Browsing by Subject "watercraft inspection"

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    Cost-effectiveness of aquatic invasive species prevention techniques
    (2023-08) Angell, Nichole
    Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are a growing threat to water resources resulting in re-engineered ecosystems and expensive management actions. Boater education, watercraft inspection, and hot water decontamination are popular prevention strategies for AIS that spread through the recreational boating pathway; however, few studies have quantified the effectiveness of these approaches. In this study we estimated the effectiveness and costs of AIS prevention practices performed by boaters, watercraft inspectors, and hot water decontaminators. To estimate effectiveness, participants (n=144) recruited at public water access sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin and were asked to inspect and remove AIS from a boat that had been realistically staged with macrophytes, zebra mussels, and spiny water flea. The types of organisms and the amounts of AIS removed were used to estimate effectiveness for each prevention method. Additionally, interviews with MN county AIS managers were conducted to gather itemized spending information on the three preventions in question. Our results suggest that watercraft inspection is a cost-effective method of prevention for most boats and hot water decontamination is an important tool for high-risk boats, however decontamination protocols are difficult to effectively execute. Furthermore, boater education helps reduce risk when inspectors cannot be present at public water access sites due to limited funding and staffing. Ultimately, these data will be incorporated into the online decision support tool, AIS Explorer (www.aisexplorer.umn.edu) to guide future management decisions.
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    Data in support of Quantifying the effectiveness of three aquatic invasive species prevention methods
    (2023-05-04) Angell, Nichole R; Campbell, Tim; Brady, Valerie; Bajcz, Alex; Kinsley, Amy; Doll, Adam; Dumke, Josh; Keller, Reuben; Phelps, Nicholas BD; nangell@glc.org; Angell, Nichole R; Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC)
    Efforts to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) have been widely implemented at many scales to mitigate economic and environmental harms. Boater education, watercraft inspection, and hot water decontamination are popular strategies for prevention of AIS moving through the recreational boating pathway. However, few studies have actually quantified the effectiveness of these strategies under field conditions. We estimated their effectiveness based on the performances of boaters, watercraft inspectors, and hot water decontaminators. Participants (n=144) were recruited at 56 public water access sites in Minnesota and 1 in Wisconsin. Each participant was asked to inspect and remove AIS from a boat staged with macrophytes, dead zebra mussels, and spiny water fleas. The types and amounts of AIS removed were used to estimate the effectiveness of each prevention method. We observed that removal varied by type of AIS, with macrophytes being most commonly removed for all participants. There were also regional (metro and outstate) differences for some species perhaps due to awareness and education. Hot water decontamination was the most effective (83.7%) intervention but was not significantly better at reducing risk of spread than was watercraft inspection (79.2%). Boaters were less effective at AIS removal (56.4%). Our results suggest that watercraft inspection is an effective prevention method for most boats, and that hot water decontamination is an important tool for high-risk boats. However, robust decontamination protocols are difficult to effectively execute. Furthermore, our results provide insights into how to increase boater awareness of often-overlooked locations and help reduce risk when inspectors cannot be present at a public water access site.
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    Data in support of: AIS Explorer: Intervention Impact - An application for planning cost-effective AIS prevention programs
    (2024-01-22) Angell, Nichole R; Bajcz, Alex; Kinsley, Amy; Keller, Reuben; Phelps, Nicholas B. D.; nangell@glc.org; Angell, Nichole R.; Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC)
    The movement of aquatic invasive species (AIS) between waterbodies is often facilitated by overland transport on recreational boats. Once established, AIS can have detrimental ecological effects that are difficult or impossible to manage. Prevention is the most cost-effective AIS intervention strategy, with many management agencies focused on implementing spread prevention techniques such as boater education, watercraft inspection, and hot water decontamination. Given resource constraints, deciding which spread prevention techniques to implement and where to place them is a decision fraught with uncertainty. In this study, we collected data for, developed, and tested a new application entitled “Intervention Impact” for the AIS Explorer, an online AIS program-planning dashboard (www.aisexplorer.umn.edu). The application assists AIS managers by simulating scenarios derived from user-defined lake-level budgets, effort, and effectiveness of interventions, enabling them to make comparisons. The outputs provide estimates for risk reduction and infestations averted for both zebra mussel and starry stonewort in Minnesota lakes. We demonstrate the utility of this application using the conditions of Cass County, Minnesota, USA as a case study. Our simulation outputs highlight the tradeoffs of each prevention strategy applied given budget constraints and demonstrate that value of a data-driven approach to guide the implementation of cost-effective prevention plans.
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    R Code, Data, and Output Supporting: Facilitating effective collaboration to prevent aquatic invasive species spread
    (2023-09-05) Bajcz, Alex, W.; Kinsley, Amy; Haight, Robert; Phelps, Nicholas; bajcz003@umn.edu; Bajcz, Alex W.; Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center; Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine; USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station; Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
    This repository contains R code, raw and processed data, and associated outputs supporting the results reported in: Kinsley, A, Bajcz A, Haight R, and Phelps N. 2023. Facilitating effective collaboration to prevent aquatic invasive species spread. Biological Invasions [in press]. In brief, this repository provides the inputs, code, and documentation for our process of generating optimization models, using linear integer programming (LIP) in R, that would find optimal placement patterns for watercraft inspection stations to thwart the movement of boats at risk of carrying aquatic invasive species from one lake to another within the state of Minnesota, given certain assumptions about how jurisdictional authority operates within the state.