Red to Mediterranean Sea bioinvasion: natural drift through the Suez Canal,or anthropogenic transport?

The biota of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea has experienced dramatic changes in the last decades, in part as a result of the massive invasion of Red Sea species. The mechanism generally hypothesized for the 'Red-to-Med' invasion is that of natural dispersal through the Suez Canal. To date, however, this hypothesis has not been tested. This study examines the mode of invasion, using as a model the mussel Brachidontes pharaonis, an acclaimed 'Lessepsian migrant' that thrives along the eastern Mediterranean coast. Our findings reveal two distinct lineages of haplotypes, and five possible explanations are discussed for this observation. We show that the genetic exchange among the Mediterranean, Gulf of Suez and the northern Red Sea is sufficiently large to counteract the build up of sequential genetic structure. Nevertheless, these basins are rich in unique haplotypes of unknown origin. We propose that it is historic secondary contact, an ongoing anthropogenic transport or both processes, that participate in driving the population dynamics of B. pharaonis in the Mediterranean and northern Red Sea.     

Two colonisation stages generate two different patterns of genetic diversity within native and invasive ranges of Ulex europaeus

Genetic diversity and the way a species is introduced influence the capacity ofpopulations of invasive species to persist in, and adapt to, their new environment. Thediversity of introduced populations affects their evolutionary potential, which isparticularly important for species that have invaded a wide range of habitats andclimates, such as European gorse, Ulex europaeus. This species originated in theIberian peninsula and colonised Europe in the Neolithic; over the course of the past twocenturies it was introduced to, and has become invasive in, other continents. Wecharacterised neutral genetic diversity and its structure in the native range and ininvaded regions. By coupling these results with historical data, we have identified theway in which gorse populations were introduced and the consequences of introductionhistory on genetic diversity. Our study is based on the genotyping of individuals from 18populations at six microsatellite loci. As U. europaeus is an allohexaploidspecies, we used recently developed tools that take into account genotypic ambiguity. Ourresults show that genetic diversity in gorse is very high and mainly contained withinpopulations. We confirm that colonisation occurred in two stages. During the first stage,gorse spread out naturally from Spain towards northern Europe, losing some geneticdiversity. During the second stage, gorse was introduced by humans into different regionsof the world, from northern Europe. These introductions resulted in the loss of rarealleles but did not significantly reduce genetic diversity and thus the evolutionarypotential of this invasive species.     

Eucyclops dumonti sp.nov. from Central Mongolia

Anthropogenic biological introductions have captured the attention of marine scientists and resource managers in recent years. Human-mediated marine bioinvasions are presently acknowledged as often ecologically and financially devastating events. Despite recent increases in scientific interest and financial resources devoted to nonindigenous nuisance species globally, fundamental questions pertaining to taxonomic identity, geographic source, introduction vector and invasive population dynamics frequently remain unanswered. Ecological surveys based on photometric and observational methods are unable to identify cryptogenic taxa, source populations, multiple introductions, or genetic diversity. The twofold goal of this paper is to discuss the application of molecular genetic techniques to fundamental ecological questions pertaining to bioinvasions and to demonstrate the utility of DNA technology in providing data useful in the development of predictive models for marine bioinvasion science.     

Management implications of the Macquarie Island trophic cascade revisited: a reply to Dowding et al. (2009)

1. The management of non-indigenous species is not without its complications. In Bergstrom et al. 's (2009) study, we demonstrated that feral cats Felis catus on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island were exerting top-down control on the feral rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus population, and that the eradication of the cats led to a substantial increase in rabbit numbers and an associated trophic cascade.
2. Dowding et al. (2009) claim our modelling was flawed for various reasons, but primarily that a reduction in the application of the rabbit control agent, Myxoma virus, coinciding with cat removal, was a major driver of rabbit population release.
3. We explore this proposition (as well as others) by examining rates of Myxoma viral release between 1991 and 2006 (with an attenuation factor for the years, 2003–2006) in association with presence/absence of cats against two estimates of rabbit population size. Myxoma viral release was a significant factor in the lower estimates of rabbit population, but the effect was small, and was not significant for higher rabbit population estimates. By contrast, the presence or absence of cats remained highly significant for both estimates.
4. Synthesis and applications. We re-affirm our position that top-down control of rabbit numbers by cats, prior to their eradication, was occurring on Macquarie Island. Nonetheless, we agree with Dowding et al. (2009) that systems with multiple invasive species represent complex situations that require careful scrutiny. Such scrutiny should occur in advance of, during, and following management interventions.     

Niche separation between colonizing and indigenous goatfish (Mullidae) along the Mediterranean coast of Israel

The present study assesses the resource partitioning between two Red Sea colonizers, the goldband goatfish Upeneus moluccensis and the brownband goatfish U. pori , and the two indigenous Mediterranean goatfishes, the red mullet Mullus barbatus and the striped mullet M. surmuletus , along the Mediterranean coast of Israel.
Niche separation was studied along three axes: habitat selection, feeding habits and spawning season. Habitat selection is the most significant parameter separating the species. The two colonizing species occupy a shallow habitat, U. pori dominating the primarily sandy bottom at 20–30 m and U. moluccensis at 40–50 m, at which depth the sea bottom becomes increasingly silty. Of the two indigenous species, M. barbatus is dominant in depths below 55 m, while M. surmuletus appears at low abundance in all depths.
Niche separation by feeding habits is much less evident. All four species feed primarily on macrurid crustaceans and thus the values of diet overlap are rather high (0·666≤ T ≤0·928). Prey size is not an important factor in niche separation. Young fishes (S.L>,115 mm) of all four species feed upon prey of similar size (20–160 mg). Among older individuals (S.L.>115 mm) three species continue to feed upon the same size prey, while U. moluccensis feeds upon considerably larger prey (600–2200 mg).
The difference between the spawning seasons of the colonizing vs indigenous species and consequent timing of benthic settling may contribute to niche separation.
The results of this study suggest that success in colonization by Red Sea goatfish may be due to the existence of unexploited niches in the eastern Mediterranean ecosystem.