Rapid nationwide delimitation surveys for Styela clava. Gust, N., Inglis, G. J., Peacock, L., Miller, S., Floerl, O., Fitridge, I., Hurren, H., & Johnston, O. Technical Report NIWA, Christchurch, October, 2006.
abstract   bibtex   
This report describes a nationwide surveillance program conducted in November 2005 to determine the distribution and density of the non-indigenous clubbed tunicate, Styela clava at twenty-six high risk sites. The surveys of fourteen ports, nine marinas and three harbours were completed within a month of Biosecurity New Zealand’s request for rapid surveillance. The nationwide surveys for Styela clava were requested by Biosecurity New Zealand (BNZ) after the clubbed tunicate was found to be widespread in the Viaduct Basin and Freemans Bay, Auckland in mid October 2005. The surveys were initiated within days of notification by BNZ, with the aim of rapidly determining the current distribution and relative abundance of the introduced ascidian. At each location the surveys combined above-water observations from the shoreline or small research vessels, with in-water searches using SCUBA divers. This methodology was developed during the October 2005 delimitation survey for S. clava in the Viaduct Basin and Freemans Bay and enabled survey teams to sample a variety of man-made habitats quickly over a large area. Where S. clava was detected, estimates of its relative abundance were made visually using a semi-quantitative log-scale. Suspected specimens of Styela clava were collected and sent to taxonomic experts to verify their identity from each survey location. Survey locations spanned a latitudinal range of over 11° with 13 locations searched on each of the North and South Islands. The 26 locations surveyed were chosen by BNZ as high risk sites for Styela clava incursions. Locations surveyed (from north to south) were; Opua Marina, Tutukaka Marina, Whangarei Marina, Whangarei Port, Whangarei Marsden Point, Mangawhai Harbour, Whitianga Marina, Tauranga Port, Tauranga Bridge Marina, Whakatane Port, New Plymouth, Napier Port, Wellington Port, Tarakohe, Nelson Port and Marina, Havelock Marina, Picton Marina, Picton Port and Shakespeare Bay, Waikawa Marina, Greymouth Port, Lyttelton Port, Lyttelton Harbour, Akaroa Harbour, Dunedin (Port Chalmers), Dunedin (Port Otago) and Bluff Port. Styela clava was detected at three of the 26 locations surveyed; individuals were detected in Tutukaka Marina, Lyttelton Port and Lyttelton Marina. Maximum densities encountered at each infested location were in the range of 1-10 S. clava per m2. These densities are up to three orders of magnitude lower than densities reported for S. clava overseas where it has caused significant ecological and economic impacts. Only two individuals were detected in Tutukaka Marina. Divers recovered these from the underside of floating Marina pontoons. These mature specimens represent the most northerly extent of the invasion currently known in New Zealand. Fifteen individuals were collected from nine sites within Lyttelton Port. Lyttelton Marina is located a kilometre to the west of the Lyttelton Port and was also found to be infected with S. clava. A total of five S. clava were found attached to ropes at four sites within the Marina. Styela clava was not detected on any of the other jetties, wharves or mooring lines inspected around the perimeter of Lyttelton Harbour. In Lyttelton Port and Marina all individuals collected were large (\textgreater 90 mm) and mature, suggesting the species was not a recent arrival to the area. A sample collected from a tug boat in Lyttelton by a PhD student in May 2002 has subsequently been re-identified as S. clava, which confirms the species has been present there for at least three years. In New Zealand Ports and Marinas S. clava is associated with a variety of man-made substrata. It has been detected on a wide variety of fixed and floating surfaces including: concrete break-walls, wooden pier piles, vessel hulls, mooring lines, and floating pontoons. Prior to the nationwide surveys, S. clava was known to be present in the Viaduct Basin, Freemans Bay and Westhaven Marina (Gust et al. 2005). It is now known to be widespread throughout the Hauraki Gulf, with higher density populations (tens to hundreds per m2) established near Waiheke Island. Additional opportunistic surveys by NIWA at Gulf Harbour Marina on the 24th of November found S. clava present at densities of 1-10 individuals per m2 beneath floating pontoons. Detection probabilities were calculated for each of the 23 locations where S. clava was not found nationwide, to provide an indication of the relative confidence of detection among locations, search techniques and substrata. To calculate these probabilities, an experiment was conducted to estimate the sensitivity of the search methods for S. clava. Known numbers of S. clava mimics were deployed at twelve sites (four each in Whangarei Harbour, New Plymouth and Opua Marina) under different conditions of water clarity. An independent team then searched the sites for the mimics using the standard survey protocol. Experimental results showed that search sensitivity for above-water searches was positively related to water clarity; however diver search sensitivity remained high (0.93 of model Styela clava were found on average) irrespective of water clarity. At the 23 locations where rapid surveillance did not detect Styela clava, we estimated the relative confidence that above-water surveys would have detected it if at least one individual was present. Above-water detection probabilities varied widely between locations (from 0.02 to 0.55), which often reflected the prevailing water clarity during searches, and its effect on search sensitivity (other factors such as the size and construction of the sampled location, and the sampling effort achieved influenced above-water detection probabilities. Detection probability curves for diver searches were calculated for different potential incursion sizes of S. clava in each location. The number of dives that could be achieved in the limited search time available was an important determinant of detection probability, as was the size of the modelled incursion. The above-water and in-water searches provided complementary approaches for rapidly determining the extent of the incursion at locations nationwide. Both techniques were successful in detecting specimens. Above-water surveys were particularly effective if water clarity was high (\textgreater 2 m Secchi depth) since large areas of potential S. clava habitat could be searched rapidly in the upper water column where this species is often observed. In contrast SCUBA divers can search smaller areas in a given time, but were able to investigate deeper substrata or those hidden from above-water observers. SCUBA searches had high sensitivity in the poor water clarity environments common in many New Zealand Ports, Marinas and Harbours.
@techreport{gust_rapid_2006,
	address = {Christchurch},
	type = {{NIWA} {Client} {Report}},
	title = {Rapid nationwide delimitation surveys for {Styela} clava},
	abstract = {This report describes a nationwide surveillance program conducted in November 2005 to determine the distribution and density of the non-indigenous clubbed tunicate, Styela clava at twenty-six high risk sites. The surveys of fourteen ports, nine marinas and three harbours were completed within a month of Biosecurity New Zealand’s request for rapid surveillance.
The nationwide surveys for Styela clava were requested by Biosecurity New Zealand (BNZ) after the clubbed tunicate was found to be widespread in the Viaduct Basin and Freemans Bay, Auckland in mid October 2005. The surveys were initiated within days of notification by BNZ, with the aim of rapidly determining the current distribution and relative abundance of the introduced ascidian. At each location the surveys combined above-water observations from the shoreline or small research vessels, with in-water searches using SCUBA divers. This methodology was developed during the October 2005 delimitation survey for S. clava in the Viaduct Basin and Freemans Bay and enabled survey teams to sample a variety of man-made habitats quickly over a large area. Where S. clava was detected, estimates of its relative abundance were made visually using a semi-quantitative log-scale. Suspected specimens of Styela clava were collected and sent to taxonomic experts to verify their identity from each survey location. 
Survey locations spanned a latitudinal range of over 11° with 13 locations searched on each of the North and South Islands. The 26 locations surveyed were chosen by BNZ as high risk sites for Styela clava incursions. Locations surveyed (from north to south) were; Opua Marina, Tutukaka Marina, Whangarei Marina, Whangarei Port, Whangarei Marsden Point, Mangawhai Harbour, Whitianga Marina, Tauranga Port, Tauranga Bridge Marina, Whakatane Port, New Plymouth, Napier Port, Wellington Port, Tarakohe, Nelson Port and Marina, Havelock Marina, Picton Marina, Picton Port and Shakespeare Bay, Waikawa Marina, Greymouth Port, Lyttelton Port, Lyttelton Harbour, Akaroa Harbour, Dunedin (Port Chalmers), Dunedin (Port Otago) and Bluff Port. 
Styela clava was detected at three of the 26 locations surveyed; individuals were detected in Tutukaka Marina, Lyttelton Port and Lyttelton Marina. Maximum densities encountered at each infested location were in the range of 1-10 S. clava per m2. These densities are up to three orders of magnitude lower than densities reported for S. clava overseas where it has caused significant ecological and economic impacts. Only two individuals were detected in Tutukaka Marina. Divers recovered these from the underside of floating Marina pontoons. These mature specimens represent the most northerly extent of the invasion currently known in New Zealand. Fifteen individuals were collected from nine sites within Lyttelton Port. Lyttelton Marina is located a kilometre to the west of the Lyttelton Port and was also found to be infected with S. clava. A total of five S. clava were found attached to ropes at four sites within the Marina. Styela clava was not detected on any of the other jetties, wharves or mooring lines inspected around the perimeter of Lyttelton Harbour. In Lyttelton Port and Marina all individuals collected were large ({\textgreater} 90 mm) and mature, suggesting the species was not a recent arrival to the area. A sample collected from a tug boat in Lyttelton by a PhD student in May 2002 has subsequently been re-identified as S. clava, which confirms the species has been present there for at least three years. In New Zealand Ports and Marinas S. clava is associated with a variety of man-made substrata. It has been detected on a wide variety of fixed and floating surfaces including: concrete break-walls, wooden pier piles, vessel hulls, mooring lines, and floating pontoons.
Prior to the nationwide surveys, S. clava was known to be present in the Viaduct Basin, Freemans Bay and Westhaven Marina (Gust et al. 2005). It is now known to be widespread throughout the Hauraki Gulf, with higher density populations (tens to hundreds per m2) established near Waiheke Island. Additional opportunistic surveys by NIWA at Gulf Harbour Marina on the 24th of November found S. clava present at densities of 1-10 individuals per m2  beneath floating pontoons. 
Detection probabilities were calculated for each of the 23 locations where S. clava was not found nationwide, to provide an indication of the relative confidence of detection among locations, search techniques and substrata. To calculate these probabilities, an experiment was conducted to estimate the sensitivity of the search methods for S. clava. Known numbers of S. clava mimics were deployed at twelve sites (four each in Whangarei Harbour, New Plymouth and Opua Marina) under different conditions of water clarity. An independent team then searched the sites for the mimics using the standard survey protocol. Experimental results showed that search sensitivity for above-water searches was positively related to water clarity; however diver search sensitivity remained high (0.93 of model Styela clava were found on average) irrespective of water clarity. 
At the 23 locations where rapid surveillance did not detect Styela clava, we estimated the relative confidence that above-water surveys would have detected it if at least one individual was present. Above-water detection probabilities varied widely between locations (from 0.02 to 0.55), which often reflected the prevailing water clarity during searches, and its effect on search sensitivity (other factors such as the size and construction of the sampled location, and the sampling effort achieved influenced above-water detection probabilities. Detection probability curves for diver searches were calculated for different potential incursion sizes of S. clava in each location. The number of dives that could be achieved in the limited search time available was an important determinant of detection probability, as was the size of the modelled incursion. 
The above-water and in-water searches provided complementary approaches for rapidly determining the extent of the incursion at locations nationwide. Both techniques were successful in detecting specimens. Above-water surveys were particularly effective if water clarity was high ({\textgreater} 2 m Secchi depth) since large areas of potential S. clava habitat could be searched rapidly in the upper water column where this species is often observed. In contrast SCUBA divers can search smaller areas in a given time, but were able to investigate deeper substrata or those hidden from above-water observers. SCUBA searches had high sensitivity in the poor water clarity environments common in many New Zealand Ports, Marinas and Harbours.},
	institution = {NIWA},
	author = {Gust, N. and Inglis, G. J. and Peacock, Lisa and Miller, Sheryl and Floerl, OHayden and Fitridge, I. and Hurren, Helen and Johnston, Olivia},
	month = oct,
	year = {2006},
	pages = {83 pp.},
}

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