Assessing the Relationship Between Propagule Pressure and Invasion Risk in Ballast Water

157 Pages·2011·1.7 MB·English

by  National Research Council, Committee on Assessing Numeric Limits for Living Organisms in Ballast Water

Assessing the Relationship
Between Propagule
Pressure and Invasion Risk
in Ballast Water
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Committee on Assessing Numeric Limits for
Living Organisms in Ballast Water

Water Science and Technology Board

Division on Earth and Life Studies

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Govern-
ing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the
councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineer-
ing, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the panel responsible for the
report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate
balance.

Support for this study was provided by the EPA and U.S. Coast Guard under contract
no. EP-C-09-003, TO#11. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations
expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-21562-6
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-21562-5

Photo on the front cover is courtesy of Gregory M. Ruiz. Photo on the back cover is
courtesy of Stephan Gollasch.

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www.national-academies.org
Committee on Assessing Numeric Limits
for Living Organisms in Ballast Water

JAMES T. CARLTON, Chair, Williams College/Mystic Seaport, Mystic,
Connecticut
GREGORY M. RUIZ, Vice-Chair, Smithsonian Environmental Research
Center, Edgewater, Maryland
JAMES E. BYERS, University of Georgia, Athens
ALLEGRA CANGELOSI, Northeast-Midwest Institute, Washington, D.C.
FRED C. DOBBS, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia
EDWIN D. GROSHOLZ, University of California, Davis
BRIAN LEUNG, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
HUGH J. MACISAAC, University of Windsor, Ontario
MARJORIE J. WONHAM, Quest University, Squamish, British Columbia

NRC Staff

LAURA J. EHLERS, Study Director
ELLEN DE GUZMAN, Research Associate

v
Water Science and Technology Board

DONALD I. SIEGEL, Chair, Syracuse University, New York
LISA M. ALVAREZ-COHEN, University of California, Berkeley
EDWARD J. BOUWER, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
YU-PING CHIN, Ohio State University, Columbus
OTTO C. DOERING III, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
M. SIOBHAN FENNESSY, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio
BEN GRUMBLES, Clean Water America Alliance, Washington, DC
GEORGE R. HALLBERG, The Cadmus Group, Watertown, Massachusetts
KENNETH R. HERD, Southwest Florida Water Management District,
Brooksville
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
LARRY LARSON, Association of State Floodplain Managers, Madison,
Wisconsin
DAVID H. MOREAU, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
DENNIS D. MURPHY, University of Nevada, Reno
MARYLYNN V. YATES, University of California, Riverside

Staff

STEPHEN D. PARKER, Director
JEFFREY JACOBS, Scholar
LAURA J. EHLERS, Senior Staff Officer
STEPHANIE E. JOHNSON, Senior Staff Officer
LAURA J. HELSABECK, Staff Officer
M. JEANNE AQUILINO, Financial/Administrative Associate
ELLEN A. DE GUZMAN, Research Associate/Senior Program Associate
ANITA A. HALL, Senior Program Associate
MICHAEL STOEVER, Research Associate
SARAH BRENNAN, Senior Project Assistant

v i
Preface
The human-mediated introduction of species to regions of the world they
could never reach by natural means has had great impacts on the environment,
the economy, and society. In the ocean, these invasions have long been me-
diated by the uptake and subsequent release of ballast water in ocean-going ves-
sels. Increasing world trade and a concomitantly growing global shipping fleet
composed of larger and faster vessels, combined with a series of prominent bal-
last-mediated invasions over the past two decades, have prompted active nation-
al and international interest in ballast water management.
Following the invasion of European zebra mussels (Driessena polymorpha)
in the Great Lakes, the United States Congress passed the Nonindigenous Aqua-
tic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (NANPCA), requiring the
United States Coast Guard (USCG) to regulate ballast operations of ships.
NANPCA was reauthorized and expanded in 1996 with the passage of the Na-
tional Invasive Species Act. In 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agen-
cy (EPA) entered the ballast water management arena by issuing its first Vessel
General Permit, under the authority of the Clean Water Act of 1972.
Both the USCG and EPA ballast management programs are undergoing re-
visions that focus on setting specific post-treatment discharge standards for bal-
last water. Forthcoming regulatory deadlines prompted the EPA and the USCG
to request the National Research Council’s (NRC) Water Science and Technolo-
gy Board (WSTB) to undertake a study to provide technical advice on the deri-
vation of numeric limits for living organisms in ballast water for the next EPA
Vessel General Permit and for USCG programs. The sponsoring agencies asked
the NRC to:

1. Evaluate the state of the science of various approaches that assess the
risk of establishment of aquatic nonindigenous species given certain concentra-
tions of living organisms in ballast water discharges.

2. Recommend how these approaches can be used by regulatory agencies
to best inform risk management decisions on the allowable concentrations of
living organisms in discharged ballast water in order to safeguard against the
establishment of new aquatic nonindigenous species and to protect and preserve
existing indigenous populations of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and other benefi-
cial uses of the nation’s waters.
v i i
viii   Preface 

3. Evaluate the risk of successful establishment of new aquatic nonindi-
genous species associated with a variety of ballast water discharge limits that
have been used or suggested by the international community and/or domestic
regulatory agencies.

Given the nature of this mandate, this report focuses on inoculum density,
which is the basis of proposed discharge standards. Nonetheless, it is but one of
many variables that determine whether a species will become a successful in-
vader. The Committee recognized at the outset that any method that attempts to
predict invasion outcomes based upon only one of many factors that influence
the invasion process is likely to be characterized by a high level of uncertainty.
At the request of the sponsors and given the limited time period for the
study, it was not within the Committee’s charge to propose numeric discharge
standards or to evaluate treatment systems that might be used in the future to
achieve any such standards. Finally, the report contains a glossary of terms
used.
In developing this report, the Committee benefited greatly from the presen-
tations and input of several individuals, including Henry Lee of EPA’s Office of
Research and Development, Jim Hanlon and Ryan Albert of EPA’s Office of
Wastewater Management, Richard Everett and Greg Kirkbride of the U.S. Coast
Guard, Andrew Cohen of the Center for Research on Aquatic Bioinvasions,
Maurya Falkner of the California State Lands Commission, and John Drake of
the University of Georgia. We also thank the stakeholders who took time to
share with us their perspectives and thoughts about the many complex issues
associated with ballast water and other vector management, including Phyllis
Green and Scott Smith, National Park Service; Vic Serveiss, International Joint
Commission; Gabriela Chavarria and Tom Cmar, National Resources Defense
Council; Doug Schneider, World Shipping Council; Azin Moradhassel, Cana-
dian Shipowners Association; and Caroline Gravel, Shipping Federation of Can-
ada. Finally, the committee thanks Miriam Tepper, Andrew Langridge, Kellina
Higgins, and Cassandra Elliott—students at Quest University Canada, whose
analysis of 47 papers that studied the relationship between propagule pressure
and invasion rate greatly informed the discussion of models in Chapter 4.
Completion of this report would not have been possible without the extraor-
dinary efforts of study director Laura Ehlers, who kept us on task and on point at
many potential diversions in the road, especially when shiny baubles began to
distract us. The genetic disposition of the Committee to see the light at the end
of the tunnel as the oncoming train was well-balanced by Laura’s equally genet-
ic talent to sort wheat from chaff. Ellen de Guzman very ably supported meet-
ing logistics and travel arrangements.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their
diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures ap-
proved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this indepen-
dent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the insti-
tution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the
Preface ix

report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness
to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confi-
dential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the follow-
ing individuals for their review of this report: Sarah Bailey, Great Lakes Labora-
tory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans, Canada; Lisa
Drake, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Key West, Florida; Gustaaf Halle-
graeff, University Tasmania, Australia; Russell Herwig, University of Washing-
ton, Seattle; Chad Hewitt, Central Queensland University, Australia; Alex
Horne, Alex Horne Associates, El Cerrito, California; Christopher Jerde, Uni-
versity of Notre Dame, Indiana; and Daniel Simberloff, University of Tennesse,
Knoxville. Although these reviewers have provided many constructive com-
ments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions and rec-
ommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release.
The review of this report was overseen by William Chameides, Duke Univer-
sity, who was appointed by the NRC’s Report Review Committee and by Judith
Weis, Rutgers University, who was appointed by the NRC’s Division on Earth
and Life Studies. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were re-
sponsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was
carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review com-
ments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this
report rests entirely with the authoring committee and institution.
James T. Carlton Gregory M. Ruiz
Committee Chair Committee Vice-Chair