title: Invasion of Sargassum muticum in intertidal rockpools: patterns along the Atlantic Iberian Peninsula.
abstract: Spatial patterns of non-indigenous species show scale-dependent properties. Sargassum muticum is an invasive macroalga widely distributed along the Atlantic Iberian Peninsula. Despite being quite abundant from Norway to South Portugal, there is little information about its patterns of distribution, particularly at a large spatial scale (i.e. thousands of kilometres). Here, we examined the spatial variation in the invasion success of S. muticum from rockpools at multiple spatial scales using a hierarchical design. In addition, we analysed how the richness of native assemblages was related to its invasion success and how this relationship changed over different scales. Most of the variation in the invasion success was found at the smallest scales of pool and plot. Furthermore, the invasibility of native macroalgal assemblages was related to the native species richness, but causes that determined invasion success could not be separated from the effects provoked by the invader. Results suggest that small-scale (centimetres to metres) processes contribute considerably to the heterogeneity of S. muticum invasion success.
authors.affiliation: Centro Tecnológico del Mar-Fundación CETMAR, c/Eduardo Cabello s/n, ES-36208 Vigo, Spain. evacacabelos@yahoo.es
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cacabelos
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Olabarria
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Viejo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rubal
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Veiga
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Incera
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gestoso
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vaz-Pinto
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mejia
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Engelen
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arenas
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D058865:Introduced Species; D011174:Portugal; D044647:Sargassum / Q000502:physiology*; D013030:Spain; D055871:Tidal Waves
keywords: Benthic ecology; Biodiversity; Coastal zone; Conservation; Ecosystem management; Invasion success; Macroalgal assemblages; Sargassum muticum; Spatial scales