Invasion of the Red Seaweed Heterosiphonia japonica Spans Biogeographic Provinces in the Western North Atlantic Ocean
| Autor: | Katherine Rodrigue, Carol S. Thornber, Christine Newton, Megan McConville, Matthew E. S. Bracken |
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| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
Range (biology)
Biogeography lcsh:Medicine Marine and Aquatic Sciences Intertidal zone Marine Biology Biology Wrack Biomass lcsh:Science Community Structure Atlantic Ocean Ecosystem Multidisciplinary Ecology Geography Community lcsh:R Marine Ecology Species diversity Biodiversity Seaweed Marine Environments United States Species Interactions Community Ecology Benthic zone Rhodophyta Earth Sciences Phycology lcsh:Q Seasons Species richness Introduced Species Coastal Ecology Research Article Ecological Environments |
| Zdroj: | PLoS ONE PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 4, p e62261 (2013) |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0062261 |
| Popis: | The recent invasion of the red alga Heterosiphonia japonica in the western North Atlantic Ocean has provided a unique opportunity to study invasion dynamics across a biogeographical barrier. Native to the western North Pacific Ocean, initial collections in 2007 and 2009 restricted the western North Atlantic range of this invader to Rhode Island, USA. However, through subtidal community surveys, we document the presence of Heterosiphonia in coastal waters from Maine to New York, USA, a distance of more than 700 km. This geographical distribution spans a well-known biogeographical barrier at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Despite significant differences in subtidal community structure north and south of Cape Cod, Heterosiphonia was found at all but two sites surveyed in both biogeographic provinces, suggesting that this invader is capable of rapid expansion over broad geographic ranges. Across all sites surveyed, Heterosiphonia comprised 14% of the subtidal benthic community. However, average abundances of nearly 80% were found at some locations. As a drifting macrophyte, Heterosiphonia was found as intertidal wrack in abundances of up to 65% of the biomass washed up along beaches surveyed. Our surveys suggest that the high abundance of Heterosiphonia has already led to marked changes in subtidal community structure; we found significantly lower species richness in recipient communities with higher Heterosiphona abundances. Based on temperature and salinity tolerances of the European populations, we believe Heterosiphonia has the potential to invade and alter subtidal communities from Florida to Newfoundland in the western North Atlantic. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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