Ponto-Caspian gammarids: Change water temperature

Overall effectiveness category Likely to be beneficial
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

80%
Certainty

50%
Harms

not assessed

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

The use of warm water in which to dip nets, waders and wetsuits could provide a useful biosecurity tool, and help to reduce the risk of moving gammarids between waterbodies.

Study locations

Key messages

A controlled laboratory study from the UK¹ found that heating water to >36°C killed all shrimps after 15 minutes exposure and at >43°C all shrimps died immediately.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A controlled laboratory study in 2011, England, UK (Stebbing et al. 2011) found that heating water killed the invasive killer shrimp Dikerogammarus villosus. All shrimp died within a 15 minute exposure period when immersed into water at temperatures >36°C. All shrimps died immediately when immersed into water at temperatures >43°C. For each temperature tested, a container holding five shrimp was filled with water with measured temperatures of 28.4, 31.1, 36.3, 38.9, 43.2°C. A control set of five shrimps was held at ambient temperature (14-15°C). Shrimps were observed over a 15 minute period and then moved to freshwater at ambient conditions (14-15°C) to check for mortality over an 80 minute period.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Stebbing P.D., Sebire M. & Lyons B. (2011) Evaluation of a number of treatments to be used as biosecurity measures in controlling the spread of the invasive killer shrimp (Dikerogammarus villosus). CEFAS report, Final contract report C5256, 40pp.

Please cite as:

Aldridge, D., Ockendon, N., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Some Aspects of Control of Freshwater Invasive Species. Pages 555-87 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

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This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Control of Freshwater Invasive Species

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Ponto-Caspian gammarids: Control movement of gammarids Action Link	Unlikely to be beneficial	2	Synopsis Link
Ponto-Caspian gammarids: Change water pH Action Link	Unlikely to be beneficial	1	Synopsis Link
Ponto-Caspian gammarids: Change salinity of the water Action Link	Likely to be beneficial	2	Synopsis Link