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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
National Center for Research on Aquatic Invasive Species
See also: Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species List
Aquatic invasive species are a global threat that affect the economic security, management, and beneficial uses of our coastal ecosystems. In order to maximize the benefits and effectiveness of NOAA’s research investments towards understanding, preventing, responding to, and managing aquatic species invasions in U.S. coastal ecosystems, the agency established the NOAA National Center for Research on Aquatic Invasive Species in July 2003. The Center is administratively housed at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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| Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha)
on native Unionid mussel. Native mussels populations have been eliminated
in many areas of the Great Lakes by zebra mussel colonization such
as shown here. Zebra mussels are called the “poster child”
for aquatic invasive species because their invasion of the Great
Lakes in the late 1980s led to major policy initiatives at the national
level in the United States. |
Background and Rationale
The major pathways by which aquatic invasive species (AIS) reach U.S.
ecosystems all involve human activities, especially commerce and trade.
Costs to the U.S. economy of AIS have reached 100s of millions of dollars
per year and are mounting. Solutions to problems related to AIS will undoubtedly
affect both the costs and policies related to commerce and trade. Congress
(Public Law 101-636 as amended through October 1996) and the White House
(Executive Order 13112, February 1999) identified aquatic species invasions
as a growing national problem requiring federal action.
NOAA is a science-based agency under the Department of Commerce whose mission it is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation’s economic, social, and environmental needs. The Department of Commerce is one of several federal agencies given joint responsibility for developing and implementing a national invasive species response and action plan. NOAA carries out the Department’s responsibilities by serving as Co-chair of both the national Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force and the Invasive Species Council. Therefore, it is appropriate and essential that NOAA assures the effectiveness, and maximizes the value, of its research investment on this issue. Coordination and advocacy for research within NOAA, as well as across agencies, and partnering with the academic and private sector are essential to achieving this goal.
Mission and Program Elements
NOAA established the National Center for Research on Aquatic Invasive
Species to assure cross-NOAA leadership, communication, and coordination
for NOAA’s research investments in support of understanding, preventing,
responding to, and managing aquatic species invasions in U.S. coastal
ecosystems. The Center’s broad goal is to foster, coordinate, and
support aquatic invasive species research throughout and across NOAA.
The Center will enhance NOAA’s ability to meet its mission and strategic
goals and carry-out the responsibilities assigned by Public Law 101-646
(as amended) and Executive Order 13112. The Center will lead development
of, and administer, a long-term NOAA strategic plan for research on aquatic
invasions that is based on the National (Invasive Species) Management
Plan. Specifically, the Center will:
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| Green crab (Carcinus maenas) is a
predatory invader that feeds voraciously on shellfish. It was introduced
to the Atlantic coast of North America during the early 19th century
and spread from there to the Pacific coast, where it was first found
in San Francisco Bay in 1998. It has since been observed in waters
of Oregon in 1998, Washington in 1998 and British Columbia in 1999.
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- Work across NOAA to centralize an AIS research strategy that insures
research is coordinated, prioritized, and integrated with other NOAA
activities (e.g. monitoring, response, restoration, education) related
to invasive species.
- Expand and maintain NOAA’s core AIS scientific expertise to
address research needs related to prevention, early detection and rapid
response, management of successful invasions (control, eradication,
or adaptation), and education and outreach.
- Encourage exploratory biological invasion research (invasion biology
is a young field and much remains to be discovered).
- Facilitate research communication with other agencies and foster
research partnerships between NOAA, other agencies, universities, and
private-sector entities via the ANS Task Force, NOAA’s Cooperative
Institutes programs, and the National Sea Grant Program.
- Identify and seek support for collaborative research opportunities between U.S. and foreign scientists.
The proposed elements of the Center include 1) a Regional Coordination Program covering six coastal regions (east coast, west coast, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii) to ensure NOAA’s AIS research is national in scope but responds to regional priorities, 2) a Post-doctoral and Visiting Scientist Research Program to enhance and maintain NOAA’s core research capabilities at the cutting edge of AIS science and understanding, and 3) a broad NOAA AIS Research Program to assure that NOAA’s scientists have the resources required to support and advance both NOAA’s mission needs and National needs as identified by the National Management Plan and various stakeholders.
 |
| Looking down through the access hatch of a
ballast tank on a commercial bulk carrier. Ballast water is implicated
as the major vector for AIS introductions to coastal ecosystems.
However, even “empty” ballast tanks can contain enough
residual mud and water to support live organisms. |
The Research Center will work closely with the ANS Task Force and the National Invasive Species Council to incorporate national AIS research priorities into NOAA’s programs. A close working relationship between the Center, the National Sea Grant Program, and NOAA’s Cooperative Institutes Program will enhance NOAA’s ability to accomplish its mission and goals by coordinating research priorities, leveraging resources towards common interests, and fostering joint research enterprises between NOAA scientists and university or private sector scientists.
Aquatic invasive species, for the most part, originate from outside the borders of the U.S., and thus, invasive species are an international problem requiring international cooperation. Often the only, or at least the most comprehensive, information about an invasive organism is found in the scientific community of the source ecosystem or country. The AIS Research Center will help identify partnership opportunities between U.S. and foreign scientists. It will encourage and support collaborative research planning and projects, sharing of scientific information, and research projects to identify means of interdicting AIS introduction to the U.S.
Organization
The Center is administratively housed at the Great Lakes Environmental
Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which has been conducting
research on invasive species since 1989. GLERL is the only NOAA internal
research unit that houses a core of scientists with over a decade of experience
and growing expertise specifically addressing aquatic species invasions,
as well as the multidisciplinary capability to conduct and coordinate
the type of regional research necessary to address the complexity of the
issues involved. GLERL has a long history of research on invasive species
and supports a broad program of AIS research covering prevention, ecosystem
impacts and forecasting, and monitoring. It leads multiple AIS research
programs in partnership with universities (University of Michigan, University
of Windsor-Canada, Old Dominion University, Michigan State University)
and other government agencies (U.S. Navy, Smithsonian Environmental Research
Center, USEPA, U.S. Coast Guard, Great Lakes International Fish Commission).
GLERL is home to the first shared Sea Grant Network Extension position,
the model proposed for the Regional Coordinators under the Center program.
Contact and address
Dr. David Reid, Director
NOAA National Center for Research on Aquatic Invasive Species
c/o Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
2205 Commonwealth Blvd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2945
David.Reid@noaa.gov
734-741-2019
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Related Links
Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species List
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/Programs/invasive/
GLERL Nonindigenous Species Research Program
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/Programs/nsmain.html
NOAA National Sea Grant AIS Research & Outreach
http://www.nsgo.seagrant.org/research/nonindigenous/index.html
National Aquatic Nuisance Species Clearinghouse
http://www.cce.cornell.edu/programs/nansc/nan_ld.cfm
Great Lakes Information Network - Invasive Species Page
http://www.great-lakes.net/envt/flora-fauna/invasive/invasive.html
International Association for Great Lakes Research
http://www.iaglr.org/scipolicy/ais/
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Marine Invasions Research Lab
http://invasions.si.edu/
U.S. Geological Survey - Florida Integrated Science Center (Gainesville)
http://cars.er.usgs.gov/Nonindigenous_Species/nonindigenous_species.html
National ANS Task Force
http://www.anstaskforce.gov/
National Invasive Species Council
http://www.invasivespecies.gov/
West Coast Ballast Outreach Project
http://ballast-outreach-ucsgep.ucdavis.edu/
Northeast-Midwest Institute - Biological Pollution Web Page
http://www.nemw.org/biopollute.htm
Last updated: 2004-01-14 jjs