Trophic interactions between indigenous and non-indigenous species in Lampedusa Island, Mediterranean Sea
Maric, M.; De Troch, M.; Occhipinti-Ambrogi, A.; Olenin, S. (2016). Trophic interactions between indigenous and non-indigenous species in Lampedusa Island, Mediterranean Sea. Mar. Environ. Res. 120: 182-190. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2016.08.005
In: Marine Environmental Research. Applied Science Publishers: Barking. ISSN 0141-1136; e-ISSN 1879-0291, more
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| Keywords |
Marine parks
Aplysia dactylomela Rang, 1828 [WoRMS]; Asparagopsis taxiformis (Delile) Trevisan de Saint-Léon, 1845 [WoRMS]; Caulerpa cylindracea Sonder, 1845 [WoRMS]; Percnon gibbesi (H. Milne Edwards, 1853) [WoRMS]
Marine/Coastal |
| Author keywords |
Biological invasion; Stable isotopes; Ecosystem functioning |
| Authors | | Top |
- Maric, M.
- De Troch, M., more
- Occhipinti-Ambrogi, A.
- Olenin, S., more
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| Abstract |
Using stable isotope analysis, we investigated trophic interactions between indigenous benthic taxa and the non-indigenous species (NIS): the green alga Caulerpa cylindracea, the red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis, the crab Percnon gibbesi and the sea hare Aplysia dactylomela. The study was conducted on Lampedusa Island, Mediterranean Sea. We evaluated the trophic positions and isotopic niches of consumers. Using Bayesian mixing models, we quantified the food source contribution to diets of indigenous and non-indigenous herbivores. Isotopic niche of NIS showed no overlap with the ones of indigenous macroinvertebrates and fish. Caulerpa cylindracea provided the largest contribution to the diet of P. gibbesi (0.431-1), while the dietary contribution estimates overlapped considerably for all sources of A. dactylomela and indigenous herbivores. From these results, we conclude that the invasion of C. cylindracea is increasing the diversity of available prey and might facilitate the expansion of other NIS. |
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