Oceanographic Conditions Limit the Spread of a Marine Invader along Southern African Shores.

ABSTRACT: Invasive species can affect the function and structure of natural ecological communities, hence understanding and predicting their potential for spreading is a major ecological challenge. Once established in a new region, the spread of invasive species is largely controlled by their dispersal capacity, local environmental conditions and species interactions. The mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis is native to the Mediterranean and is the most successful marine invader in southern Africa. Its distribution there has expanded rapidly and extensively since the 1970s, however, over the last decade its spread has ceased. In this study, we coupled broad scale field surveys, Ecological Niche Modelling (ENM) and Lagrangian Particle Simulations (LPS) to assess the current invaded distribution of M. ga

SUBMITTER: Assis J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4482700 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature