The effects of an invasive seaweed on native communities vary along a gradient of land-based human impacts.

ABSTRACT: The difficulty in teasing apart the effects of biological invasions from those of other anthropogenic perturbations has hampered our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the global biodiversity crisis. The recent elaboration of global-scale maps of cumulative human impacts provides a unique opportunity to assess how the impact of invaders varies among areas exposed to different anthropogenic activities. A recent meta-analysis has shown that the effects of invasive seaweeds on native biota tend to be more negative in relatively pristine than in human-impacted environments. Here, we tested this hypothesis through the experimental removal of the invasive green seaweed, Caulerpa cylindracea, from rocky reefs across the Mediterranean Sea. More specifically, we assessed which out of land

SUBMITTER: Bulleri F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4806595 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature