An evolutionary perspective on marine invasions

Abstract

Species distributions are rapidly changing as human globalization increasingly moves organisms to novel environments. In marine systems, species introductions are the result of a number of anthropogenic mechanisms, notably shipping, aquaculture/mariculture, the pet and bait trades, and the creation of canals. Marine invasions are a global threat to human and non‐human populations alike and are often listed as one of the top conservation concerns worldwide, having ecological, evolutionary, and social ramifications. Evolutionary investigations of marine invasions can provide crucial insight into an introduced species’ potential impacts in its new range, including: physiological adaptation and behavioral changes to exploit new environments; changes in resident populations, community interactions, and ecosystems; and severe reductions in genetic diversity that may limit evolutionary potential in the introduced range. This special issue focuses on current research advances in the evolutionary biology of marine invasions and can be broadly classified into a few major avenues of research: the evolutionary history of invasive populations, post‐invasion reproductive changes, and the role of evolution in parasite introductions. Together, they demonstrate the value of investigating marine invasions from an evolutionary perspective, with benefits to both fundamental and applied evolutionary biology at local and broad scales.

Rapid Genetic Divergence of an Invasive Species, Spartina alterniflora, in China

“…Marine invasions represent a global threat to human populations and broader biological communities and are often listed as one of the top conservation concerns worldwide (Blakeslee et al, 2019). Spartina alterniflora is a perennial herb that is native to the lower intertidal salt marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America (Wang et al, 2006).…”

Biopollution by Invasive Marine Non-Indigenous Species: A Review of Potential Adverse Ecological Effects in a Changing Climate

“…Moreover, an invasion may be caused by either natural or human activities, while an introduction is always human mediated, either intentionally or unintentionally. The sharp increase in the frequency, magnitude, and geographic span of biological invasions in the last 50 years is almost entirely due to human activities, both in general terms [ 36 , 37 , 38 ] and in the marine domain [ 6 , 39 ].…”

“…Adverse effects of AS (especially invasive species) on ecosystems have been shown as biodiversity loss, alteration of food webs, physical habitat disruption, and import of parasites and diseases [ 37 , 39 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ]. Some examples of the ecological and environmental impacts of non-indigenous marine species have been listed by [ 63 ].…”

Phylogeography and the Description of Geographic Patterns in Invasion Genomics

“…In addition, studies of genomics patterns of biological invasions increasingly report hybridization between previously isolated genotypes due to human activities (Chunco, 2014;Viard et al, 2020). Although the recent mixing of divergent genotypes may help non-indigenous species cope better with or adapt to novel conditions found in the introduced range (Bourne et al, 2018;Blakeslee et al, 2020), it considerably obscures the interpretation of phylogeographic results.…”