Abstract
Dispersal heterogeneity is an important process that can compensate for downstream advection, enabling aquatic organisms to persist or spread upstream. Our main focus was the effect of year-to-year variation in larval dispersal on invasion spread rate. We used the green crab, Carcinus maenas, as a case study. This species was first introduced over 200 years ago to the east coast of North America, and once established has maintained a relatively consistent spread rate against the dominant current. We used a stage-structured, integro-difference equation model that couples a demographic matrix for population growth and dispersal kernels for spread of individuals within a season. The kernel describing larval dispersal, the main dispersive stage, was mechanistically modeled to include both drift and settlement rate components. It was parameterized using a 3-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the Gulf of St Lawrence, which enabled us to incorporate larval behavior, namely vertical swimming. Dispersal heterogeneity was modeled at two temporal scales: within the larval period (months) and over the adult lifespan (years). The kernel models variation within the larval period. To model the variation among years, we allowed the kernel parameters to vary by year. Results indicated that when dispersal parameters vary with time, knowledge of the time-averaged dispersal process is insufficient for determining the upstream spread rate of the population. Rather upstream spread is possible over a number of years when incorporating the yearly variation, even when there are only a few “good years” featured by some upstream dispersal among many “bad years” featured by only downstream dispersal. Accounting for annual variations in dispersal in population models is important to enhance understanding of spatial dynamics and population spread rates. Our developed model also provides a good platform to link the modeling of larval behavior and demography to large-scale hydrodynamic models.
Highlights
Understanding the mechanisms used by invasive species to spread against a dominant current in an aquatic environment remains an interesting problem today despite more than two decades of research
When setting the recruitment rate to a reasonable estimate from field data for the green crab (r = 23 adult female offspring per female per year [9]) for these two situations, the curve representing the feasible set of v and D is concave and decreasing in the v-D plane (Fig 2)
Our results indicated that when dispersal parameters vary with time, knowledge of the time-averaged dispersal process is insufficient for determining the spread rates of the population
Summary
Understanding the mechanisms used by invasive species to spread against a dominant current in an aquatic environment remains an interesting problem today despite more than two decades of research. We see flow variability due to widely different phenomena [5]. These can be grouped broadly into two relevant time scales: (i) the dispersal period (typically the larval stage) and (ii) the adult lifespan. Even when variability on the shorter (within year) scale is not sufficient to resolve the drift paradox, longer-scale variability (year-to-year) may still allow persistence and upstream spread [3]. Byers and Pringle [3] showed that for several simple models, dispersal strategies in which an adult releases larvae either over several years or several times each year increase the likelihood of population retention and spread against a dominant current. Basing dispersal parameters on mean flows underestimates spread rates
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
