Macropredators as shapers of invaded fouling communities in a cold temperate port

GIACHETTI, CLARA BELEN; BATTINI, NICOLÁS; BORTOLUS, ALEJANDRO; TATIÁN, MARCOS; SCHWINDT, EVANGELINA

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019 vol. 518

0022-0981

Ports are vulnerable to biological invasions because of the high shipping exchange and the abundance anddiversity of artificial structures. These artificial environments provide new habitats for fouling communities,commonly hosting a large number of exotic species. The colonization of artificial structures is influenced by largeand small scale processes, such as differences in recruitment time (that may vary with season and availability ofnew substrates) or predation. In cold temperate regions, with a marked seasonality, not only the starting time ofcolonization may influence fouling community structure but also the community of macropredators associated.This study addressed the following question: What is the effect of macropredators on invaded fouling communitiesstarted at different time in a cold temperate port? To asses this, the following experimental treatmentswere assigned to three plates attached to a fiberglass structure: exclusion, open cage and open plate. At thebeginning of each season, seven of these structures were tied to port pilings, each one containing the threeexperimental treatments. We found that fouling communities are shaped by macropredators, such as sea urchins,gastropods and crabs, and that their effect on community structure depends on the time or season in which thecolonization started. Exotic ascidians were absent in open plates and open cages when macropredators werepresent, and species diversity was highest when these predators were excluded. Our results suggest that predationat high latitudes in cold temperate regions might be more important than what is predicted in recentworks. Although our study is conclusive on specific points, it also exposes a need for further research disentanglingthe processes regulating the colonization of artificial fixed versus floating structures at different latitudes.