1) United States Department of Agriculture; National Agricultural Library—National Invasive Species Information Center. November 5, 2015 was the last update to the site. http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatics/databases.shtml
This site is a clearing house for Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) databases. The 23 databases listed are information systems cataloging AIS monitoring efforts, domestic and international hosts. The scope of all databases is to track movement, both temporally and spatially using Geographic Information Systems applications as database tools.

I see this clearing house as a comprehensive partnership among universities, all levels of government, and private non-governmental organizations in the United States and countries abroad. General aquatic species, aquatic plants, and aquatic animals are separately categorized in the databases listed.

2) Boylen, C.W., L.W.Eichler, J.S. Bartkowski, and S.M. Shaver. “Use of Geographic Information Systems to monitor and predict non-native aquatic plant dispersal through north-eastern North America,” Hydrobiologia (2006) 570: 243-248.
Historical data mined from numerous local sources established exclusive dates of discovery and dates of invasion for three aquatic plant species in a cross-section of local water bodies near Troy, New York. MapInfo Professional 6.5, a local GIS product, was used by the researchers in the mapping and analysis of the historical data as well as field data collected for the project.

This project was thoughtfully executed as data collection, the GIS, and data analysis were given consideration in planning the project; Inverse distance weighting (IDW) of discovery date is used for a visual representation of the date and location of the plant species for planning of current field collections. IDW interpolates a data point by using a neighborhood, or search radius, about the identified point that is a weighted average taken from the values within this neighborhood. The weights are a decreasing function of distance, where a 15 mile search radius is applied to limit the influence of geographically distant points.

Color was used on map products to correlate discovery dates with geographic location because it provides visual clarity over time and distinguishes patterns of species movement across distance.

The resulting numbers from such in depth analysis showed on the maps that a non-uniform pattern of spreading AIS plants occurred. It turned out that the reproduction methods of the plants were not figured into the data analysis as Myriophyllum spicatum, or Eurasian Watermilfoil, can reproduce asexually from sections of plant, or sexually from seeds. This means that the plant can be a viable hitchhiker on boats, boots, or any recreational gear used in water bodies. This human dispersal vector is primary to the plants movement, leading researchers to see public education and “people” management as the core of any preventive efforts in AIS work. The roads overlay, with the water bodies containing AIS plants, upholds this view that people are the major dispersal vector water with vehicle access had more AIS.

Low land water bodies are near roads and the most development, which leads to the most nutrient rich water bodies that are more likely to support AIS plants. Boylen et.al. to recommends that water chemistries, along with overlays of bedrock, soil, and alkalinity, could be used in future predictive models for AIS dispersal over time and space.

3) Lyon, Jonathon, and Tracy Eastman. “Macrophyte Species Assemblages and Distribution in a Shallow, Eutrophic Lake,” Northeastern Naturalist. (2006) 13(3): 443-453.

Lyon and Eastman didn’t set out to look for AIS plants, yet they feel the techniques they used for data collection and analysis could be used for studies assessing AIS plant distribution. Establishing specific species associations, assemblages, and distinct community types for aquatic plants is very applicable to AIS management. They looked at only one pond, however; while they collected from 131 sample sites, I felt they could have expanded to more than one pond to control for natural variations in the pond like allocthonous input from surrounding vegetation or water chemistries.

They ventured to utilize a GIS, ArcView, to map the spatial distribution and density of the aquatic plants, in the Spatial Analyst extension of ArcView. Sample sites were marked with a Global Positioning System. The project was not heavy on analysis, particularly within the GIS. Distribution and density of 2 plant species were found to be significant. Lyon and Eastman felt soil typing would have contributed to the analysis, with a soils overlay, perhaps, to show more in depth correlations among plant species in regards to assemblages and communities.

4) Sergej Olenin, Aleksas Naršcˇius, Dan Minchin, Matej David, Bella Galil, Stephan Gollasch, Agnese Marchini, Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi, Henn Ojaveer, Anastasija Zaiko. “Making non-indigenous species information systems practical for management and useful for research: An aquatic perspective,” Biological Conservation. (2014) 173: 98-107.

Sergej, et. al. claim that 250 database websites on non-indigenous species, NIS, can be found. These databases cover from simple NIS inventory lists to more complex data collections of NIS origin, pathway, vectors, and identification keys for NIS species. An “evolution” of the databases can be surmised to have taken place from this description. They charge that is time to standardize these databases into one system to “fill information needs for management and research as databases are used for analysis” now more than only inventories.

The database that would replace all others, initially for European waters and bordering countries is called “AquaNIS.” Sergej, et. al. designed AquaNIS to “assemble, store, and disseminate” comprehensive NIS data while allowing for quality control and progress evaluations of current NIS management efforts. This is all in response to new (2013) European Union legislation addressing biological invasive species with assessment and management.

One of the four “blocks” of the AquaNIS database system is Geography. Location is central to understanding and managing invasive species, and as such, the geography block is the mortar holding the other three database blocks together. These blocks are: Introduction event, impacts and species. Yet, no mention is made of visual products from a GIS aiding analysis or management efforts. It turns out that the geography block of AquaNIS, as deigned under the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive legislation is a publically accessible database through the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

While I find the idea of one database for international NIS management to be more sustainable in the long-term for quality control of data, long-term maintenance of the database, and far less redundancy and far fewer black boxes of information from one country to another if they all subscribe to the same system, I was surprised to see a reliance on NOAA for the geography component of the database system. I think not having an independent GIS for the system, even if it was housed with NOAA, would allow for far greater analytical capabilities within AquaNIS for both management and research, as the article’s title hopefully states.

5) Fleming, Jonathon P., John D. Madsen, and Eric D. Dibble. “Development of a GIS model to enhance macrophyte re-establishment projects,” Applied Geography. (2012) 32: 629-635.

*Malczewski, J. On the use of weighted linear combination method in GIS:
common and best practice approaches. Transactions in GIS, (2000) 4:5-22.

The aim of this research was to produce a GIS model that could be an accessible tool for fisheries and wildlife managers to apply in the restoration or establishment of native, rooted aquatic plants in flat water shallow habitats. The intention is to have “a model based on scientific data with minimal tweaks” for more efficient and successful plant establishment projects. The outcome of the model has not been tested extensively, yet it was applied to an active plant restoration project in an impoundment and found to be a positive, predictive layer for analyzing what habitats would be the most likely to reestablish with restoration of aquatic plant communities.
Table 2 in the paper details the variables used for analysis in the model. These variables include: light penetration depth in the water, depth, slope, fetch (or wave action from wind), sediment type and texture, and organic matter content. These variables combined, form an “Overall suitability map” using an index of suitability on the variables. Two variables, depth and sediment type being bedrock, are given a null value as they are binary. The index of the other variables came from weighting the raster layers for a sum, as taken from a weighted linear combination method to create an index between 0 and 1 with the formula:
I = ∑(w(i)x(i)) / ∑ w(i)
where, I is the index value, wi is the weight for layer i, and xi is the standardized (or binary) value of criterion i for all layers i=1-n (modified for these data from *Malczewski (2000)). All layers were given the equal weight of 0.25.

The use of weighted variables in each layer to pull out all the data and not overlook it in the raster grid cell overlays is simple and needed. I also like the index because it can easily be applied over all the data for accurate visual representation and data analysis.

6) Larson, Diane L., Laura Phillips-Mao, Gina Quiram, Leah Sharpe, Rebecca Stark, Shinya Sugita, Annie Weiler. “A framework for sustainable invasive species management: Environmental, social, and economic objectives,” Journal of Environmental Management (2011) 92: 14-22.

As this work is a “Review” paper, Larson et. al. spoke in broad terms of the objectives needed to build an invasive species management (ISM) strategy with sustainable principles. The paper is well written, easily understandable to the professional or layperson, and well supported by the three case studies of successful ISM programs.

The authors felt that the three factors needed for ISM program sustainability are: environmental, social, and economic factors. These all influence the causes, impacts, and control of invasive species over multiple spatial and temporal scales, the authors say. To measure these, “A broadly-available repository of risk assessment…as a tool for managers,” is needed. This repository would need to produce measurable progress to present to the community and policy makers. “Increasing coordination among agencies and knowledge networks for reporting and data” organization would aid in this effort for sustainable management. Use of models for finding optimal management strategies workable in the available budget would also be advantageous.

I feel the type of tool, of repository, can be found in Geographic Information Science. A GIS answers many of these needs for a model to define appropriate management actions to a database over time and space, among many stakeholders, private and public. The authors never wrote how a GIS could be useful in ISM, but I feel it was implied by the broad strokes they used in the descriptions of models, data “repositories,” “measurable progress” as seen in visual representation of data in maps, and even interagency “coordination.”

7) Santos, Nicholas R., Jacob V.E. Katz, Peter B. Moyle, and Joshua H. Viers. “A programmable information system for management and analysis of aquatic species range data in California.” Environmental Modelling & Software. (2014) 53:13-26

Santos, et. al., developed a software program “to more effectively understand and manage the sensitive fishes of California’s National Forests”…with a GIS dependent database and accompanying software. The software package, PISCES, is projected to administer mapping of “sensitive fish species distributions across public forests in ways that previous efforts could not.” “Designed as a decision support system for resource managers, PISCES incorporates and catalogs disparate data types of empirical and inferred species observations. Subsequent encoding of these observations relies on a standardized, yet generic, data framework that overcomes issues of spatial scale, temporal discontinuity, data format discrepancies, and regional context.”

PISCES is a “systemic tool developed to collect, store and map aquatic biodiversity through space and time.” This software package combines the power of a GIS, specifically ESRI ArcGIS scripting interface, with the storage capacity of Microsoft Access database. Figure 1.4 details the six design requirements used in the development of the software, specifically allowing for the software to be that which is already present on the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service computers that managers are using so as to avoid the need for approving or purchasing new software. To me, this means that PISCES could be used throughout the national agency without little retooling. The authors feel that “a baseline data record and updated range maps in the database” would allow fisheries managers to map recreational, or game fish, and non-game fish, native fish and invasive, non-native fish.

The authors repeatedly note the importance of location in determining project sites in natural resources, which is true, and doubly challenging with aquatic species that can move unseen, on their own or by human movement, thus making mapping of the recorded data sites all the more valuable over time and across space. That is why they used 154 data layers from past GIS works of fisheries distribution on California national forest land. This mapping only accounted for 39% of the Forest Service land in the state. The hope is to extend coverages to include all national forest land freshwater fisheries data, whether analog or digital, in PISCES.

8) Grice, A.C., J.R. Clarkson, and M. Calvert. “Geographic differentiation of management objectives for invasive species: a case study of Hymenachne amplexicaulis in Australia,” Environmental Science and Policy. (2001) 14: 986-997.

Grice, et. al. offer a newly developed advancement to “spatial differentiation in strategic plans designed to counter invasive plant species using H. amplexicaulis in Australia as a case study and justifying it in the light of knowledge of the ecology and management of that species.” They point out how this approach could be utilized in managing other invasive species, terrestrial or aquatic, while noting the plans’ restrictions, and to steer law makers and land managers to more efficient use of the restricted funding and labor on hand for weed management.

The invasive weed in question is a wetland/riparian grass native to southern Australia, yet not the rest of the world where is can become the dominant plant species, suffocating other native wetland plants. Making maps of the spatial expanse of this grass, in Australia, came from current distribution maps and GPS-survey data from numerous projects throughout the country. The national raster map (see Fig. 2) was developed with empirical knowledge from local and regional managers working together to develop the project.

Strategic Objectives are mapped in Figure 3 where the 4 management objectives of prevention, eradiction, containment, and asset protection are detailed across the continent. The authors feel that geographically differentiating the country into management zones that deal with the biology, climate, and available resources will best work for broad-based infestations. “The GIS dataset that defines the management zones and the associated metadata can be obtained from http://dds.information.qld.gov.au/DDS/” for further information.

9) Petrić, Dušan , Romeo Bellini, Ernst-Jan Scholte, Laurence Marrama Rakotoarivony, and Francis Schaffner. “Monitoring population and environmental parameters of invasive mosquito species in Europe,” Parasites & Vectors (2014) 7: 187-201.

It is estimated that over 45% of Europeans are exposed to Invasive Mosquito Species (IMS) that are non-native to Europe. These mosquito species are thought to be imported in shipping containers importing goods into European countries. The authors review paper details the vector pathways for infection to pass onto to humans, the tools and methods for monitoring and controlling IMS, and environmental factors like climate change and land use effecting IMS and human populations.

Invasive mosquitoes are efficient vectors of pathogens as seen by recent outbreaks of chikungunya and dengue fevers in the Mediterranean. This makes IMS a public health concern in need of monitoring of both the animals transmitting the disease along with the diseases, too. All the vectors of moving the mosquitos need to be defined after defining their port of entry. The authors note that the “dispersal and major transportation routes would be expected for all IMS transported largely by human activities, such as the commercial movement of used tires for retreading (recapping) or recycling, ornamental plant trade, and individual, public and commercial transportation from infested areas.”

This would require the “spatial-temporal” monitoring of the IMS, yet this paper speaks to the environmental and biological factors that indicate where to monitor and how to begin to control the breeding and long-term establishment of the animals, or the IMS. Table 3 is a great explanation of the environmental parameters considered for IMS monitoring.

10) Meijninger, WML and C Jarmain. “Satellite-based annual evaporation estimates of invasive alien plant species and native vegetation in South Africa,” Water SA (2014) 40/1: 95-107

11) Paulson, Elizabeth L. and Andrew P. Martin. “Discerning invasion history in an ephemerally connected system: landscape genetics of Procambarus clarkii in Ash Meadows, Nevada,” Biological Invasions (2014) 16:1719–1734.

12) Trama, Florencia A., Federico L. Rizo-Patrón, Anjali Kumar, Eugenio González, Daniel Somma
and Michael B. McCoy C. “Wetland Cover Types and Plant Community Changes in Response to
Cattail-Control Activities in the Palo Verde Marsh, Costa Rica,”
Ecological Restoration (2009) 27/3: 278-289.

13) Thom, Ronald M., Evan Haas, Nathan R. Evans and Gregory D.Williams.
“Lower Columbia River and Estuary Habitat Restoration Prioritization Framework,”
Ecological Restoration (2011) 29/1-2: 94-112.

14) Apostolos Siapatis, Marianna Giannoulaki, Vasilis D. Valavanis,
Andreas Palialexis, Eudoxia Schismenou, Athanassios Machias, and
Stylianos Somarakis. “Modelling potential habitat of the invasive ctenophore
Mnemiopsis leidyi in Aegean Sea,” Hydrobiologia (2008) 612:281–295.

15) Consorte Widis,Daniel, Todd K. BenDor and Michael Deegan. “Prioritizing Wetland Restoration Sites: A Review and Application to a Large-Scale Coastal Restoration Program,”
Ecological Restoration (2015) 33/4: 358-379.