<i>Halophila stipulacea</i>(Hydrocharitaceae): A Recent Introduction to the Continental Waters of Venezuela

Vera, Beatriz; Collado‐Vides, Ligia; Moreno, C. Albandea; Tussenbroek, Brigitta I. van

doi:10.18475/cjos.v48i1.a11

Cited by 35 publications

(27 citation statements)

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“…Long distance dispersal is facilitated by seeds and rhizomal fragments and local expansion by belowground rhizome elongation (Marbà & Duarte 1998;Kendrick et al 2012). However, so far only male flowers and no seeds have been recorded for H. stipulacea in the Eastern Caribbean (Vera et al 2014;Willette et al 2014). Remarkable are the large amounts of fragments present in these bays, consisting of leaves, roots and rhizomes, of H. stipulacea (Ruiz & Ballantine 2004;Vera et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, so far only male flowers and no seeds have been recorded for H. stipulacea in the Eastern Caribbean (Vera et al 2014;Willette et al 2014). Remarkable are the large amounts of fragments present in these bays, consisting of leaves, roots and rhizomes, of H. stipulacea (Ruiz & Ballantine 2004;Vera et al 2014). These fragments apparently break off easily and are uprooted after disturbance such as grazing and waves (Steiner & Willette 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Expansion and fragment settlement of the non-native seagrass Halophila stipulacea in a Caribbean bay

Smulders

Vonk

Engel

et al. 2017

Marine Biology Research

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General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. The non-native seagrass species Halophila stipulacea has spread throughout the Eastern Caribbean since 2002, and could potentially impact the functioning of local seagrass ecosystems. Important characteristics for invasiveness, such as dispersal, recruitment and expansion of H. stipulacea at a local scale, are unknown. We assessed H. stipulacea expansion rates within Lac Bay, Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean (7 km 2 ), since its establishment in 2010 and tested the settlement potential of uprooted vegetative fragments of H. stipulacea. Using 49 fixed locations, we observed that between 2011 and 2015 the occurrence of H. stipulacea in the bay increased significantly from 6% to 20% while native Thalassia testudinum occurrence decreased significantly from 53% to 33%. Free-floating H. stipulacea fragments that were collected and tethered above the sediment rooted within 10 days with a settlement success rate of 100%. The growth of settled fragments was on average 0.91 shoots d −1 . The ongoing shift from native T. testudinum to introduced H. stipulacea dominated meadows may have important consequences for multiple Caribbean seagrass ecosystem functions. Given the large difference in size between the two seagrass species, functions such as coastal protection, habitat structure, food availability, and the stability and resilience of these systems can be altered. The next steps towards modelling future expansion of H. stipulacea throughout the Caribbean and beyond should include the assessment of fragment viability and dispersal distance, and the impacts of natural and anthropogenic disturbance on vegetative fragment density, dispersion and settlement by this species. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expansion and fragment settlement of the non-native seagrass Halophila stipulacea in a Caribbean bay

Smulders

Vonk

Engel

et al. 2017

Marine Biology Research

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“…Following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, this species became a Lessepsian immigrant (Lipkin 1975a), invading the eastern Mediterranean Sea (Procaccini et al 1999, Gambi et al 2009, Sghaier et al 2011. In 2002, this seagrass species was also reported in the Caribbean Sea (Ruiz and Ballantine 2004) and, in just over 10 years, it has spread to most of the Eastern Caribbean island nations (Willette et al 2014), and reached the South American continent (Venezuela; Vera et al 2014). Studies from the Caribbean have alarmingly shown that H. stipulacea is physically displacing local Caribbean seagrass species (e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

Differences in flowering sex ratios between native and invasive populations of the seagrass Halophila stipulacea

et al. 2018

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Deviations from the 1:1 sex ratio are common in dioecious plants. The tropical seagrass Halophila stipulacea is among an extremely rare group of dioecious plants that are widely recognized as female-biased. Here we report on differences in sex ratios between native (Eilat, northern Red Sea) and invasive (Cyprus, Mediterranean Sea) populations. While H. stipulacea populations were female-biased in their native region, invasive populations were either male- or female-biased. The existence of both sexes simultaneously in the Mediterranean invasive populations might help its ongoing expansion in the Mediterranean, thereby threatening local seagrasses species.

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“…seeds in Australia; Tol et al, ), and the impact of disturbance on fragment density (grazing roots up fragments; Smulders et al, ). However, so far, seed dispersal may not be significant as only sterile (Willette et al, ) or male plants (Vera, Collado‐Vides, Moreno, & Tussenbroek, ) have been found in the Caribbean. The rapid expansion of H. stipulacea is not a local phenomenon (Willette et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, so far, seed dispersal may not be significant as only sterile or male plants (Vera, Collado-Vides, Moreno, & Tussenbroek, 2014) have been found in the Caribbean. The rapid expansion of H. stipulacea is not a local phenomenon .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Megaherbivores may impact expansion of invasive seagrass in the Caribbean

et al. 2018

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Abstract1. Our knowledge of the functional role of large herbivores is rapidly expanding, and the impact of grazing on species coexistence and nonnative species expansion has been studied across ecosystems. However, experimental data on large grazer impacts on plant invasion in aquatic ecosystems are lacking.2. Since its introduction in 2002, the seagrass species Halophila stipulacea has rapidly expanded across the Eastern Caribbean, forming dense meadows in green turtle (Chelonia mydas)-foraging areas. We investigate the changes in seagrass species coexistence and the impacts of leaf grazing by green turtles on nonnative seagrass expansion in Lac Bay (Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands).3. Green turtle grazing behaviour changed after the introduction of nonnative seagrass to Lac Bay in 2010. Field observations, together with time-lapse satellite images over the last four decades, showed initiation of new grazing patches (65 ha, an increase of 72%). The sharp border between grazed and ungrazed seagrass patches moved in the direction of shallower areas with native seagrass species that had previously been ungrazed. Green turtles deployed withFastloc-GPS transmitters confirmed high site fidelity to these newly cropped patches. In addition, cafeteria experiments indicated selective grazing by green turtles on native species. These native seagrass species had significantly higher nutritional values compared to the nonnative species. In parallel, exclosure experiments showed that nonnative seagrass expanded more rapidly in grazed canopies | INTRODUC TI ONLarge herbivores, whether aquatic or terrestrial, can have strong impacts on associated species and can be critical ecosystem engineers as they alter plant productivity, modify geomorphology, and influence nutrient cycling, habitat structure and plant coexistence (Bakker et al., 2016;Poore et al., 2012;Wood, Armstron, & Richards, 1967). Megaherbivores can impact plant species coexistence and species composition via multiple mechanisms. Preferential grazing on dominant plant species can promote species diversity by releasing competitors (Olff & Ritchie, 1998), or reduce diversity by selectively removing nondominant species (Hidding, Bakker, et al., 2010).Grazing can also precipitate species shift from long-lived, slow growing species, to faster growing pioneer species that are better adapted to grazing (Kelkar, Arthur, Marba, & Alcoverro, 2013;Knapp et al., 1999). Additionally, grazing on below-ground plant parts can enhance species diversity by creating regeneration niches through sediment disturbance (Hidding, Nolet, Boer, Vries, & Klaassen, 2010).The impact of herbivory on plant coexistence has been shown across diverse ecosystems, including examples from terrestrial and aquatic systems (Augustine & McNaughton, 1998;Bakker, Pagès, Arthur, & Alcoverro, 2015). This being the case, there is a potential for grazers to increase the success of invasive plants. Evidence of interactions between grazing and invasive plants go both ways.Nonnative species may come to dominate ...

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Halophila stipulacea(Hydrocharitaceae): A Recent Introduction to the Continental Waters of Venezuela

Cited by 35 publications

References 10 publications

Expansion and fragment settlement of the non-native seagrass Halophila stipulacea in a Caribbean bay

Expansion and fragment settlement of the non-native seagrass Halophila stipulacea in a Caribbean bay

Differences in flowering sex ratios between native and invasive populations of the seagrass Halophila stipulacea

Megaherbivores may impact expansion of invasive seagrass in the Caribbean

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