Two Professors in Biological Sciences Participate in a Russian Academy of Sciences Symposium

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Professor Michael E. Douglas and Associate Professor Marlis R. Douglas, both faculty in the department of biological sciences at the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, participated in the fourth International Symposium on “Alien Species in the Holarctic (= Northern Hemisphere)” organized by the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Michael Douglas holds the 21^st Century Chair in Global Change Biology and served as a member of the scientific committee for the symposium. He and Marlis Douglas, the Bruker Professor in Life Sciences, were invited to present their research on impacts of hybridization between native fish species and alien fish that had been introduced in the Colorado River of western North America.

The symposium was held on Sept. 22–28 at the I.D. Papanin Institute for the Biology of Inland Waters in Borok (Yaroslavl Province), Russian Federation. The institute sits on the Volga River about 355 kilometers (220 miles) north of Moscow and is renowned as a research center for freshwater ecology. Of interest to the symposium organizers was the fact that the Douglases and their graduate students utilize molecular genetic techniques to detect the presence of alien species and to quantify their spread among native populations. Molecular approaches, generally associated with cell and molecular research or biomedical sciences, are now recognized as powerful tools for ecological research and biodiversity conservation.

Fishes caught by Russian fisheries biologists. An alien species (the Amur Sleeper, Percottus glenii,) is the dark predatory fish in the center of the pail. The three fish immediately above are Bream (Abramis brama), the curved fish immediately below is Northern Pike (Esox lucius), while the three fish with red eyes below the Pike are Roach (Rutilus rutilus).

The focus of the symposium was on ‘invasion ecology’ — the establishment, spread and resulting impact of species translocated by humans from one region to another. Global trade is a primary mechanism for the dissemination of alien species, and the severity of this situation is accelerating due to climate change. Accidental or intentional transport of species is as old as human travel with well-known examples being rats as stowaways on ships of early explorers. However, once alien species become established in novel areas, they often upset the balance of food webs, alter the physical habitat, or even hybridize with closely related native species, thus provoking substantial economic and ecological damage.

Although invasive species are a global issue, “invasion ecology” itself is a relatively young discipline, since alien species have only been recently recognized as potential threats to the global economy. Geographical exchange of goods and species across the Holarctic has a long history, particularly given the connectedness of the continental landmasses. However, the 150 participants of the symposium represented a variety of countries: from Armenia to Tasmania and Ireland to South Africa, with many participants from across the Russian Federation and neighboring countries, such as Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Republic of China.

Russian fisheries biologists retrieving a trammel net on the Volga River, Russian Federation.

Michael Douglas summarized key points at the round table discussion following the symposium: “Presenters underscored the fact that invasive species have clearly been promoted by globalization, with translocations now occurring much more easily among continents due to the enormous growth of trade and the advancement of technologies that facilitate travel. As a result, the past 20 years have seen extraordinary development of invasion ecology as a scientific field. Many presenters demonstrated the breadth and depth of invasion ecology and its involvement in a much larger social milieu that includes environmental values as well as politics.”

Marlis Douglas also noted that: “The overall scope of invasion ecology has captured the attention of the lay public, largely through national and international media, and often via sensational headlines such as the phrase ‘Killer bees are coming’ (in context with the establishment and spread of Africanized honey bees).

Professional contacts made during the conference will permit the Douglases to promote closer interaction with scientists from Russia and its Academy of Sciences, and a follow-up meeting in the United States is envisioned. However, one emerging issue is that invasion ecology is currently an applied discipline that consists primarily of case studies that report on the problem ‘after the fact.’

In the round-table discussion, Michael Douglas noted that “being reactive rather than pro-active (i.e., dealing with immediate problems rather than anticipating their occurrence) is a weakness of our field. Rather, we should develop comprehensive monitoring programs that can serve as early detection and warning systems, and which have potential for improving management and control. The latter, in turn, will allow the application of ecological theory to help transform invasion ecology from a crisis discipline to one that adaptively manages alien species and their impact on native biodiversity. Molecular methods are but one of the more promising approaches that will aid us in doing a better job going forward.”