Network analysis of ballast-mediated species transfer reveals important introduction and dispersal patterns in the Arctic

Rapid climate change has wide-ranging implications for the Arctic region, including sea ice loss, increased geopolitical attention, and expanding economic activity, including a dramatic increase in shipping activity. As a result, the risk of harmful non-native marine species being introduced into this critical region will increase unless policy and management steps are implemented in response. Using big data about shipping, ecoregions, and environmental conditions, we leverage network analysis and data mining techniques to assess, visualize, and project ballast water-mediated species introductions into the Arctic and dispersal of non-native species within the Arctic. We first identify high-risk connections between the Arctic and non-Arctic ports that could be sources of non-native species over 15 years (1997-2012) and observe the emergence of shipping hubs in the Arctic where the cumulative risk of non-native species introduction is increasing. We then consider how environmental conditions can constrain this Arctic introduction network for species with different physiological limits, thus providing a species-level tool for decision-makers. Next, we focus on within-Arctic ballast-mediated species dispersal where we use higher-order network analysis to identify critical shipping routes that may facilitate species dispersal within the Arctic. The risk assessment and projection framework we propose could inform risk-based assessment and management of ship-borne invasive species in the Arctic

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

Unfiltered_COI

This dataset contains all of the COI MOTUs obtained after the bioinformatics pipeline described in the manuscript. For each MOTU, there is taxonomic assignment information from two algorithms – SAP and Geneious BLAST – and the number of reads per MOTU per sample. Field descriptions are: "OTU_ID" = unique MOTU identifier "SAP" = taxonomic assignment from the SAP algorithm "MetazoanPhylum_SAP" = Metazoan phylum assigned by SAP "Level1_SAP"= higher level SAP assignment (e.g., Metazoan, Fungi, etc.) "Geneious Accession" = the NCBI accession of the best BLAST hit "Geneious1"= higher level BLAST assignment (e.g., Metazoan, Fungi, etc.) “MetazoanPhylum_Geneious”= metazoan phylum of best BLAST hit “Geneious2”…”Geneious6”= progressively lower-level taxonomic assignment of best BLAST hit “Geneious_coverage” = Percent coverage of best BLAST hit “Geneious_identity” = Percent identity of best BLAST hit “Geneious_eval” = E-value of best BLAST hit “Level1” = final higher-level categorization of the MOTU “MetazoanPhylum” = final Metazoan phylum of the MOTU Other fields: See the SampleIDs_18S for more informatio

SampleIDs_18S

Dictionary linking samples to sites and ports. Also provides the 18S sequencing ID and bioinformatics pipeline ID for each sample

Unfiltered 18S MOTU Dataset

This dataset contains all of the 18S MOTUs obtained after the bioinformatics pipeline described in the manuscript. For each MOTU, there is taxonomic assignment information from two algorithms – SAP and Geneious BLAST – and the number of reads per MOTU per sample. Field descriptions are: "OTU_ID" = unique MOTU identifier "SAP" = taxonomic assignment from the SAP algorithm "MetazoanPhylum_SAP" = Metazoan phylum assigned by SAP "Level1_SAP"= higher level SAP assignment (e.g., Metazoan, Fungi, etc.) "Geneious Accession" = the NCBI accession of the best BLAST hit "Geneious1"= higher level BLAST assignment (e.g., Metazoan, Fungi, etc.) “MetazoanPhylum_Geneious”= metazoan phylum of best BLAST hit “Geneious2”…”Geneious6”= progressively lower-level taxonomic assignment of best BLAST hit “Geneious_coverage” = Percent coverage of best BLAST hit “Geneious_identity” = Percent identity of best BLAST hit “Geneious_eval” = E-value of best BLAST hit “Level1” = final higher-level categorization of the MOTU “MetazoanPhylum” = final Metazoan phylum of the MOTU Other fields: See the SampleIDs_18S for more informatio

Arctic Sea Routes: Potential New Pathways for Nonindigenous Species Spread + Supplementary Appendix 1 (See Article Tools)

 This paper evaluates the potential effects of future commercial shipping through the Northern Sea Route and Northwest Passage on the spread of nonindigenous species (NIS) between Europe, the United States, and the Asia-Pacific region. We modeled NIS spread risk as a function of two factors: NIS introduction and NIS establishment. The change in risk of NIS introduction from one region to another is based on the expected commodity trade flow between the two regions given Arctic shipping routes. The risk of NIS establishment is based on current marine climate similarities between regions and projected 2030 terrestrial climate similarities. Results indicate that the United States, China, and Japan are at greatest risk for increased terrestrial and marine NIS spread to and from one another given their relatively high levels of trading activity and terrestrial and marine climate similarities. While increased trade between European and Asia-Pacific countries is expected in the future, only Japan has terrestrial climate similar enough to that of European countries to be considered a substantial terrestrial NIS spread risk, while China has the potential to increase the risk of marine NIS species spread in Europe. Cet article évalue les effets potentiels de la navigation commerciale future dans la route maritime du Nord et le passage du Nord-Ouest sur la propagation d’espèces allogènes (EA) entre l’Europe, les États-Unis et la région de l’Asie-Pacifique. Nous avons modélisé le risque de propagation des EA en fonction de deux facteurs : l’introduction des EA et l’établissement des EA. La variation en matière de risque d’introduction des EA d’une région à l’autre est basée sur le flux prévu des échanges commerciaux entre les deux régions passant par les routes maritimes de l’Arctique. Le risque d’établissement des EA est fondé sur les similitudes climatiques maritimes actuelles entre les régions de même que sur les similitudes climatiques terrestres projetées pour 2030. Selon les résultats obtenus, les États-Unis, la Chine et le Japon courent les plus grands risques de propagation accrue d’EA marines et terrestres de part et d’autre en raison de leurs degrés relativement élevés d’activités commerciales et de leurs similitudes sur le plan climatique terrestre et maritime. Bien que l’on s’attende à l’augmentation du commerce entre les pays de l’Europe et de l’Asie-Pacifique, seul le Japon compte un climat terrestre suffisamment semblable à celui des pays européens pour être fortement considéré comme un risque de propagation terrestre des EA, tandis que la Chine pourrait accroître le risque de propagation des EA marines en Europe

Access to Course Materials in the Cohort: Survey Data on Student Purchasing Behaviors

Student success is dependent upon having access to tools needed in the classroom. In the fall of 2017, a small group of faculty from various disciplines began meeting to discuss the issue of textbook accessibility on GSU’s campus. We shared various perspectives on potential areas of improvement. The group decided to begin by studying the problem by collecting data on textbook assess in the cohorts. We have conducted two rounds of data collection. First, we provided a survey to instructors of sophomores in COMS1160 Public Discourse and freshman in ENG1000 in the 11th and 12th week of the Fall 2017 semester. Second, we provided surveys to instructors of freshman in ENG1000 and ENG1010 in week 5 of the Spring 2018 semester. We analyzed the results looking for percentages of students who had the text in some form versus those who did not have access to any text. Our results indicate that an overwhelming percentage of our students do not have access to course materials throughout the semester. Our discussion will focus on an explanation of the goals of the project, the data collection process, our findings, and our next steps. We hope that this discussion will be enlightening for faculty of every program as they ponder course materials and barriers to access for their student

Higher-order patterns of aquatic species spread through the global shipping network.

The introduction and establishment of nonindigenous species (NIS) through global ship movements poses a significant threat to marine ecosystems and economies. While ballast-vectored invasions have been partly addressed by some national policies and an international agreement regulating the concentrations of organisms in ballast water, biofouling-vectored invasions remain largely unaddressed. Development of additional efficient and cost-effective ship-borne NIS policies requires an accurate estimation of NIS spread risk from both ballast water and biofouling. We demonstrate that the first-order Markovian assumption limits accurate modeling of NIS spread risks through the global shipping network. In contrast, we show that higher-order patterns provide more accurate NIS spread risk estimates by revealing indirect pathways of NIS transfer using Species Flow Higher-Order Networks (SF-HON). Using the largest available datasets of non-indigenous species for Europe and the United States, we then compare SF-HON model predictions against those from networks that consider only first-order connections and those that consider all possible indirect connections without consideration of their significance. We show that not only SF-HONs yield more accurate NIS spread risk predictions, but there are important differences in NIS spread via the ballast and biofouling vectors. Our work provides information that policymakers can use to develop more efficient and targeted prevention strategies for ship-borne NIS spread management, especially as management of biofouling is of increasing concern

Data from: Evaluation of Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, megalopal settlement and condition during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, is a commercially, culturally, and ecologically significant species in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), whose offshore stages were likely impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWH). To test for DWH effects and to better understand the planktonic ecology of this species, we monitored Callinectes spp. megalopal settlement and condition at sites within and outside of the spill extent during and one year after the DWH. We tested for DWH effects by comparing 2010 settlement against baseline data available for two sites, and by testing for differences in settlement and condition inside and outside of the spill extent. We also developed time series models to better understand natural drivers of daily settlement variation (seasonal and lunar trends, hydrodynamics, wind) during 2010 and 2011. Overall, we found that neither megalopal settlement nor body weight were significantly reduced at oiled sites, but that high unexplained variation and low statistical power made detection of even large effects unlikely. Time series models revealed remarkably consistent and relatively strong seasonal and lunar trends within sites (explaining on average 28% and 9% of variation, respectively), while wind and hydrodynamic effects were weak (1–5% variation explained) and variable among sites. This study provides insights into DWH impacts as well as the natural drivers of Callinectes spp. megalopal settlement across the northern GOM