The boom-bust dynamic of the invader Boccardia proboscidea mediated by sewage discharge: the response of the intertidal epilithic community in the Southwest Atlantic

LLANOS ELIZABETH N.; SARACHO BOTTERO, M.A.; JAUBET MARÍA L.; GARAFFO GRISELDA V.; HINES, EMILIANO; CUELLO, GRACIELA V.; ELIAS RODOLFO

MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2021

0025-326X

Biological invasions produce an invader population boom but are oftenfollowed by an invader population bust. The decrease of the invader abundance endswith the coexistence of native species and the invader or with repeated boom and bustevents. In the southwest Atlantic, the polychaete Boccardia proboscidea invaded thecoasts influenced by sewage discharge. We studied the change in the intertidal benthiccommunity during the boom-bust dynamic of the B. proboscidea invasion. During theboom, the invader polychaete was dominant. Species richness, diversity, andevenness indices decrease in the boom phase. During the bust of the B. proboscideainvasion, the decrease of organic matter allowed B. rodriguezii to coexist with B.proboscidea. Beta diversity comparing boom with the bust phase showed a greaternesting (nestedness component); reflecting a process of species loss. We found thatboth boom and bust phases of the polychaete B. proboscidea invasion were mediatedby sewage.