Population attenuation in zooplankton communities during transoceanic transfer in ballast water.

ABSTRACT: Successful biological invasion requires introduction of a viable population of a nonindigenous species (NIS). Rarely have ecologists assessed changes in populations while entrained in invasion pathways. Here, we investigate how zooplankton communities resident in ballast water change during transoceanic voyages. We used next-generation sequencing technology to sequence a nuclear small subunit ribosomal DNA fragment of zooplankton from ballast water during initial, middle, and final segments as a vessel transited between Canada and Brazil. Operational taxonomic unit (OTU) diversity decreased as voyage duration increased, indicating loss of community-based genetic diversity and development of bottlenecks for zooplankton taxa prior to discharge of ballast water. On average, we observed 47, 26

SUBMITTER: Ghabooli S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5016640 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature