Vulnerability of marine habitats to the invasive green alga Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea within a marine protected area

Katsanevakis, Stelios; Issaris, Yiannis; Poursanidis, Dimitris; Thessalou-Legaki, M.

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2010.05.003

Cited by 56 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In accordance with the findings of previous manipulative (Ceccherelli et al 2000, Bulleri et al 2009 and descriptive studies (Ruitton et al 2005, Katsanevakis et al 2010, our analyses reveal that the spread of C. racemosa across hetero geneous seascapes could be hindered by intact stands of ca nopy-forming macroalgae and seagrass meadows and fostered by degraded habitats, such as those formed by algal turfs or Posidonia oceanica dead matte. Importantly, this clearly shows that patterns of distribution of C. racemosa on rocky bottoms are dependent upon the characteristics of dominant macroalgae (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…en crusting corallines, turf-, or canopy-forming) and that their grouping into a single habitat type (e.g. rocky bottoms; Katsanevakis et al 2010) is likely to yield little predictive power.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the landscape level, patches dominated by dead Posidonia oceanica rhizomes (hereafter also referred to as dead matte) or algal turf stands have been reported to be highly vulnerable to invasion by this seaweed (Ruitton et al 2005, Bulleri et al 2009, Katsanevakis et al 2010. Domination by canopy-forming algae (Bulleri et al 2010) or intact seagrass meadows (Ceccherelli et al 2000) seems, in contrast, to provide a barrier against invasion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Domination by canopy-forming algae (Bulleri et al 2010) or intact seagrass meadows (Ceccherelli et al 2000) seems, in contrast, to provide a barrier against invasion. Gaps within stands of canopyforming algae and seagrass beds are readily colonized by C. racemosa (Bulleri et al 2010, Katsanevakis et al 2010, but no empirical work has been done to assess the general role of habitat configuration in modulating its invasion success.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Determinants of Caulerpa racemosa distribution in the north-western Mediterranean

Bulleri¹,

Alestra²,

Ceccherelli³

et al. 2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Predicting community susceptibility to invasion has become a priority for preserving biodiversity. We tested the hypothesis that the occurrence and abundance of the seaweed Caulerpa racemosa in the north-western (NW) Mediterranean would increase with increasing levels of human disturbance. Data from a survey encompassing areas subjected to different human influences (i.e. from urbanized to protected areas) were fitted by means of generalized linear mixed models, including descriptors of habitats and communities. The incidence of occurrence of C. racemosa was greater on urban than extra-urban or protected reefs, along the coast of Tuscany and NW Sardinia, respectively. Within the Marine Protected Area of Capraia Island (Tuscan Archipelago), the probability of detecting C. racemosa did not vary according to the degree of protection (partial versus total). Human influence was, however, a poor predictor of the seaweed cover. At the seascape level, C. racemosa was more widely spread within degraded (i.e. Posidonia oceanica dead matte or algal turfs) than in better preserved habitats (i.e. canopy-forming macroalgae or P. oceanica seagrass meadows). At a smaller spatial scale, the presence of the seaweed was positively correlated to the diversity of macroalgae and negatively to that of sessile invertebrates. These results suggest that C. racemosa can take advantage of habitat degradation. Thus, predicting invasion scenarios requires a thorough knowledge of ecosystem structure, at a hierarchy of levels of biological organization (from the landscape to the assemblage) and detailed information on the nature and intensity of sources of disturbance and spatial scales at which they operate.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Determinants of Caulerpa racemosa distribution in the north-western Mediterranean

Bulleri¹,

Alestra²,

Ceccherelli³

et al. 2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This species tends to prefer patches of bare matte within a P. oceanica seascape (Fig. 6) rather than bare sediment and rocky bottoms (Katsanevakis et al, 2010). C. cylindracea also colonizes impacted habitats, such as those exposed to trawling activities, including P. oceanica meadows affected by the activity (Kiparissis et al, 2011).…”

Section: Influence Of P Oceanica Seascapes On the Associated Biotamentioning

confidence: 99%

Seascape ecology in Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows: Linking structure and ecological processes for management

Abadie

Pace

Gobert

et al. 2018

Ecological Indicators

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A B S T R A C TSeagrass meadows constitute marine habitats in shallow water temperate and tropical coastal areas worldwide that have a high ecological and economic importance. Amongst the 60 or so seagrass species, the endemic Mediterranean species Posidonia oceanica forms meadows that are arguably the most important shallow water coastal habitat in the region but which are subjected to high anthropogenic pressures. Because of the relatively large size of the plant, the meadows formed by this seagrass have high architectural and morphological complexity, which results in different morphotypes or seascapes. While numerous studies of P. oceanica architectural characteristics for continuous meadows of the seagrass are available, few works have addressed seascape ecological features and the influence of environmental factors (natural and anthropogenic) thereon. In the present review, we give an overview of P. oceanica meadow architectural and morphological characteristics and how these contribute to Mediterranean landscapes and seascapes. Studies addressing the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on morphometric features of different meadow types and landscape ecological characteristics of P. oceanica habitat are also reviewed, as well as their influence on ecosystem processes. Finally, by considering the available data and tools for seascape studies, we present a discussion on methods to assess seagrass seascapes within the framework of coastal management. Our review highlights several gaps in P. oceanica seascape ecology knowledge such as the lack of data on the spatial distribution of this engineer species, and the possibility to use modern techniques and procedures for analysing structural and ecosystemic data.

show abstract

Native predators control the population of an invasive crab in no‐take marine protected areas

Noè

Gianguzza

Trapani

et al. 2018

Aquatic Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1. The resistance of an ecosystem to species invasion is considered to be related to the abundance and diversity of native species (i.e. biotic resistance hypothesis).Theory predicts that the high native diversity in pristine systems can hinder the establishment and/or the spread of non-native species through direct and indirect mechanisms (e.g. through competitive and/or predatory interactions).2. Here we tested whether predation provides higher resistance to invasion by the Percnidae crab Percnon gibbesi (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) in protected native communities, compared with exploited ones. Specifically, this study aimed to compare: (i) the abundance and diversity of potential predator assemblages of P. gibbesi; (ii) the predation pressure on P. gibbesi; and (iii) the density of this species in two protected and two unprotected sites along the northern Sicilian coast (Italy).3. The relative predation rate was assessed by manipulative tethering experiments conducted on two size classes of P. gibbesi using long and short tethers, both at protected and unprotected sites. 4. The abundance and diversity of the predators of P. gibbesi and the relative predation rate on tethered crabs were higher at protected than at unprotected sites, independent of crab size and tether length. The density of P. gibbesi was significantly lower in protected compared with unprotected sites. 5. These results suggest that the diversity and abundance of native predator assemblages directly affect the invasion success of P. gibbesi in the Mediterranean Sea.We provided experimental evidence that the restoration of predator assemblages confers 'biotic resistance' to no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) against P. gibbesi invasion. Our study confirms that no-take MPAs are effective in combating non-indigenous species (NIS) invasion, and that it is crucial to establish a long-term monitoring programme to limit the introduction of NIS and to control the spread of existing ones.

show abstract

Vulnerability of marine habitats to the invasive green alga Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea within a marine protected area

Cited by 56 publications

References 47 publications

Determinants of Caulerpa racemosa distribution in the north-western Mediterranean

Determinants of Caulerpa racemosa distribution in the north-western Mediterranean

Seascape ecology in Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows: Linking structure and ecological processes for management

Native predators control the population of an invasive crab in no‐take marine protected areas

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About