHORT TITLE: Metabarcoding analysis of ballast water exchange

AUTHORS: John A. Darling1*, John Martinson1, Yunguo Gong2, Sara Okum2, Erik Pilgrim1, Katrina M. Pagenkopp Lohan3, Katharine J. Carney3, and Gregory M. Ruiz3

AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS: 1

United States Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory

2

contractor to United States Environmental Protection Agency

3

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037 USA

*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: US Environmental Protection Agency National Exposure Research Laboratory 109 T.W. Alexander Drive Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 Phone: 1-919-541-1912 Email: [email protected]

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

1

ABSTRACT:

2

Ballast water remains a potent vector of non-native aquatic species introductions, despite increased

3

global efforts to reduce risk of ballast water mediated invasions. This is particularly true of intra-coastal

4

vessel traffic, whose characteristics may limit the feasibility and efficacy of management through ballast

5

water exchange (BWE). Here we utilize High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) to assess biological

6

communities associated with ballast water being delivered to Valdez, Alaska from multiple source ports

7

along the Pacific Coast of the United States. Our analyses indicate that BWE has a significant but modest

8

effect on ballast water assemblages. Although overall richness was not reduced with exchange, we

9

detected losses of some common benthic coastal taxa (e.g. decapods, mollusks, bryozoans, cnidaria) and

10

gains of open ocean taxa (e.g., certain copepods, diatoms, and dinoflagellates), including some

11

potentially toxic species. HTS-based metabarcoding identified significantly differentiated biodiversity

12

signatures from individual source ports; this signal persisted, though weakened, in vessels undergoing

13

BWE, indicating incomplete faunal turnover associated with management. Our analysis also enabled

14

identification of taxa that may be of particular concern if established in Alaskan waters. While these

15

results reveal a clear effect of BWE on diversity in intra-coastal transit, they also indicate continued

16

introduction risk of non-native and harmful taxa.

17 18

KEYWORDS:

19

Ballast water, ballast water exchange, high throughput sequencing, metabarcoding, invasive species,

20

surveillance

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 2 of 35

Page 3 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

21

INTRODUCTION

22

For over three decades the transport of ballast water (BW) has been acknowledged as an important

23

vector of species introductions to coastal ecosystems and has been implicated in establishment of

24

invasive species with significant ecological and socio-economic impacts1-3. This recognition has driven

25

the creation of various legal instruments for mitigating invasion risks posed by global vessel traffic. The

26

most widely relevant such instrument, the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2004

27

International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments,

28

entered into force in September 2017 and mandates attainment of numerical organism discharge

29

standards achievable through BW treatment4. In the United States, similar numerical standards have

30

been adopted in the 2012 final BW rule of the US Coast Guard (USCG) and in the US Environmental

31

Protection Agency’s (USEPA) 2013 Vessel General Permit5, 6.

32

These numerical standards herald a significant step in the evolution of increasingly rigorous

33

management practices aimed at reducing invasion risk associated with BW. Prior to the adoption of

34

discharge standards, management practices have focused primarily on open ocean BW exchange (BWE),

35

adopted as a means to reduce both the abundance of coastal organisms in ballast tanks (through

36

replacement with open ocean water and associated taxa) and their viability (through salinity shock)7.

37

Although numerical standards are meant to supersede BWE, schedules for implementation of approved

38

treatment systems will preclude full compliance with the international standard until 20248, and

39

extensions of installation deadlines in the US will likely continue until 20219. In the interim, BWE remains

40

an important and widely used management tool, and understanding its effectiveness is an important

41

aim of BW research. While in many cases BWE has been shown to result in dramatic declines in

42

propagule pressure to recipient ports10, 11, multiple studies have suggested that efficacy may vary

43

broadly depending on vessel route, voyage duration, biotic composition, and environmental

44

conditions12-14. Limitations to the efficacy of BWE may be exacerbated in the case of intra-coastal vessel

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

45

traffic, where exemptions frequently enable transfer of unexchanged ballast, greatly elevating risks of

46

invasion posed by such voyages15-17.

47

Here we explore biodiversity of BW being transported to Valdez, Alaska (AK) from multiple ports on the

48

Pacific coast of the US. Given the prevalence of known invasive coastal species in west coast donor

49

(source) ports, voyages from the mainland US to AK potentially present substantial invasion risk18, 19.

50

That risk may be heightened in the future by increasing vessel traffic and warming trends at higher

51

latitudes20, 21, particularly for dispersal-limited species whose intracoastal spread is mediated primarily

52

by human vectors. We explore the role of BWE in moderating this risk by comparing diversity present on

53

ships conducting BWE with that present in unmanaged ballast. To obtain a broad survey of metazoan

54

diversity in ballast tanks, we employ High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) based on a nuclear 18S

55

ribosomal DNA locus, which allows assessment of both metazoan and protist communities. HTS-based

56

approaches have become widely adopted in various marine monitoring contexts22-25, and a growing

57

number of studies are beginning to apply these tools to BW surveillance26, 27. The primary objective of

58

the current study was to explore the power of HTS data to ascertain biodiversity signatures associated

59

both with geography (location of ballast uptake) and with biotic turnover driven by BWE. In addition, we

60

attempt to identify specific taxa that are either indicative of BWE or potentially represent risk of

61

invasion to AK coastal waters. Our results contribute to a growing literature establishing the value of

62

HTS as a tool for understanding biological invasions, and add to our knowledge of the risks posed by

63

intra-coastal vessel traffic and the challenges associated with managing those risks.

64 65

MATERIALS and METHODS

66

Sampling. All vessels sampled were crude oil tankers arriving at the Valdez Marine Terminal, AK (Figure

67

1). On each vessel researchers collected the following information: BW source location, date of uptake,

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 4 of 35

Page 5 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

68

management (yes or no), type of management, date of management, and last port of call. Ballast tanks

69

were accessed via a manhole on deck. A plankton net with 35 µm mesh (50 µm in diagonal dimension,

70

consistent with selection for the >50 µm zooplankton size class defined in IMO, USCG, and USEPA

71

regulations) was lowered into the tank until the cod end reached the bottom of the accessible tow

72

depth. The net was towed vertically through the water column at a consistent speed to the surface of

73

the tank. A manual spray washer was used to rinse the net and cod end with filtered tank water, and the

74

sample was collected in a 125 mL Nalgene sample bottle. In the laboratory, the sample was filtered

75

using a 35 µm mesh to remove the BW and preserved in 95% ethanol. Prior to processing, the sample

76

was filtered again using a 20 µm mesh and rinsed with 95% ethanol into a 50 mL Falcon tube. Vessels

77

that listed mixed ballast sources or undertook management practices other than exchange were

78

excluded from the analysis. In total 39 ships were sampled, 18 of which had undergone BWE during the

79

voyage and 21 of which discharged unmanaged ballast. Ships originated from 5 different source regions

80

along the Pacific US coast: Alaska (4 vessels, none undergoing BWE), Puget Sound (19 vessels, 11

81

undergoing BWE), Offshore Oregon (2 vessels not undergoing BWE), San Francisco Bay (8 vessels, 2

82

undergoing BWE), and Los Angeles/Long Beach (6 vessels, 4 undergoing BWE). The overall sample size

83

represents approximately 5% of the total vessel arrivals to Valdez during the sampling period.

84

DNA extraction, PCR amplification, and Sequencing. Detailed methods on sample DNA extraction and

85

preparation for amplification and sequencing are provided in Supporting Information. Samples were

86

vacuum-filtered, and the entire filter phenol-chloroform extracted to ensure complete recovery of

87

sample DNA. Each set of extractions was accompanied by a sterile water extraction blank, and each day

88

a separate filter blank was also run; these blanks were carried through the amplification and sequencing

89

process as negative controls along with negative PCR reaction controls run alongside each set of DNA

90

templates. A fragment of the small subunit (SSU or 18S) ribosomal RNA was amplified using primers

91

SSU_F04 (GCTTGTAAAGATTAAGCC ) and SSU_R22 (GCCTGCTGCCTTCCTTGGA) as described by Blaxter et

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

92

al., 199828. Subsequent cleaning and preparation of amplicons for dual-indexing PCR and MiSeq

93

sequencing was conducted according to standard protocols (see Supporting Information).

94

Bioinformatic analyses. The AK samples analyzed in this work were part of a broader sampling effort

95

including other recipient ports, and all samples were processed through a common bioinformatic

96

pipeline; numbers reported here refer only to AK samples. Additional details on sequence processing are

97

provided in Supporting Information. Briefly, ~3M pairs of raw Illumina sequences from three sequencing

98

runs were demultiplexed by sample and combined in a single working directory. After trimming of

99

primers, merging, and removal of phiX contamination, 2.5M reads remained. We selected 350 bps as a

100

standard length after evaluation of length vs. expected error rates; 1.5M sequences remained after

101

trimming and selection of full length sequences with 10x that of the maximum observed across controls;

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 6 of 35

Page 7 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

116

this latter approach was adopted to retain OTUs whose presence at high frequency in samples suggests

117

that they are ecologically relevant, despite low level contamination of controls. 583 OTUs remained

118

after these corrections.

119

Statistical analyses. OTU accumulation curves were generated by random subsampling without

120

replacement over 1,000 permutations, using the specaccum function of the vegan package30, 31 in R v.

121

3.3.332. All ordination analyses were also implemented in the vegan package, and were conducted using

122

log-transformed count data after rarefaction to the median sample size, as this approach has been

123

shown to improve analytical outcomes while minimizing loss of informative data33; alternative

124

rarefaction approaches did not alter analytical results (data not shown). Non-Metric Dimensional Scaling

125

(NMDS) was conducted in two dimensions on transformed OTU counts using Bray-Curtis distances, and

126

redundancy analysis (RDA) was conducted on transformed counts of OTUs observed at the family level

127

as ascertained through taxonomic assignment. Data transformed to presence/absence and assessed

128

using Jaccard’s distance resulted in similar analytical outcomes (see Supplemental Figure 1). Statistical

129

significance of the effect of BWE in ordinations was assessed either by testing partitions of sums of

130

squares using dissimilarities with the adonis function34 (for unconstrained NMDS) or by implementing

131

ANOVA-like permutations for the effect of constraints in RDA using the anova function35; significance of

132

all tests was determined with 1,000 permutations. Variation partitioning in RDA across multiple

133

explanatory variables was done using the varpart function in vegan, with significance assessed by

134

ANOVA on the partitions35.

135

Mantel tests of correlation between geographic distance and Bray-Curtis dissimilarity were

136

implemented in the R package ecodist36. Shortest great circle distances between pairs of sites were

137

generated based on latitude and longitude measurements using the haversine distance function

138

implemented in the R package geosphere37.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

139

Formal identification of indicator taxa was conducted using the indicspecies package in R, which

140

assesses strength of association between species patterns and groups of samples38, 39. We adopted the

141

IndVal association index (I), which is based on both the likelihood of a sample belonging to a test group

142

assuming the presence of the indicator (specificity or positive predictive power) and the likelihood of the

143

indicator being present in a sample belonging to the test group (sensitivity); 1,000 permutations were

144

used to assess statistical significance of associations. For some comparisons between managed and

145

unmanaged ballast we attempted to minimize the effect of source by restricting analysis to the 19

146

samples derived from Puget Sound.

147

Identification of coastal taxa potentially posing risk of invasion to AK was done by three methods. First,

148

we compared OTUs present in unexchanged ballast from vessels originating outside AK with those from

149

vessels originating in Nikiski, AK. OTUs with assignments to the species level that were at least 1,000

150

times more common in vessels originating outside AK were identified as taxa of potential interest.

151

Second, we cross-referenced OTU tables with lists of known invasive marine species obtained through

152

the National Exotic Marine and Estuarine Species Information System (NEMESIS40) and the World

153

Register of Introduced Marine Species (WRIMS41). Third, additional taxa of interest were identified

154

through manual inspection of OTU tables. For all taxa of interest we downloaded additional sequences

155

for comparison from GenBank, including all or a subset of the SSU gene sequences available for that

156

genus and at least one outgroup. For each genus, sequences were aligned using the MAFFT plugin with

157

default parameters in Geneious v11.0.4 (Biomatters Ltd). The ends of the alignments were trimmed to

158

remove terminal gaps. Neighbor-joining trees were then generated in Geneious v11.0.4 using the

159

Tamura-Nei genetic distance model and 1,000 bootstrap replicates with random resampling. Confidence

160

in final assignments was assessed qualitatively based on RDP confidence scores, availability of reference

161

sequences, tree topology, and bootstrap values for tree nodes.

162

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 8 of 35

Page 9 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

163

RESULTS

164

Effect of BWE on alpha and beta diversity. BWE did not have significant effect on alpha diversity. OTU

165

accumulation rates at the recipient port for vessels undergoing BWE were indistinguishable from rates

166

for vessels not managing ballast (Figure 2). We also observed no differences in alpha diversity between

167

managed and unmanaged vessels in terms of OTU count (Student’s t test, P = 0.56), number of observed

168

families (P = 0.65) or extrapolated OTU richness (Chao’s estimate42, P = 0.30) (see Supplemental Table 1).

169

However, BWE had a clear effect on beta diversity. NMDS ordination based on log-transformed OTU

170

abundance revealed statistically significant clustering of samples into management groups (Figure 3A;

171

adonis R2 = 0.0827, P < 0.001 for difference between group centroids; analysis of dispersion indicated

172

homogeneity of variance between groups), and RDA based on log-transformed abundance at the family

173

level similarly distinguished managed from unmanaged vessels (Figure 3B; ANOVA F = 3.024, P = 0.002);

174

the latter relationship was preserved even when RDA was conditioned on source port (ANOVA F = 2.727,

175

P < 0.001, data not shown). These relationships were unchanged when analysis was conducted on binary

176

data (Supplemental Figure 1). We observed no significant differences between empty-refill (ER) and

177

flow-through (FT) BWE methods, either in terms of alpha diversity (Student’s t test based on Shannon-

178

Weaver diversity, P = 0.51) or beta diversity (adonis R2 = 0.0735, P = 0.16). Generally, the effect of BWE

179

was significant but relatively weak, with adjusted R2 of only 0.0455 (Table 1). Variation partitioning

180

revealed significant correlations between beta diversity and management (BWE vs. no exchange),

181

source port, and location of most recent ballasting operations (by latitude), although the effect of

182

source port was considerably stronger than that of the other two factors. Effects of both source port

183

and BWE remained significant in partial correlations when controlling for other factors (adjusted R2 =

184

0.1702 and 0.0299, respectively).

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

185

The effect of location of ballasting operations on diversity was further confirmed by significant Mantel

186

correlations between geographic and Bray-Curtis distances (Mantel’s r = 0.3953, P = 0.001; see

187

Supplemental Figure 2). Additional support for the effect of source port was obtained through

188

ordination analyses conducted independently on managed and unmanaged vessels. Among the latter,

189

source port had a very strong and significant effect, with ordination clearly revealing regional clusters

190

based on vessel origin (Figure 4A; adonis R2 = 0.7346, P < 0.001). When considering only managed

191

vessels, the effect of source port remained significant but was considerably weaker (Figure 4B, adonis R2

192

= 0.3703, P = 0.0089), with largely overlapping regional clusters in the ordination.

193

Taxa indicative of BWE. Analysis of exchanged and unexchanged ballast originating from a single high-

194

salinity source region (Puget Sound) indicates that the major shifts in biodiversity are restricted to

195

relatively few phyla (Supplemental Figure 3), including ctenophores (decrease in relative abundance

196

associated with exchange from 6.6% to 1.1%), dinoflagellates (increase associated with exchange from

197

3.1% to 13.7%), and bacillariophytes (diatoms, increase from 0.4% to 11.5%). Across the entire dataset,

198

indicator analysis conducted at the family level (Table 2) identified 31 families out of 234 that were

199

significantly associated with either unexchanged (15 families) or exchanged (16 families) ballast.

200

Generally, taxa associated with unexchanged ballast derived from groups of benthic coastal organisms,

201

including mollusks, cnidarians, bryozoans, and crustaceans; among the latter, multiple families

202

comprised species that are typically parasitic on other benthic coastal taxa. In contrast, families

203

associated with exchanged ballast were dominated by planktonic dinoflagellates, diatoms, and other

204

protists, along with planktonic copepods.

205

Potential taxa of interest entering AK. We identified ten taxa that we considered “of concern” given

206

their potential risk of establishment in AK and their known history of invasiveness or capacity for

207

negative ecological or health impacts (Table 3). Detailed analyses of the OTUs assigned to these taxa

208

(see Supplemental Figures 4-12) revealed varying levels of confidence in initial assignments, with only

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 10 of 35

Page 11 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

209

half evaluated at “high” confidence (four species level assignments and one genus level). These included

210

two species of polychaetes, one bivalve, a genus of shrimp, and a parasitic dinoflagellate. Raw sequence

211

counts of these OTUs were not consistently lower in exchanged ballast vs. unexchanged ballast, and

212

these differences were not significantly different with the exception of the polychaete genus Capitella

213

(Student’s t test P = 0.038).

214 215

DISCUSSION

216

Efficacy of ballast water exchange. Comparisons between vessels that exchanged their BW and those

217

that did not suggest that BWE has a detectable but modest effect on the diversity of OTUs present in

218

ballast tanks. Generally, our results are consistent with expected patterns of biotic turnover resulting

219

from exchange; taxa statistically associated with unexchanged ballast tend to be benthic organisms

220

typically encountered in shallower coastal environments and ports, whereas those associated with

221

exchanged ballast are frequently planktonic open ocean taxa (Table 2). However, while the effect of

222

BWE is significant it explains only a small fraction of the observed variation in biodiversity, considerably

223

less than is explained by source port (Table 1), and it appears to have no effect on overall OTU richness

224

(Figure 2). This latter observation may result in part from compensatory changes in biodiversity

225

associated with BWE. Exchange is expected to considerably reduce concentrations of coastal biota,

226

resulting in loss of some taxa11, 43; however, richness is likely augmented with open ocean species during

227

exchange, resulting in little overall change despite shifts in community composition. Persistence of

228

residual water in exchanged tanks—as much as 5% of BW may remain even when BWE complies with

229

existing standards—may further limit shifts in biodiversity12.

230

These results are in broad agreement with previous studies revealing variable and often limited effects

231

of BWE on zooplankton and phytoplankton diversity12. BWE appears to be most reliably effective at

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

232

reducing abundance and species richness being transferred from freshwater and low salinity ports, likely

233

due to the large impact of osmotic shock on residual freshwater coastal biota when exposed to high

234

salinity open ocean water during and after exchange10, 44, 45. For other types of voyages, the reported

235

effects of exchange have been less consistent. Multiple studies have observed a reduction in abundance

236

of both phyto- and zooplankton associated with BWE, although with limited change in corresponding

237

biodiversity11, 13, 18, 43, 46. In some cases, species richness has even been observed to increase following

238

exchange16, 43. Generally, the loss of coastal species appears to be lower than expected given the rate of

239

water dilution47, and the effect of BWE on source diversity is often low when controlling for high natural

240

mortality that typically occurs in tanks11, 47. Efficacy of BWE has also been observed to vary with the

241

method of exchange employed, although results have again been variable; Cordell et al18 reported

242

greater efficacy of ER over FT exchange in reducing zooplankton abundance, whereas Simard et al11

243

found FT to be more efficient than a partial ER method. In our analysis, although mean alpha diversity

244

was lower for vessels conducting FT exchange, this difference was not significant, nor was there any

245

significant difference in beta diversity observed based on ordination.

246

Certain taxa appear to be particularly difficult to manage by BWE. Multiple studies suggest that BWE is

247

inefficient at removing dinoflagellates, and may even increase the abundance and/or diversity of some

248

species, including potentially harmful taxa11, 16, 48, 49. The previously observed association of diatoms and

249

dinoflagellates with exchanged ballast11 is again consistent with our indicator taxa analyses (Table 2).

250

Given observations of dinoflagellate cysts in ballast sediments50, it is also possible that agitation of

251

sediments associated with BWE may contribute to increased abundance of dinoflagellates and other

252

encysting organisms in ballast water. While those analyses also reveal that certain coastal taxa are

253

significantly reduced by BWE, the relatively small overall shifts in biodiversity between managed and

254

unmanaged vessels are reflective of incomplete biotic turnover associated with BWE, as is the presence

255

of a number of coastal taxa of concern in unexchanged ballast (Table 3).

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 12 of 35

Page 13 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

256

Invasion risk to Alaska associated with ballast water. A substantial volume of BW is discharged into

257

Alaskan waters, with one study providing a conservative estimate of approximately 60 million metric

258

tons discharged between 1999 and 200319. This may pose considerable risk of new species introductions

259

to the state, representing a particularly difficult challenge for environmental policy51. Of particular

260

concern is intra-coastal domestic traffic from highly invaded estuaries in California, Oregon, and

261

Washington states. Voyages among these ports have been shown to pose high risk of secondary spread

262

of established coastal invasive species17, and one study of BW entering Puget Sound revealed that

263

domestic vessels carried significantly higher densities of high risk taxa than did ships transiting the

264

Pacific18. Thus, while much of the BW being discharged into Alaska may derive from foreign arrivals19,

265

relatively short voyage lengths and dense assemblages of non-native species associated with Pacific US

266

source ports render these routes particularly problematic. This flux of propagules associated with vessel

267

traffic is unlikely to diminish in the future without significant changes in current BW management,

268

especially given the widely recognized opening of arctic ports, as well as warming trends that may

269

extend the range limits of potentially invasive species21.

270

Our analysis suggests that BWE is an incompletely protective strategy for managing this risk. As noted

271

above this limitation has been previously recognized, and explains in large part the current status of

272

BWE as an interim measure pending full implementation of BW treatment systems. Despite the

273

anticipated shift to numerical discharge standards, understanding the risks associated with current BW

274

management practices may provide valuable information for those tasked with anticipating the

275

likelihood of new introductions. This is particularly important given that the current risk profile

276

associated with BWE, as depicted here and elsewhere, may remain essentially unchanged for several

277

years while vessels move toward compliance with new regulations.

278

We clearly demonstrate that BWE has significant effects on phyto- and zooplankton assemblages, and

279

has the capacity to reduce some coastal taxa and replace them with open ocean taxa. This result

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

280

suggests that, all else being equal, greater application of best BWE practices (e.g. greater compliance

281

with BWE outside of 200 nautical miles, fewer exemptions, etc.) should decrease risk of potentially

282

damaging introductions to AK. Nevertheless, this risk cannot be reduced to zero. Overall, BWE appears

283

to have modest effects on BW diversity, and is incapable of removing all coastal taxa of potential

284

concern from ballast tanks. Of the small number of taxa identified as posing particular risk to AK based

285

on their known history as invasive or injurious species, only one polychaete genus exhibited significantly

286

lower raw sequence count in exchanged as opposed to unexchanged ballast (Table 3). Our results

287

therefore suggest the possibility of ballast-mediated transport of these taxa into Alaskan waters, even

288

on vessels that have undergone BWE. However, we recommend caution in interpreting these results

289

given the limitations of the HTS method noted below.

290

Our detailed analysis of sequence data provides more thorough assessment of confidence in taxonomic

291

assignments for potentially troubling OTUs based on available reference sequences. Among those taxa

292

of concern designated moderate or high confidence (Table 3), one (Parvilucifera sinerae) is an alveolate

293

parasite that infects a wide range of dinoflagellate species, and is thus potentially capable of causing

294

significant shifts in food webs, given the importance of its host species to primary productivity in those

295

systems52. Notably, this species has been previously described from BW arriving to the Atlantic coast of

296

the US29. Four other taxa of concern (Palaemon sp., Membranipora mebranacea, Pseudopolydora

297

paucibranchiata, and Ruditapes philippinarum) are recognized introductions to North America, with

298

both Palaemon spp. and R. philippinarum exhibiting known invasive characteristics in their non-native

299

ranges53-55; none, however, have yet been reported from Alaska. Pseudopolydora paucibranchiata and R.

300

philippinarum are already present on the Pacific coast from California through British Columbia40, and at

301

least one Palaemon species (P. modestus) is a highly impactful non-native in estuaries from central

302

California through Washington state55; propagules of these taxa would therefore be expected to be

303

available for ballast-mediated transfer to Alaska. Our results are thus consistent both with previous

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 14 of 35

Page 15 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

304

reports of potentially injurious species transported in BW and with known distributions of introduced

305

species in the source region. However, our analysis provides only a preliminary and incomplete account

306

of the taxa of potential concern present in the ballast tanks of vessels entering Valdez, since (a) we only

307

sampled a small subset of arriving vessels in a two-year period, (b) taxonomic assignment was only

308

possible for a fraction of detected sequences, and (c) non-native species are continuing to invade source

309

ports, especially those in California, which is a global hotspot for invasions17.

310

Utility of HTS methods for ballast water monitoring. The application of HTS and the adoption of 18S as

311

a target metabarcoding locus has allowed us to investigate broadly the taxonomic composition of BW

312

samples, facilitating comparisons that elucidate patterns associated with BW transport and its

313

management. In addition to demonstrating the ability of this approach to recognize signatures of biotic

314

turnover associated with BWE—signatures that incorporate both zooplankton and phytoplankton taxa—

315

we further establish the capacity of HTS to distinguish between BW sources at relatively fine geographic

316

resolution. Ordination analyses reveal clear clustering of samples derived from different regions in

317

Pacific North America, and despite limited sampling suggest the possibility of distinguishing even

318

between different ports within those regions (Figure 4). To our knowledge, this is the first time such

319

resolution in BW source tracking has been clearly demonstrated, either with HTS or any other method

320

(though see below). Interestingly, these signals of source biota are partially obscured by the effects of

321

BWE, again reflecting the impact of management on BW diversity.

322

These advances build on a growing literature illustrating the value of HTS for BW research. For instance,

323

multiple metabarcoding studies of ballast being transported in a single vessel from the North Sea to

324

South Africa56-58 provided evidence of the presence of potentially invasive metazoan taxa, including the

325

European mudsnail Peringia ulvae and the red alga Polysiphonia. Other researchers have utilized HTS to

326

investigate changes in ballast water communities during lengthy voyages59. HTS has similarly been

327

employed to identify protistan taxa in BW, including a diverse assemblage of parasitic and potentially

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

328

harmful species29. In one particularly comprehensive study, Pagenkopp Lohan et al60 described protistan

329

diversity across more than three dozen vessels entering three US ports, revealing surprisingly high

330

microbial diversity and considerable variation in community composition associated with different

331

recipient systems.

332

Most HTS analysis of ballast has focused on bacterial diversity, variously revealing relationships between

333

community composition in ballast and coastal source environments61, diversity present in ballast tank

334

sediments62, and the efficacy of BW treatment63. Perhaps the most extensive analysis of bacterial

335

communities was recently reported by Lymperopoulou and Dobbs64, who assessed diversity on 17

336

vessels arriving to the US from diverse European and North American sources. Similar to the current

337

study, that work detected some signal of source diversity in ordination and clustering analyses, most

338

clearly among North American vessels that had not undergone BWE, suggesting that 1) HTS is capable of

339

distinguishing sources based on bacterial diversity and 2) BWE likely obscures that source signal by

340

altering microbial community composition. Our analysis of a more extensive and yet geographically

341

constrained sample set has allowed us to more clearly demonstrate the power of HTS to identify these

342

ballast source signals and the changes associated with management.

343

Results of indicator taxa analysis further suggest the possibility that HTS-based tools may be developed

344

to supplement existing methods for BWE verification. Currently available verification methods adopt

345

chemical tracers that exhibit significant changes between exchanged and unexchanged ballast, allowing

346

discrimination of coastal from oceanic BW in a large majority of cases65, 66. Similar approaches based on

347

shifts in biodiversity have thus far remained largely unexplored, in part due to insufficient breadth and

348

resolution of traditional approaches for biodiversity assessment. As illustrated here, HTS-based

349

approaches may provide the necessary taxonomic detail to identify biotic indicators of effective

350

exchange. However, it remains to be seen how generalizable this approach might be across broader

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 16 of 35

Page 17 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

351

source biogeography; investigating its utility will necessitate generation of HTS data from a much more

352

diverse sample of vessels, to determine if universally applicable predictive models can be developed.

353

Despite the increasingly apparent utility of HTS for describing diversity present in BW, several

354

methodological limitations persist26, 27, 58. These are perhaps best illustrated by considering the

355

identification of taxa of concern entering Alaskan waters. First, with current methods it is impossible to

356

distinguish between living or dead organisms being released with ballast into Valdez56. This limitation is

357

not unique to HTS analysis; generally, methods capable of assessing viability are restricted to compliance

358

testing contexts, in which case taxonomic identity of living organisms may remain undetermined26.

359

Second, HTS approaches cannot provide confident measures of abundance, either absolute or relative. A

360

number of metabarcoding studies have demonstrated that sequence counts can, in some cases,

361

correlate reasonably well with abundance counts based on morphological examination or experimental

362

design67-69. In general, however, the capacity of HTS to provide reliable estimates of abundance across

363

taxa and ecosystems remains unclear. Together, these two considerations recommend caution in

364

interpreting the results of our analyses identifying taxa of concern, and suggest that in this context HTS

365

should be adopted primarily as an early indicator of potential risk, to be followed up with additional

366

surveys. Third, our results suggest that bioinformatic assignment of taxonomic names to OTUs should be

367

interrogated rigorously, as limitations of reference databases and classification algorithms may

368

sometimes result in false or misleading classifications. This is particularly important for primer sets such

369

as 18S, which exhibit broad taxonomic coverage but relatively low resolution, and which may be poorly

370

represented in sequence databases for many groups. It is also important to note that our approach of

371

clustering sequences into OTUs, while particularly useful for assessing overall richness and comparing

372

patterns in community structure, has been shown to render some species undetectable at very low

373

sequence abundances70. This approach is thus likely to bias results toward Type II error (false negatives)

374

and potentially missing rare non-native taxa, while limiting the likelihood of Type I error (false positives);

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

375

it should thus be considered a conservative approach to identifying potential taxa of concern. Finally,

376

taxonomic biases in DNA amplification associated with even “universal” primer sets guarantee that taxa

377

will be over- or under-represented, or even completely missed, resulting in false negative detections of

378

potential taxa of concern57, 58. This consideration highlights the potential importance of employing

379

multiple primer sets to obtain more complete estimation of taxonomic composition. The analyses

380

presented here, while revealing the value of primer sets that offer broad representation of ballast taxa

381

for pattern detection and hypothesis testing, also underscore the potential limitations of that approach

382

for identifying particular species of concern.

383

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

384



Detailed molecular methods

385



Detailed bioinformatic methods

386



Figure illustrating ordination analyses based on presence/absence data

387



Figure illustrating Mantel tests for correlation between beta diversity and geographic distance

388



Figure comparing phylum-level diversity between unexchanged and exchanged ballast

389



Figures illustrating neighbor joining trees for taxa of concern highlighted in Table 3.

390

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

391

Sample collection was funded by an award from the United Station Coast Guard to G. Ruiz. K. Lohan is a

392

Robert and Arlene Kogod Secretarial Scholar. Authors would also like to thank Kim Holzer and Danielle

393

Verna for additional sample collection, and R. Martin for advice on statistical analyses. Assistance with

394

vessel access and sample collection was provided by Alyeska Valdez Marine Terminal (Mr. B. Roberts),

395

Alaska Tanker Company (Mr. M. Meadors), SeaRiver Maritime (Ms. A. Fruschetto and Mr. J. Pace),

396

ConocoPhillips Polar Tankers (Mr. M. Morgan) and Prince William Sound Community College (Dr. J.

397

Fronzuto and Mr. S. Shiell). The United States Environmental Protection Agency, through its Office of

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 18 of 35

Page 19 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

398

Research and Development, supported the research described here. Though it has been subjected to

399

Agency administrative review and approved for publication, its content does not necessarily reflect

400

official Agency policy. This manuscript benefitted from discussions at the meeting of the International

401

Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) Working Group on Ballast and Other Ship Vectors held in

402

Madeira, Portugal in 2018.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

403

FIGURE and TABLE LEGENDS

404

FIGURE 1. Locations of BW uptake. Blue indicates uptake at the voyage source for vessels not

405

undergoing BWE; red indicates location of BWE for all other vessels. Symbol shape reflects the source

406

region for each voyage, including those undergoing BWE (AK = Alaska, PS = Puget Sound, OR = Offshore

407

Oregon, SFB = San Francisco Bay, LA = Los Angeles). Destination for all voyages is Valdez, AK, indicated

408

by the star. Coastline and national boundaries map obtained using the worldHires function in the

409

mapdata package of R.

410

FIGURE 2. OTU accumulation curves based on vessels entering Valdez. A) Curve for vessels undergoing

411

BWE; B) curve for unmanaged vessels. Shaded area shows 95% confidence interval; confidence interval

412

and box and whisker plots for individual points are based on 1000 permutations of sites added in

413

random order. Overall diversity was not significantly different between managed and unmanaged

414

ballast.

415

FIGURE 3. Ordination analyses. A) Non-metric dimensional scaling (NMDS) plot of all samples based on

416

Bray-Curtis distance determined from log-transformed OTU abundance; blue circles indicate vessels that

417

have not undergone BWE, red circles indicate vessels that have undergone exchange. Ellipses show 95%

418

confidence interval around the centroid for “exchange” and “no exchange” clusters. B) Redundancy

419

analysis (RDA) showing effect of BWE on beta diversity at the family level. Blue and red circles indicate

420

management status as in (A), grey circles represent families; diamonds indicate cluster centroids.

421

Sample clusters are delineated by grey polygons, and solid ellipses indicate 95% confidence interval

422

around the centroid.

423

FIGURE 4. NMDS of vessels not undergoing BWE (A) or undergoing BWE (B), based on Bray-Curtis

424

distance generated from log transformed OTU abundance data. Symbol colors indicate source ports as

425

shown in the legend at right. Gray polygons represent source region clusters, with dashed ellipses

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 20 of 35

Page 21 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

426

indicating 95% confidence interval around the cluster centroids. Note that ellipses collapse to lines when

427

there are fewer than three vessels per cluster. Effect of source port on diversity, A) adonis R2 = 0.7346, P

428

< 0.001; B) adonis R2 = 0.3703, P = 0.0089.

429

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

430 431

432 433 434

FIGURE 1.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 22 of 35

Page 23 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

435 436 437

FIGURE 2.

438 439

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

440 441

FIGURE 3.

442

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 24 of 35

Page 25 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

443 444 445

446 447

FIGURE 4.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

Page 26 of 35

448

Correlations

Partial correlations

Explanatory variable(s) D.f. BWE 1 source 11 BWloc 1 BWE + source 12 BWE + BWloc 2 source + BWloc 12 BWE + source + BWloc 13 BWE | source + BWloc 1 source | BWE + BWloc 11 BWloc | source + BWE 1

Adjusted R2 0.0455 0.2225 0.0434 0.2567 0.0902 0.2305 0.2604 0.0299 0.1702 0.0037

P 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.004 0.001 0.296

450 452 454

TABLE 1. Results of variation partitioning using redundancy analysis ordination. BWE = ballast water exchange (yes or no), source = source port, BWloc = latitude of ballasting operations (either location of exchange or location of initial uptake in the case of vessels not undergoing exchange), D.f. = degrees of freedom. Residual variation was 74%.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 27 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

Families associates with unexchanged ballast Sagittidae Clausidiidae Lichomolgidae Mysidae Xarifiidae Philinidae Ostreidae Pharidae Triticellidae Bougainvilliidae Dendronotidae Diadunenidae Hippolytidae Pseudodiaptomidae Phyllophoridae

A 0.8582 0.9816 0.8677 0.9174 0.9848 1 0.986 1 1 0.9972 0.9723 0.9698 1 1 1

B 0.7619 0.5238 0.5714 0.4762 0.4286 0.381 0.381 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.2857 0.2857 0.2381

I 0.809 0.717 0.704 0.661 0.65 0.617 0.613 0.577 0.577 0.577 0.569 0.569 0.535 0.535 0.488

P value 0.009 0.013 0.047 0.037 0.016 0.008 0.036 0.009 0.01 0.05 0.039 0.029 0.014 0.022 0.039

RDA1 0.52 0.48 0.27 0.76 0.50 0.37 0.48 0.32 0.19 0.29 0.24 0.24 0.43 0.20 0.13

Common name Arrow worms Copepods (parasitic) Copepods (parasitic) Mysid shrimps Copepods (parasitic) Sea slugs Oysters Clams Bryozoans Hydroids Sea slugs Anemones Shrimps Copepods Sea cucumbers

** * * * * ** * ** ** * * * * * *

P value 0.006 0.008 0.001 0.024 0.001 0.001 0.015 0.001 0.004 0.007 0.004 0.012 0.024 0.03 0.034 0.048

RDA1 -0.90 -0.79 -0.63 -0.72 -0.45 -0.77 -0.58 -0.49 -0.42 -0.28 -0.23 -0.57 -0.24 -0.18 -0.11 -0.09

Common name Copepods Diatoms Dinoflagellates Diatoms Dinoflagellates Dinoflagellates Diatoms Diatoms Diatoms Cryptophytes Dinoflagellates Copepods Fungi Protozoans Dinoflagellates Nematodes

** ** *** * *** *** * *** ** ** ** * * * * *

Families associated with exchanged ballast Ectinosomatidae Chaetocerotaceae Gymnodiniaceae Rhizosoleniaceae Kareniaceae Gonyaulacaceae Skeletonemataceae Corethraceae Asterolampraceae Geminigeraceae Amoebophryaceae Eucalanidae Basidiobolaceae Plasmodiophoridae Peridiniaceae Tripyloididae

A 0.9789 0.9634 0.971 0.9895 0.913 0.7954 0.9772 1 0.9962 0.8413 1 0.9843 0.9957 0.91 0.8537 1

B 0.8889 0.8889 0.8333 0.7222 0.7778 0.8889 0.7222 0.5 0.4444 0.5 0.3889 0.3889 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.2222

I 0.933 0.925 0.9 0.845 0.843 0.841 0.84 0.707 0.665 0.649 0.624 0.619 0.576 0.551 0.533 0.471

456 458 460 462

TABLE 2. Taxa at the family level statistically significantly associated with either unexchanged (top) or exchanged (bottom) ballast water. A, the likelihood of a sample belonging to the test group (exchanged vs. unexchanged) assuming the presence of the family (indicator specificity); B, the likelihood of the family being present in a sample belonging to the test group (indicator sensitivity); I, IndVal association index; RDA1, score along RDA axis (separating clusters with and without BWE, see Figure 3); stars indicate significance level based on P values; *, p < 0.05, **, p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. Total number of families examined was 234.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

Assignment confidence low

with BWE (overall count/# vessels) 434/10

without BWE (overall count/# vessels) 183/3

OTU# 307

Taxon Alexandrium hiranoi

437

Capitella sp.

low

2/1

203/8

345

Hematodinium sp.

low

124/7

115/5

415

Membranipora membranacea

moderate

43/9

521/8

862

Neomysis integer

low

0/0

125/1

93

Palaemon sp.

high

1450/1

2318/4

209

Parvilucifera sinerae

high

258/9

285

Pseudopolydora paucibranchiata

high

132

Pseudopolydora reticulata Ruditapes philippinarum

223

reasons for concern Members of the genus Alexandrium are known to produce toxins responsible for causing Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) in humans that ingest affected shellfish. Other species of this genus are known harmful taxa in AK.

Page 28 of 35

References 71

Multiple species of the genus are cryptogenic along the Pacific coast of North America. Parasitic dinoflagellates in Syndiniales. Members of the genus infect a wide range of wild and commercially exploited crustaceans. One Hematodinium species is known from AK; however this does not appear to be the same species and is the first record of Hematodinium in ballast water. Encrusting bryozoan known to foul kelp species, reducing growth and damaging fronds; potential to affect natural populations and commercial farms. Known invasive in eastern US. European native not known from North America, but history of introduction in the Mediterranean and northern Europe The genus is a known introduction to the North American west coast. P. modestus has become a dominant species in Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in CA, outcompeting native species and threatening food webs that may impact Pacific salmon.

40, 72

911/8

Generalist parasite (Alveolata) of dinoflagellates; previously reported from ballast water.

52

245/7

557/9

Known introduction to North America from CA to BC. Unknown impacts, but could displace native species.

40

high

2153/7

529/10

Native to Taiwan, not known from North America.

76

moderate

207/10

1238/14

Known introduction from CA to BC. May outcompete native bivalves and alter food webs.

53, 54

464

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

73

74

75

55

Page 29 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

466

468 470 472

TABLE 3. OTUs assignments indicating taxa of concern. Assignment confidence is based on qualitative examination of Neighbor Joining trees generated from 18S sequences of related congeneric taxa pulled from GenBank. Low confidence indicates that tree clustering is inconsistent with initial assignment. Moderate confidence indicates that NJ trees are consistent with initial assignment, but do not provide additional support due to lack of data (low sequence representation in GenBank) or poor resolution of the tree. High confidence indicates that initial assignments are further supported by reasonably resolved trees. Also indicated are the raw sequence counts in both exchanged and unexchanged BW samples, along with the number of vessels in each category.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

474 476 478 480 482 484 486 488 490 492 494 496 498 500 502 504 506 508 510 512 514 516 518

REFERENCES 1. Carlton, J. T. Transoceanic and interoceanic dispersal of coastal marine organisms: The biology of ballast water. Oceanography and Marine Biology Annual Review 1985, 23, 313-371. 2. Ricciardi, A. Patterns of invasion in the Laurentian Great Lakes in relation to changes in vector activity. Diversity and Distributions 2006, 12 (4), 425-433. 3. Barry, S. C.; Hayes, K. R.; Hewitt, C. L.; Behrens, H. L.; Dragsund, E.; Bakke, S. M. Ballast water risk assessment: principles, processes, and methods. Ices Journal of Marine Science 2008, 65 (2), 121-131. 4. IMO. International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments. In BWM/CONG/36, London, UK, 2004. 5. USCG. Standards for living organisms in ships' ballast water discharged in U. S. waters, final rule. In Federal Register: 2012. 6. USEPA. Final issuance of National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Vessel General Permit (VGP) for discharges incidental to the normal operation of vessels; 2013. 7. Locke, A.; Reid, D. M.; van Leeuwen, H. C.; Sprules, W. G.; Carlton, J. T. Ballast water exchange as a means of controlling dispersal of freshwater organisms by ships. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 1993, 50, 2086-2093. 8. IMO. IMO Report of the Marine Environmental Protection Committee on its Seventy-first Session; International Maritime Organization: London, UK, 2017. 9. USCG Ballast water managemennt (BWM) extension program update. In United States Coast Guard: Washington, D.C., 2017; Vol. OES-MSIB Number: 003/17. 10. Gray, D. K.; Johengen, T. H.; Reid, D. F.; MacIsaac, H. J. Efficacy of open-ocean ballast water exchange as a means of preventing invertebrate invasions between freshwater ports. Limnology and Oceanography 2007, 52 (6), 2386-2397. 11. Simard, N.; Plourde, S.; Gilbert, M.; Gollasch, S. Net efficacy of open ocean ballast water exchange on plankton communities. Journal of Plankton Research 2011, 33 (9), 1378-1395. 12. Molina, V.; Drake, L. Efficacy of open-ocean ballast water exchange: a review. Management of Biological Invasions 2016, 7 (4), 375-388. 13. McCollin, T.; Shanks, A. M.; Dunn, J. The efficiency of regional ballast water exchange: Changes in phytoplankton abundance and diversity. Harmful Algae 2007, 6 (4), 531-546. 14. Ruiz, G.; Reid, D. Current state of understanding about the effectiveness of ballast water exchange (BWE) in reducing aquatic nonindigenous species (ANS) introductions to the Great Lakes Basin and Chesapeake Bay, USA: Synthesis and analysis of existing information; National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration: Ann Arbor, MI, 2007. 15. Miller, A. W.; Minton, M. S.; Ruiz, G. M. Geographic limitations and regional differences in ships' ballast water management to reduce marine invasions in the contiguous United States. BioScience 2011, 61 (11), 880-887. 16. Roy, S.; Parenteau, M.; Casas-Monroy, O.; Rochon, A.; Smith, R. Coastal ship traffic: a significant introduction vector for potentially harmful dinoflagellates in eastern Canada. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2012, 69 (4), 627-644. 17. Simkanin, C.; Davidson, I.; Falkner, M.; Sytsma, M.; Ruiz, G. Intra-coastal ballast water flux and the potential for secondary spread of non-native species on the US West Coast. Mar Pollut Bull 2009, 58 (3), 366-74. 18. Cordell, J. R.; Lawrence, D. J.; Ferm, N. C.; Tear, L. M.; Smith, S. S.; Herwig, R. P. Factors influencing densities of non-indigenous species in the ballast water of ships arriving at ports in Puget Sound, Washington, United States. Aquatic Conservation-Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 2009, 19 (3), 322-343.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 30 of 35

Page 31 of 35

520 522 524 526 528 530 532 534 536 538 540 542 544 546 548 550 552 554 556 558 560 562 564 566

Environmental Science & Technology

19. McGee, S.; Piorkowski, R.; Ruiz, G. Analysis of recent vessel arrivals and ballast water discharge in Alaska: Toward assessing ship-mediated invasion risk. Marine Pollution Bulletin 2006, 52 (12), 16341645. 20. Canning-Clode, J.; Carlton, J. T.; MacIsaac, H. Refining and expanding global climate change scenarios in the sea: Poleward creep complexities, range termini, and setbacks and surges. Diversity and Distributions 2017, 23 (5), 463-473. 21. Miller, A. W.; Ruiz, G. M. Arctic shipping and marine invaders. Nature Climate Change 2014, 4 (6), 413-416. 22. Abad, D.; Albaina, A.; Aguirre, M.; Estonba, A. 18S V9 metabarcoding correctly depicts plankton estuarine community drivers. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2017, 584, 31-43. 23. Cordier, T.; Esling, P.; Lejzerowicz, F.; Visco, J.; Ouadahi, A.; Martins, C.; Cedhagen, T.; Pawlowski, J. Predicting the ecological quality status of marine environments from eDNA metabarcoding data using supervised machine learning. Environmental science & technology 2017, 51 (16), 9118-9126. 24. Djurhuus, A.; Pitz, K.; Sawaya, N. A.; Rojas-Márquez, J.; Michaud, B.; Montes, E.; Muller-Karger, F.; Breitbart, M. Evaluation of marine zooplankton community structure through environmental DNA metabarcoding. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 2018, 16, 209-221. 25. Langer, J. A. F.; Sharma, R.; Schmidt, S. I.; Bahrdt, S.; Horn, H. G.; Alguero-Muniz, M.; Nam, B.; Achterberg, E. P.; Riebesell, U.; Boersma, M.; Thines, M.; Schwenk, K. Community barcoding reveals little effect of ocean acidification on the composition of coastal plankton communities: Evidence from a longterm mesocosm study in the Gullmar Fjord, Skagerrak. PLoS One 2017, 12 (4), e0175808. 26. Darling, J. A.; Frederick, R. M. Nucleic acids-based tools for ballast water surveillance, monitoring, and research. Journal of Sea Research 2017, 133, 43-52. 27. Rey, A.; Basurko, O. C.; Rodríguez-Ezpeleta, N. The challenges and promises of genetic approaches for ballast water management. Journal of Sea Research 2017, 133, 134-145. 28. ML, B.; P, D. L.; JR, G.; LX, L.; P, S.; A, V.; JR, V.; LY, M.; M, D.; LM, F.; JT, V.; WK, T. A molecular evolutionary framework for the phylum Nematoda. Nature 1998, 392, 71-75. 29. Pagenkopp Lohan, K. M.; Fleischer, R. C.; Carney, K. J.; Holzer, K. K.; Ruiz, G. M. Amplicon-based pyrosequencing reveals high diversity of protistan parasites in ships' ballast water: implications for biogeography and infectious diseases. Microbial ecology 2016, 71 (3), 530-42. 30. Oksanen, J.; Blanchet, F. G.; Kindt, R.; Legendre, P.; Minchin, P. R.; O'Hara, R. B.; Simpson, G. L.; Solymos, P.; Stevens, M. H. H.; Wagner, H. Vegan: Community Ecology Package. R-package Version 2.34, 2016, available at. https://cran.r-project.org/package=vegan. 31. Gotelli, N. J.; Colwell, R. K. Quantifying biodiversity: Procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecology letters 2001, 4, 379-391. 32. The R Core Team, R: A language and environment for statistical computing. 2017, R Foundation for Statistical Computing: Vienna, Austria, 33. de Carcer, D. A.; Denman, S. E.; McSweeney, C.; Morrison, M. Evaluation of subsampling-based normalization strategies for tagged high-throughput sequencing data sets from gut microbiomes. Appl Environ Microbiol 2011, 77 (24), 8795-8. 34. Anderson, M. J. A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Austral Ecology 2001, 26 (1), 32-46. 35. Legendre, P.; Legendre, L. Numerical ecology. Elsevier Science BV: Amsterdam, 1998. 36. Goslee, S.; Urban, D. Package 'ecodist': Dissimilarity-based analysis functions including ordination and Mantel test functions, intended for use with spatial and community data, 2017. 37. Hijmans, R. J.; Williams, E.; Vennes, C. Package 'geosphere': Spherical trigonometry for geographic applications. 2017. 38. de Caceres, M.; Jansen, F. Package 'indicspecies': Functions to assess the strength and statistical significance of the relationship between species occurrence/abundance and groups of sites, 2016.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

568 570 572 574 576 578 580 582 584 586 588 590 592 594 596 598 600 602 604 606 608 610 612 614

39. de Caceres, M.; Legendre, L. Associations between species and groups of sites: indices and statistical inference. Ecology 2009, 90 (12), 3566-3574. 40. Fofonoff, P. W.; Ruiz, G.; Steves, B. P.; Simkanin, C.; Carlton, J. T. National Exotic Marine and Estuarine Species Information System. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center: 2018. 41. Ahyong, S.; Costello, M. J.; Dolan, J.; Galil, B. S.; Gollasch, S.; Hutchings, P.; Katsanevakis, S.; Lejeusne, C.; Marchini, A.; Occhipinti, A.; Pagad, S.; Poore, G.; Rius, M.; Robinson, T. B.; Sterrer, W.; Turon, X.; Willan, R. C.; Zhan, A. World Register of Introduced Marine Species (WRIMS). 2018. 42. Chao, A. Estimating the population size for capture-recapture data with unequal catchability. Biometrics 1987, 43, 783–791. 43. McCollin, T.; Shanks, A. M.; Dunn, J. Changes in zooplankton abundance and diversity after ballast water exchange in regional seas. Mar Pollut Bull 2008, 56 (5), 834-44. 44. Bailey, S. A.; Deneau, M. G.; Jean, L.; Wiley, C. J.; Leung, B.; MacIsaac, H. J. Evaluating efficacy of an environmental policy to prevent biological invasions. Environmental science & technology 2011, 45 (7), 2554-61. 45. Santagata, S.; Gasiūnaite, Z.; Verling, E.; Cordell, J.; Eason, K.; Cohen, J.; Bacela, K.; Quilez-Badia, G.; Johengen, T.; Reid, D.; Ruiz, G. Effect of osmotic shock as a management strategy to reduce transfers of non-indigenous species among low-salinity ports by ships. Aquatic Invasions 2008, 3 (1), 61-76. 46. Choi, K.-H.; Kimmerer, W.; Smith, G.; Ruiz, G. M.; Lion, K. Post-exchange zooplankton in ballast water of ships entering the San Francisco Estuary. Journal of Plankton Research 2005, 27 (7), 707-714. 47. Taylor, M. D.; MacKenzie, L. M.; Dodgshun, T. J.; Hopkins, G. A.; de Zwart, E. J.; Hunt, C. D. TransPacific shipboard trials on planktonic communities as indicators of open ocean ballast water exchange. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2007, 350, 41-54. 48. Casas-Monroy, O.; Parenteau, M.; Drake, D. A. R.; Roy, S.; Rochon, A. Absolute estimates of the propagule pressure of viable dinoflagellates across Canadian coasts: the variable influence of ballast water exchange. Marine Biology 2016, 163, 174. 49. Zhang, F.; Dickman, M. Mid-ocean exchange of container vessel ballast water. 1: Seasonal factors affecting the transport of harmful diatoms and dinoflagellates. Marine Ecology Progress Series 1999, 176, 243-251. 50. Casas-Monroy, O.; Roy, S.; Rochon, A. Ballast sediment-mediated transport of non-indigenous species of dinoflagellates on the East Coast of Canada. Aquatic Invasions 2011, 6, 231-248. 51. Verna, D. E.; Harris, B. P. Review of ballast water management policy and associated implications for Alaska. Marine Policy 2016, 70, 13-21. 52. Garcés, E.; Alacid, E.; Bravo, I.; Fraga, S.; Figueroa, R. I. Parvilucifera sinerae (Alveolata, Myzozoa) is a generalist parasitoid of dinoflagellates. Protist 2013, 164 (2), 245-260. 53. Bendell, L. I. Evidence for declines in the native Leukoma staminea as a result of the intentional introduction of the non-native Venerupis philippinarum in coastal British Columbia, Canada. Estuaries and Coasts 2013, 37 (2), 369-380. 54. Brito, A. C.; Moita, T.; Gameiro, C.; Silva, T.; Anselmo, T.; Brotas, V. Changes in the phytoplankton composition in a temperate estuarine system (1960 to 2010). Estuaries and Coasts 2014, 38 (5), 1678-1691. 55. Emmett, R. L.; Hinton, S. A.; Logan, D. J.; McCabe, G. T. Introduction of a Siberian freshwater shrimp to western North America. Biological Invasions 2002, 4, 447-450. 56. Ardura, A.; Zaiko, A.; Martinez, J. L.; Samuiloviene, A.; Borrell, Y.; Garcia-Vazquez, E. Environmental DNA evidence of transfer of North Sea molluscs across tropical waters through ballast water. Journal of Molluscan Studies 2015, 81 (4), 495-501. 57. Zaiko, A.; Martinez, J. L.; Ardura, A.; Clusa, L.; Borrell, Y. J.; Samuiloviene, A.; Roca, A.; GarciaVazquez, E. Detecting nuisance species using NGST: Methodology shortcomings and possible application in ballast water monitoring. Marine Environmental Research 2015, 112, 64-72.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 32 of 35

Page 33 of 35

616 618 620 622 624 626 628 630 632 634 636 638 640 642 644 646 648 650 652 654 656 658 660

Environmental Science & Technology

58. Zaiko, A.; Martinez, J. L.; Schmidt-Petersen, J.; Ribicic, D.; Samuiloviene, A.; Garcia-Vazquez, E. Metabarcoding approach for the ballast water surveillance - An advantageous solution or an awkward challenge? Marine Pollution Bulletin 2015, 92, 25-34. 59. Ghabooli, A.; Zhan, A.; Paolucci, E.; Hernandez, M. R.; Briski, E.; Cristescu, M. E.; MacIsaac, H. J. Population attenuation in zooplankton communities during transoceanic transfer in ballast water. Ecology and Evolution 2016, 6, 6170-6177. 60. Pagenkopp Lohan, K. M.; Fleischer, R. C.; Carney, K. J.; Holzer, K. K.; Ruiz, G. M.; Zhan, A. Molecular characterisation of protistan species and communities in ships’ ballast water across three U.S. coasts. Diversity and Distributions 2017, 23, 680-691. 61. Ng, C.; Le, T. H.; Goh, S. G.; Liang, L.; Kim, Y.; Rose, J. B.; Yew-Hoong, K. G. A comparison of microbial water quality and diversity for ballast and tropical harbor waters. PLoS One 2015, 10 (11), e0143123. 62. Lv, B.; Cui, Y.; Tian, W.; Feng, D. Composition and influencing factors of bacterial communities in ballast tank sediments: Implications for ballast water and sediment management. Mar Environ Res 2017, 132, 14-22. 63. Fujimoto, M.; Moyerbrailean, G. A.; Noman, S.; Gizicki, J. P.; Ram, M. L.; Green, P. A.; Ram, J. L. Application of ion torrent sequencing to the assessment of the effect of alkali ballast water treatment on microbial community diversity. PLoS One 2014, 9 (9), e107534. 64. Lymperopoulou, D. S.; Dobbs, F. C. Bacterial diversity in ships' ballast water, ballast water exchange, and implications for ship-mediated dispersal of microorganisms. Environmental science & technology 2017, 51 (4), 1962-1972. 65. Murphy, K. R.; Ruiz, G. M.; Dunsmuir, W. T. M.; David Waite, T. Optimized parameters for fluorescence-based verification of ballast water exchange by ships. Environmental Science and Technology 2006, 40, 2357-2362. 66. Noble, M.; Ruiz, G. M.; Murphy, K. R. Chemical assessment of ballast water exchange compliance: Implementation in North America and New Zealand. Frontiers in Marine Science 2016, 3, 66. 67. Olds, B. P.; Jerde, C. L.; Renshaw, M. A.; Li, Y.; Evans, N. T.; Turner, C. R.; Deiner, K.; Mahon, A. R.; Brueseke, M. A.; Shirey, P. D.; Pfrender, M. E.; Lodge, D. M.; Lamberti, G. A. Estimating species richness using environmental DNA. Ecol Evol 2016, 6 (12), 4214-26. 68. Evans, N. T.; Olds, B. P.; Renshaw, M. A.; Turner, C. R.; Li, Y.; Jerde, C. L.; Mahon, A. R.; Pfrender, M. E.; Lamberti, G. A.; Lodge, D. M. Quantification of mesocosm fish and amphibian species diversity via environmental DNA metabarcoding. Molecular ecology resources 2015, 16, 29-41. 69. Lacoursière-Roussel, A.; Rosabal, M.; Bernatchez, L. Estimating fish abundance and biomass from eDNA concentrations: variability among capture methods and environmental conditions. Molecular Ecology Resources 2016, 16 (6), 1401-1414. 70. Scott, R.; Zhan, A.; Brown, E. A.; Chain, F. J. J.; Cristescu, M. E.; Gras, R.; MacIsaac, H.J. Optimization and performance testing of a sequence processing pipeline applied to detection of nonindigenous species. Evolutionary Applications 2018, 11, 891-905. 71. Vandersea, M. W.; Kibler, S. R.; Van Sant, S. B.; Tester, P. A.; Sullivan, K.; Eckert, G.; Cammarata, C.; Reece, K.; Scott, G.; Place, A.; Holderied, K.; Hondolero, D.; Litaker, R. W. qPCR assays for Alexandrium fundyense and A. ostenfeldii (Dinophyceae) identified from Alaskan waters and a review of species-specific Alexandrium molecular assays. Phycologia 2017, 56 (3), 303-320. 72. Lu, L.; Levings, C. D.; Piercey, G. E. Preliminary investigation on aquatic invasive species of marine and estuarine macrobenthic invertebrates on floating structures in five British Columbia harbours; Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada: Vancouver, BC, 2007.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

662 664 666 668 670 672

73. Small, H. J. Advances in our understanding of the global diversity and distribution of Hematodinium spp. – Significant pathogens of commercially exploited crustaceans. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 2012, 110 (2), 234-246. 74. Saunders, M.; Metaxas, A. High recruitment of the introduced bryozoan Membranipora membranacea is associated with kelp bed defoliation in Nova Scotia, Canada. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2008, 369, 139-151. 75. Wittmann, K. J.; Ariani, A. P. Reappraisal and range extension of non-indigenous Mysidae (Crustacea, Mysida) in continental and coastal waters of eastern France. Biological Invasions 2008, 11 (2), 401-407. 76. Abe, H.; Kondoh, T.; Sato-Okoshi, W. First report of the morphology and rDNA sequences of two Pseudopolydora species (Annelida: Spionidae) from Japan. Zoological Science 2016, 33 (6), 650-658.

674

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 34 of 35

Page 35 of 35

Environmental Science & Technology

Graphical abstract 338x190mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment