Habitat type drives the distribution of non‐indigenous species in fouling communities regardless of associated maritime traffic
Date
2020-01Author
Leclerc, Jean‐Charles
Viard, Frédérique
González Sepúlveda, Elizabeth
Díaz, Christian
Hinojosa, José Neira
Pérez Araneda, Karla
Silva, Francisco
Brante, Antonio
Publisher
Diversity & DistributionsDescription
Metadata
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Aim: Biological invasions and changes in land and sea use are among the five major
causes of global biodiversity decline. Shipping and ocean sprawl (multiplication of
artificial structures at the expense of natural habitats) are considered as the major
forces responsible for marine invasions and biotic homogenization. And yet, there is
little evidence of their interplay at multiple spatial scales. Here, we aimed to examine
this interaction and the extent to which the type of artificial habitat alters the distribution of native and non‐indigenous biodiversity.
Location: Southeast Pacific—Central Chilean coastline.
Methods: Settlement plates were deployed upon two types of artificial habitats
(floating and non‐floating hard substrates) at a total of ten study sites, exposed to
either international or local traffic. After colonization periods of 3 and 13 months,
plates were retrieved to determine their associated fouling sessile assemblages at
an early and late stage of development, respectively. Putative confounding factors
(temperature, metal concentrations) were taken into account.
Results: While traffic type had no detectable effect, there were strong differences
in community structure between habitats, consistent across the study region. These
differences were driven by non‐indigenous species which contributed to 58% and
40% of the community structure in floating habitats after 3 and 13 months, respectively—roughly 10 times greater than in their non‐floating counterparts. Assemblages
on floating structures also displayed a lower decline in similarity with increasing distance between sampling units, being thus more homogenous than non‐floating habitats at the regional scale.
Main conclusions: With the absence of international traffic effect, the colonization
success by non‐indigenous species appears to be mainly habitat‐dependent and
driven by local propagules. Floating structures not only provide specific niches but
characteristics shared with major introduction and dispersal vectors (notably hulls),
and in turn constitute important corridors to invasions and drivers of biotic homogenization at multiple scales.