Starry stonewort: What is it, what do we know, what do we need to know? Dan Larkin AIS Summit October 6, 2016 Photo: Dave Hansen
Overview Introduction to starry stonewort Knowledge gaps and research Identification and detection Photo: Dave Hansen
People Research team Ranjan Muthukrishnan (postdoc) Wes Glisson (research fellow) Mike Verhoeven (grad. student) Carli Wagner (undergrad.) MAISRC collaborators Luis Escobar Nick Phelps Megan Weber
People Starry stonewort working group MnDNR University of Wisconsin Central Michigan University New York Botanical Garden University of Geneva
Starry stonewort Nitellopsis obtusa Green algae Harmful bluegreen algae Three domains of living organisms (Gogarten, Taiz et al. 2015)
Starry stonewort Nitellopsis obtusa Charophyte Phylogeny of green plants, Viridiplantae (Soltis Lab)
Starry stonewort Closely related to stoneworts / muskgrasses native to Minnesota Ecologically important Water quality Habitat McCourt et al. 1996 Chara aspera C. contraria Nitella flexilis
Starry stonewort Native to Eur. & Asia Red listed (CHE, CZE, FIN,, DEU,, GBR,, JPN,, SWE) ) Special concern Near threatened Vulnerable Endangered Regionally extinct Photo: Scott Brown
Reproduction and spread Dioecious, i only males in North America to date Spread here by fragments and bulbils
Reproduction and spread Concentrated t in lakes w/ accesses and high-use areas Human movement Photo: www.mymuskegonow.com/
Invasion history Relatively l new invader Quickly gaining ground Increasing concern for AIS management
Invasion process Long-term management Abundanc ce Containment Eradication Prevention Species absent Rare, localized Rapidly increasing Widespread and abundant Invasion stage g (time )
Invasion process Long-term management Abundanc ce hydrilla Eradication Prevention Containment curlyleaf pondweed Species absent Rare, localized Rapidly increasing Widespread and abundant Invasion stage g (time )
Invasion process Long-term management Abundanc ce hydrilla Eradication Prevention starry Containment stonewort t curlyleaf pondweed Species absent Rare, localized Rapidly increasing Widespread and abundant Invasion stage g (time )
Invasion process Stage of high uncertainty Long-term management Abundanc ce starry Containment stonewort t Eradication Prevention Species absent Rare, localized Rapidly increasing Widespread and abundant Invasion stage g (time )
Invasion process Abundanc ce How many lakes? Curlyleaf ~750 Eurasian ~330 Flowering rush ~36 Eradication Prevention starry Containment stonewort t Long-term management Species absent Rare, localized Rapidly increasing Widespread and abundant Invasion stage g (time )
Invasion process H h f How much of an invaded lake?
Knowledge gaps True distribution ib ti Ecological impacts Spread potential Effective treatments Larkin et al. In prep. review paper
Knowledge gaps True distribution ib ti Need expert verification Need more search effort
Knowledge gaps Ecological l impacts Concern about potential effects on Plant diversity Fish habitat Ecosystem condition No peer-reviewed literature, rigorous data
Spread potential What is its ecological l niche? Where are those conditions available?
Spread potential Used climate to predict invasion (ecological niche modeling) Occurrences from native and invaded ranges Examined relationship to climatic factors Predicted potential for range expansion http://www.unil.ch/
Ecological niche model Occurrences Escobar et al. 2016. Sci. Reports
Ecological niche model Predictions of suitable habitat Escobar et al. 2016. Sci. Reports
Ecological niche model Uninvaded areas (Mid-Atlantic, Great Plains, Intermountain West) potential high suitability Escobar et al. 2016. Sci. Reports
Ecological niche model Minnesota may have limited suitability Escobar et al. 2016. Sci. Reports
Ecological niche model Unfortunately, t model now being tested Upper Red Turtle Moose Winnibigoshish Cass Rice Koronis Sylvia
Ecological niche model Is SSW climatelimited in Minn.? Correlative models Nature full of surprises (e.g., Upper Red) Photomonger
Climate tolerance experiments SSW cultures in lab Will mimic potentially range-limiting conditions Duration Photoperiod Light quality
Scaling down to Minn. lakes Chemistry of SSW lakes High ph High conductivity Ca Mg Wide N, P ranges based on data from NY (Sleith) based on data from NY (Sleith) and Europe (Rey-Boissezon)
Scaling down to Minn. lakes Chemistry of SSW lakes What lakes is it found High ph in now? High conductivity Ca Mg Wide N, P ranges What are physiochemical conditions of these lakes? based on data from NY (Sleith) and Europe (Rey-Boissezon) Which Minnesota lakes overlap with these conditions?
Scaling down to Minn. lakes Chemistry of SSW lakes What lakes is it found High ph in now? High conductivity Ca Mg Wide N, P ranges What are environmental conditions of these lakes? based on data from NY (Sleith) and Europe (Rey-Boissezon) Which Minnesota lakes overlap with these conditions?
Scaling down to Minn. lakes Chemistry of SSW lakes What lakes is it found High ph in now? High conductivity Ca Mg Wide N, P ranges What are environmental conditions of these lakes? based on data from NY (Sleith) and Europe (Rey-Boissezon) Which Minnesota lakes overlap with these conditions?
Overland spread If contaminated t boat how long does material stay viable? Photo: NYS DEC
Overland spread Desiccation trials Still able to grow after 1h, 2h, 4h, 8h.?
Starry stonewort control Difficult to control starry stonewort No vasculature Haircut dead tops, able to resprout No publications Pullman and Crawford 2010
Starry stonewort control Difficult to control starry stonewort Seedbank of bulbils left behind Herbicide sensitivity of bulbils unknown
Starry stonewort control Testing sensitivity of plants and bulbils to g y p different herbicides
Starry stonewort control Lab trials Chelated copper algaecides Non-copper herbicides (diquat, endothall, flumioxazin) Photo: MAISRC Facebook
Starry stonewort control Non-target effects on native charophytes and vascular plants Photos: Ville Karvinen, articulo.mercadolibre.com.ec/, Gary Fleming, C. B. Hellquist)
Starry stonewort control In-lake treatment t t outcomes Upper Red Cass Moose
Identification May yg grow dense, tall Can have robust, plant-like appearance underwater Photo: Paul Skawinski
Identification May yg grow dense, tall Can form thick mats Photos: Dan Larkin, Minnesota DNR
Identification Whorls of 4-6 long branchlets Photo: Paul Skawinski
Identification Whorls of 4-6 long branchlets Photo: Scott Brown
Identification Small, starshaped bulbils Photos, L-R: Dan Larkin, MN DNR, Paul Skawinski
Identification Unlike most Chara, smooth stems YouTube: Starry stonewort identification, Paul Skawinski (UWEX)
Identification Unlike Nitella, asymmetrical branching YouTube: Starry stonewort identification, Paul Skawinski (UWEX)
Identification More stiff out of water YouTube: Starry stonewort identification, Paul Skawinski (UWEX)
Starry trek Minnesota & Wisconsin Statewide, coordinated shoreline searches Tentative date: Saturday, Aug. 5 th, 2017 Photo: Dave Hansen
Questions? Photo: Dave Hansen