Marine invasive alien species: a threat to global biodiversity

By N. Bax, A. Williamson, M. Aguero, E. Gonzalez, Warren Geeves. 2003

1,101 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Invasive alien marine species threaten biodiversity, marine industries (including fishing and tourism) and human health, and unlike oil spills only get worse with time. While some progress is being made internationally on the 10,000 species estimated to be in transit around the world in the ballast water, effective solutions are a long way off; meanwhile the majority of vectors is being ignored. A systematic approach to invasive alien marine species is required to target the means and location of the most effective management actions. Cooperation among regional trading partners will be essential to effectively manage the threat.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Molecular Biology, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a79e1ac9d7ca9a18522e2ae8954ffe16dc7f8e19

How researchers see this paper

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

In Global and Planetary Change

In Molecular Biology

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

Citations in the corpus

Invasion of alien macroalgae in different Mediterranean habitats (2009, background): “A reduction of biodiversity is considered a common consequence of biological invasions (Abrams 1996; Bax et al. 2003; Walker and Kendrick 1998; Gray 1997) and similar patterns have been described separately for the colonisation of both C. racemosa and W. setacea in Mediterranean habitats (Airoldi…”
The 'dirty dozen': socio-economic factors amplify the invasion potential of 12 high-risk aquatic invasive species in Great Britain and Ireland. (2013, background): “The importance of ports as gateways of invasive species is well known, with at least 10 000 species estimated to be transported around the world in ships (Bax et al. 2003).”
Introduced Macroalgae – a Growing Concern (2006, background): “These options cannot be solely driven at a local or national level, but require significant international and regional cooperation (e.g., Bax et al., 2003; Hewitt, 2003a).”
GAPeDNA: Assessing and mapping global species gaps in genetic databases for eDNA metabarcoding (2021, background): “Among the numerous threats that all aquatic environments are currently facing lies non-indigenous species, which have the potential to disrupt entire ecosystems when declared as invasive (Albins & Hixon, 2013; Bax, Williamson, Aguero, Gonzalez, & Geeves, 2003; Clavero & García-Berthou, 2005).”
Projecting changes in the distribution and productivity of living marine resources: A critical review of the suite of modelling approaches used in the large European project VECTORS (2016, background): “…harvesting, habitat alteration, and introduced/alien species are causing fundamental changes to marine ecosystems including altered productivities and distributions of living marine resources (Bax et al., 2003, FAO, 2007, Díaz and Rosenberg, 2008; Barange and Perry, 2009 and Rabalais et al., 2010).”
Use of DNA metabarcoding for stomach content analysis in the invasive lionfish Pterois volitans in Puerto Rico (2016, background): “However, marine invasive species present a difficult management scenario where vectors promoting their spread and establishment may be known (i.e. ballast transport, aquarium trade) but cannot be easily regulated or avoided without strict enforcement (Bax et al. 2003).”
Review of Underwater Ship Hull Cleaning Technologies (2020, background): “Hull fouling on the vessels can also cause the spread of alien species that rapidlymultiply in local waters without natural enemies (Bax et al. 2003; Godwin 2003; Drake and Lodge 2007).”
Exotic invertebrate species on offshore oil platforms (2006, background): “The invasion and spread of exotic plant and animal species is considered one of the greatest threats to biological diversity and the functioning of aquatic ecosystems today (Schmitz & Simberloff 1997, Bax et al. 2003).”
Raising the flag on marine alien fouling species (2017, background): “The sheltered environment and diverse substrates that harbours provide (Arenas et al. 2006), together with the confluence of multiple and often high frequency vectors (Bax et al. 2003; Bulleri and Chapman 2010) make harbours foci of marine invasions (Forrest et al. 2009; López-Legentil et al. 2015).”
Competitive interactions between the invasive green alga Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides and native canopy-forming seaweeds in Nova Scotia (Canada) (2006, background): “Photo: Robert Scheibling Mar Ecol Prog Ser 325: 1–14, 2006 Bax et al. 2003, Strayer et al. 2004).”
Alien species and other notable records from a rapid assessment survey of marinas on the south coast of England (2006, background): “Marinas and harbours are often relatively disturbed areas, subject to restricted tidal exchange, salinity stress through freshwater in£ow and/or pollution (Bax et al., 2003), and are also subject to greater temperature £uxes than nearby natural subtidal habitats.”
Ecological role of large benthic decapods in marine ecosystems: a review (2012, background): “They are often viewed as being irreversible and their impacts can lead to changes in habitat and displacement of native species via pre datory or competitive interactions (Bax et al. 2003).”
Revealing the scale of marine bioinvasions in developing regions: a South African re-assessment (2011, background): “comparisons will facilitate bioinvasion predictions on a global scale and the formulation of effective management policies (Bax et al. 2004; Carlton 1996, 2009; Kolar and Lodge 2001).”
Concepts for biocontrol in marine environments: is there a way forward? (2015, positive): “Examples of deleterious effects are numerous, including declines in native biodiversity (Byers 2000), decreases in productivity of economic activities (Bax et al. 2003) and impacts to social values (García-Llorente et al. 2008).”
Climate change, non‐indigenous species and shipping: assessing the risk of species introduction to a high‐Arctic archipelago (2014, background): “These have included economically and environmentally harmful species, difficult or impossible to eradicate (Bax et al., 2003).”