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Corridors for aliens but not for natives: effects of marine urban sprawl at a regional scale

Corridors for aliens but not for natives: effects of marine urban sprawl at a regional scale
Corridors for aliens but not for natives: effects of marine urban sprawl at a regional scale
Aim: The global sprawl of marine hard infrastructure (e.g. breakwaters, sea walls and jetties) can extensively modify coastal seascapes, but the knowledge of such impacts remains limited to local scales. We examined the regional-scale effects of marine artificial habitats on the distribution and abundance of assemblages of ascidians, a key group of ecosystem engineer species in benthic fouling systems.

Location: Five hundred kilometers of coastline in the North Adriatic Sea.

Methods: We sampled a variety of natural reefs, marine infrastructures and marinas, and tested hypotheses about the role of habitat type and location in influencing the relative distribution and abundance of both native and non-indigenous species.

Results: Assemblages differed significantly between natural and artificial habitats and among different types of artificial habitats. Non-indigenous species were 2–3 times more abundant on infrastructures built along sedimentary coastlines than on natural rocky reefs or infrastructures built close to rocky coastlines. Conversely, native species were twice as abundant on natural reefs than on nearby infrastructures and were scarce to virtually absent on infrastructures built along sedimentary coasts. The species composition of assemblages in artificial habitats was more similar to that of marinas than of natural reefs, independently of their location.

Main conclusions: Our results show that marine infrastructures along sandy shores disproportionally favour non-indigenous over native hard bottom species, affecting their spread at regional scales. This is particularly concerning for coastal areas that have low natural densities of rocky reef habitats. We discuss design and management options to improve the quality as habitat of marine infrastructures and to favour their preferential use by native species over non-indigenous ones.
artificial marine infrastructure, biological invasions, coastal urbanization, habitat fragmentation, mitigation of anthropogenic impacts, non-indigenous species and regional-scale effects
1366-9516
755-768
Airoldi, Laura
fca75828-1c89-4e78-838f-ea6e952dff5e
Turon, Xavier
df0c3b35-aba1-4657-add0-3c6aee7c08d3
Perkol-Finkel, Shimrit
bd359d8a-e431-46f7-9510-754e209fb20a
Rius, Marc
c4e88345-4b4e-4428-b4b2-37229155f68d
Airoldi, Laura
fca75828-1c89-4e78-838f-ea6e952dff5e
Turon, Xavier
df0c3b35-aba1-4657-add0-3c6aee7c08d3
Perkol-Finkel, Shimrit
bd359d8a-e431-46f7-9510-754e209fb20a
Rius, Marc
c4e88345-4b4e-4428-b4b2-37229155f68d

Airoldi, Laura, Turon, Xavier, Perkol-Finkel, Shimrit and Rius, Marc (2015) Corridors for aliens but not for natives: effects of marine urban sprawl at a regional scale. Diversity and Distributions, 21 (7), 755-768. (doi:10.1111/ddi.12301).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Aim: The global sprawl of marine hard infrastructure (e.g. breakwaters, sea walls and jetties) can extensively modify coastal seascapes, but the knowledge of such impacts remains limited to local scales. We examined the regional-scale effects of marine artificial habitats on the distribution and abundance of assemblages of ascidians, a key group of ecosystem engineer species in benthic fouling systems.

Location: Five hundred kilometers of coastline in the North Adriatic Sea.

Methods: We sampled a variety of natural reefs, marine infrastructures and marinas, and tested hypotheses about the role of habitat type and location in influencing the relative distribution and abundance of both native and non-indigenous species.

Results: Assemblages differed significantly between natural and artificial habitats and among different types of artificial habitats. Non-indigenous species were 2–3 times more abundant on infrastructures built along sedimentary coastlines than on natural rocky reefs or infrastructures built close to rocky coastlines. Conversely, native species were twice as abundant on natural reefs than on nearby infrastructures and were scarce to virtually absent on infrastructures built along sedimentary coasts. The species composition of assemblages in artificial habitats was more similar to that of marinas than of natural reefs, independently of their location.

Main conclusions: Our results show that marine infrastructures along sandy shores disproportionally favour non-indigenous over native hard bottom species, affecting their spread at regional scales. This is particularly concerning for coastal areas that have low natural densities of rocky reef habitats. We discuss design and management options to improve the quality as habitat of marine infrastructures and to favour their preferential use by native species over non-indigenous ones.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 2 February 2015
Published date: July 2015
Keywords: artificial marine infrastructure, biological invasions, coastal urbanization, habitat fragmentation, mitigation of anthropogenic impacts, non-indigenous species and regional-scale effects
Organisations: Ocean Biochemistry & Ecosystems

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 374073
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/374073
ISSN: 1366-9516
PURE UUID: e57b8faf-34ec-497a-93d9-399336e7f9b1

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Date deposited: 03 Feb 2015 10:24
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 19:01

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Contributors

Author: Laura Airoldi
Author: Xavier Turon
Author: Shimrit Perkol-Finkel
Author: Marc Rius

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