Tracking the spread of a nonindigenous species, Bythotrephes longimanus, and evaluating its impact on the crustacean zooplankton communities of Ontario inland lakes

Nonindigenous species have been acknowledged as a threat to freshwater biodiversity and one of the species of concern is Bythotrephes longimanus (Onychopoda, Branchiopoda, Crustacea). B. longimanus has spread rapidly within the Great Lakes basin, particularly in lakes on the Canadian Shield. Volunteers in the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters' (O.F.A.H.) Aquatic Nuisance Species monitoring program are currently tracking the spread of the invader; however their accuracy had never been audited. For my first objective, I evaluated whether or not the volunteers' protocol (three stations sampled twice with a 30 cm diameter plankton net) was adequate to detect an invasion.;Changes in zooplankton have been documented in North America following the discovery of B. longimanus, but only in a very small number of longitudinal studies. My second goal was to determine whether or not there is a difference in the crustacean zooplankton communities of inland lakes with and without B. longimanus. The crustacean zooplankton communities of 30 Canadian Shield lakes, 17 with B. longimanus and 13 without, were sampled. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...