title: Assessing introduction risk using species' rank-abundance distributions.
abstract: Mixed-species assemblages are often unintentionally introduced into new ecosystems. Analysing how assemblage structure varies during transport may provide insights into how introduction risk changes before propagules are released. Characterization of introduction risk is typically based on assessments of colonization pressure (CP, the number of species transported) and total propagule pressure (total PP, the total abundance of propagules released) associated with an invasion vector. Generally, invasion potential following introduction increases with greater CP or total PP. Here, we extend these assessments using rank-abundance distributions to examine how CP : total PP relationships change temporally in ballast water of ocean-going ships. Rank-abundance distributions and CP : total PP patterns varied widely between trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific voyages, with the latter appearing to pose a much lower risk than the former. Responses also differed by taxonomic group, with invertebrates experiencing losses mainly in total PP, while diatoms and dinoflagellates sustained losses mainly in CP. In certain cases, open-ocean ballast water exchange appeared to increase introduction risk by uptake of new species or supplementation of existing ones. Our study demonstrates that rank-abundance distributions provide new insights into the utility of CP and PP in characterizing introduction risk.
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4 chan11c@uwindsor.ca.
authors.forename: Farrah T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada H3A 1B1.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bradie
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, Kiel 24105, Germany.
authors.forename: Elizabeta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Briski
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Burlington, Ontario, Canada L7R 4A6.
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Mont-Joli, Québec, Canada G5H 3Z4.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Simard
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4.
authors.forename: Hugh J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: MacIsaac
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D017753:Ecosystem; D058865:Introduced Species; D016014:Linear Models; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011156:Population Density; D012306:Risk; D012623:Seawater; D012767:Ships
keywords: ballast water; colonization pressure; community structure; invasion vectors; invasive species; propagule pressure