Gateways to alien invasions in the European seas

By Ana L. Nunes, Stelios Katsanevakis, Argyro Zenetos, Ana Cristina Cardoso. 2014

173 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The spatial pattern of initial introductions of marine alien species in the European Seas (including the entire Mediterranean) was investigated. Marked geographic patterns depending on the pathway of introduction were revealed, with specific countries acting as gateways to alien invasions. France and Italy were the countries mostly responsible for introductions by aquaculture, while Lessepsian species were first reported (as anticipated) in the countries of the Levantine Sea, especially Israel. Shipping was the most important pathway of introduction, with a widely dispersed geographic pattern of initial introductions, especially near large ports. Certain taxonomic groups were mostly introduced by specific pathways, and hence the taxonomic identity of the introduced alien species in each region was greatly dependent on the dominant maritime activities/interventions and the related pathways of introduction. Our data can be very useful for informing and supporting national policy and management decisions necessary to prevent future introductions of marine alien species.

Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/099a8d88373a9bfe142119d27d2639ac06db0e6d

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology

1. Jan Pergl
2. P. Hulme
3. P. Genovesi
4. S. Pagad
5. Alain Roques
6. Jonathan M. Jeschke
7. W. Rabitsch
8. Helen E. Roy

In Global and Planetary Change

1. P. Hulme
2. Stelios Katsanevakis
3. Argyro Zenetos
4. Alain Roques
5. V. Panov
6. S. Shirley
7. Jonathan M. Jeschke
8. Elena Tricarico

In Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

1. P. Hulme
2. Stelios Katsanevakis
3. P. Genovesi
4. Riccardo Scalera

Citations in the corpus

• Assessing patterns in introduction pathways of alien species by linking major invasion data bases (2017, background): “‘Contaminant & Stowaway’ is common for invertebrates, algae, fungi and micro-organisms, while the ‘Corridor’ pathway is of importance for algae, invertebrates and vertebrates, primarily in aquatic environments (Fig. 4; see also Hulme et al. 2008; Nunes et al. 2014).”
• European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN): supporting European policies and scientific research (2015, background): “This was followed by assessments of the pathways and gateways of introduction of marine aliens in Europe and trends in new introductions (Katsanevakis et al. 2013c; Nunes et al. 2014).”
• Mapping the impact of alien species on marine ecosystems: the Mediterranean Sea case study (2016, background): “Species introduced by shipping gave the highest impact scores and impacted a much larger area than those introduced by aquaculture and the Suez Canal.”