Floating Seaweeds and Their Communities

Rothäusler, Eva; Gutow, Lars; Thiel, Martín

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-28451-9_17

Cited by 45 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…This continuous presence of large amounts of floating litter contrasts strongly with the highly episodic appearance of pumice rafting opportunities (e.g. Bryan et al 2012) and few natural rafting opportunities in tropical waters (Rothäusler et al 2012). It is likely that this change in the temporal and spatial availability of abiotic rafts dramatically affects the dynamics of rafting transport and colonization by associated organisms.…”

Section: Floating Litter As Dispersal Vectormentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Marine litter is diverse (e.g. domestic waste, derelict fishing gear, detached buoys), persistent (afloat for longer than many natural substrata- Thiel and Gutow 2005b; Bravo et al 2011), widespread (Barnes et al 2009Eriksen et al 2014) and abounds in oceanic regions where natural floating substrata, such as macroalgae, occur less frequently (Rothäusler et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Marine Litter as Habitat and Dispersal Vector

Kiessling

Gutow

Thiel

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

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138

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Floating anthropogenic litter provides habitat for a diverse community of marine organisms. A total of 387 taxa, including pro-and eukaryotic microorganisms, seaweeds and invertebrates, have been found rafting on floating litter in all major oceanic regions. Among the invertebrates, species of bryozoans, crustaceans, molluscs and cnidarians are most frequently reported as rafters on marine litter. Micro-organisms are also ubiquitous on marine litter although the composition of the microbial community seems to depend on specific substratum characteristics such as the polymer type of floating plastic items. Sessile suspension feeders are particularly well-adapted to the limited autochthonous food resources on artificial floating substrata and an extended planktonic larval development seems to facilitate colonization of floating litter at sea. Properties of floating litter, such as size and surface rugosity, are crucial for colonization by marine organisms and the subsequent succession of the rafting community. The rafters themselves affect substratum characteristics such as floating stability, buoyancy, and degradation. Under the influence of currents and winds marine litter can transport associated organisms over extensive distances. Because of the great persistence (especially of plastics) and the vast quantities of litter in the world's oceans, rafting dispersal has become more prevalent in the marine environment, potentially facilitating the spread of invasive species. IntroductionLitter in the marine environment poses a hazard for a great variety of animals. Various species of marine vertebrates including fish, seabirds, turtles and marine mammals become easily entangled in floating marine litter, resulting in reduced mobility, strangulation and drowning (Derraik 2002;Kühn et al. 2015). Additionally, ingested litter can damage or block intestines, thereby affecting nutrition with often lethal effects (reviewed by Derraik 2002;Kühn et al. 2015). On the seafloor, marine litter can smother the substratum and thus cause hypoxia in benthic organisms (Moore 2008;Gregory 2009). In addition to these immediate hazardous effects on marine biota, marine litter has been suggested to facilitate the spread of non-indigenous species (Lewis et al. 2005). Biological invasions are considered a major threat to coastal ecosystems (Molnar et al. 2008).Like any other submerged substrata, marine litter provides a habitat for organisms that are able to settle and persist on artificial surfaces. Once colonized by marine biota, litter items floating at the sea surface can facilitate dispersal of the associated rafters at different spatial scales. Previous studies have reported over 1200 taxa that are associated with natural and anthropogenic flotsam (Thiel and Gutow 2005a) and the extreme localities that rafting organisms can reach when transported over large distances by currents and wind (Barnes and Fraser 2003; Barnes and Milner 2005). While floating macroalgae, wood and volcanic pumice have been part of the natural flots...

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Section: Floating Litter As Dispersal Vectormentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine Litter as Habitat and Dispersal Vector

Kiessling

Gutow

Thiel

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

Self Cite

138

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Vandendriessche et al, 2007;Rothäusler et al, 2009Rothäusler et al, , 2011aRothäusler et al, , 2011cGraiff et al, 2013). Considering that floating seaweeds are abundant at higher latitudes (N40°S) (Smith, 2002;Hinojosa et al, 2010Hinojosa et al, , 2011Rothäusler et al, 2012;Wichmann et al, 2012), long-distance rafting appears most relevant at these latitudes (Fraser et al, 2009;Macaya and Zuccarello, 2010a;Fraser et al, 2011;Cumming et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Floating patches of various seaweed species occur throughout the world´s oceans, although they are most abundant in temperate and cold waters of both hemispheres (30°-60°) (Kingsford, 1992;Hinojosa et al, 2010Hinojosa et al, , 2011Thiel et al, 2011;Rothäusler et al, 2012). Longdistance rafting of buoyant, brown seaweeds contributes to the dispersal of marine biota (Edgar, 1987;Thiel and Gutow, 2005;Fraser et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Latitudinal and seasonal effects on short-term acclimation of floating kelp species from the South-East Pacific

Tala

Velásquez

Mansilla

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

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“…Marine litter is diverse (e.g. domestic waste, derelict fishing gear, detached buoys), persistent (afloat for longer than many natural substrata- Thiel and Gutow 2005b;Bravo et al 2011), widespread ) and abounds in oceanic regions where natural floating substrata, such as macroalgae, occur less frequently (Rothäusler et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%