Invasive Species in the Amazon

Invasive species, those that are nonnative and cause economic damage, are one of the main threats to ecosystems around the world. Ambrosia beetles are some of the most common invasive insects. Currently, severe economic impacts have been increasingly reported for all the invasive shot hole borers in South Africa, California, Israel, and throughout Asia. This 7-page fact sheet written by Demian F. Gomez, Jiri Hulcr, and Daniel Carrillo and published by the School of Forest Resources and Conservation describes shot hole borers and their biology and hosts and lists some strategies for prevention and control of these pests. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fr422

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Ancient fish and recent invaders: white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus diet response to invasive-species-mediated changes in a benthic prey assemblage

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps11002 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 514 ◽

pp. 163-174 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

SC Zeug ◽

A Brodsky ◽

N Kogut ◽

AR Stewart ◽

JE Merz

Keyword(s):

Invasive Species ◽

White Sturgeon ◽

Acipenser Transmontanus ◽

Benthic Prey

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Tidal channel-mediated gradients facilitate Spartina alterniflora invasion in coastal ecosystems: implications for invasive species management

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13560 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Z Ning ◽

C Chen ◽

Z Zhu ◽

T Xie ◽

Q Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Invasive Species ◽

Spartina Alterniflora ◽

Coastal Ecosystems ◽

Tidal Channel ◽

Invasive Species Management ◽

Species Management ◽

Spartina Alterniflora Invasion

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High predatory efficiency and abundance drive expected ecological impacts of a marine invasive fish

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13251 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 637 ◽

pp. 195-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

EM DeRoy ◽

R Scott ◽

NE Hussey ◽

HJ MacIsaac

Keyword(s):

Invasive Species ◽

Native Species ◽

Ecological Impact ◽

Marine Species ◽

Ecological Impacts ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Marine Predator ◽

Eastern Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Red Grouper ◽

Per Capita

The ecological impacts of invasive species are highly variable and mediated by many factors, including both habitat and population abundance. Lionfish Pterois volitans are an invasive marine species which have high reported detrimental effects on prey populations, but whose effects relative to native predators are currently unknown for the recently colonized eastern Gulf of Mexico. We used functional response (FR) methodology to assess the ecological impact of lionfish relative to 2 functionally similar native species (red grouper Epinephelus morio and graysby grouper Cephalopholis cruentata) foraging in a heterogeneous environment. We then combined the per capita impact of each species with their field abundance to obtain a Relative Impact Potential (RIP). RIP assesses the broader ecological impact of invasive relative to native predators, the magnitude of which predicts community-level negative effects of invasive species. Lionfish FR and overall consumption rate was intermediate to that of red grouper (higher) and graysby grouper (lower). However, lionfish had the highest capture efficiency of all species, which was invariant of habitat. Much higher field abundance of lionfish resulted in high RIPs relative to both grouper species, demonstrating that the ecological impact of lionfish in this region will be driven mainly by high abundance and high predator efficiency rather than per capita effect. Our comparative study is the first empirical assessment of lionfish per capita impact and RIP in this region and is one of few such studies to quantify the FR of a marine predator.

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