title: Aliens in Paradise. Boat density and exotic coastal mollusks in Moorea Island (French Polynesia).
abstract: Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable to the effects of invasive species. After habitat destruction or modification, invasive species are responsible for more biological extinctions than any other cause. Further, the rate of extinction of native species has been higher on islands than anywhere else in the world. Invasive species have also degraded native ecosystems. In order to detect exotic intertidal mollusk species, an extensive sampling around Moorea Island, a more or less unspoiled island surrounded by a rich coral reef habitat, has been developed considering that sampled points have different characteristics in wave exposure, algae coverage, type of substrate, distance to ports, distance to freshwater, distance sewage and boat traffic. Samples were DNA barcoded for unequivocal species assignation. The presence of five NIS among 26 species seems an important signal of introduction of alien biota in Moorea Island coast. However they were represented by a total of 38 individuals among 1487 mollusks (2.55%). While the distance to relatively big ports influenced directly species richness, the intensity of maritime traffic measured as boat density near sampling points was significantly associated with the frequency of exotic species. Other environmental factors did not show significant correlation with the frequency of exotics, suggesting that in an environment without big discontinuities, with little habitat modification, local boat traffic is the most influential factor in the spread of exotic species. This could be mitigated relatively easily by reducing boat density in local zones of ecological interest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Biology, University of Oviedo, C/ Julian Claveria s/n, 33006 Oviedo, Spain; USR 3278-CRIOBE-CNRS-EPHE, Laboratoire d'excellence "CORAIL", Université de Perpignan-CBETM, 58 Rue Paul Alduy, 66860 Perpignan CEDEX, France. Electronic address: alarguti@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Alba
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ardura
authors.affiliation: USR 3278-CRIOBE-CNRS-EPHE, Laboratoire d'excellence "CORAIL", Université de Perpignan-CBETM, 58 Rue Paul Alduy, 66860 Perpignan CEDEX, France; Laboratoire d'Excellence "Corail", Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l'Environment (CRIOBE), BP 1013, 98 729 Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia. Electronic address: planes@univ-perp.fr.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Planes
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Biology, University of Oviedo, C/ Julian Claveria s/n, 33006 Oviedo, Spain. Electronic address: egv@uniovi.es.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garcia-Vazquez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D057894:Coral Reefs; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D049851:Gastropoda / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D058865:Introduced Species; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011114:Polynesia; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012767:Ships
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV
keywords: Exotic species; Fringing reef; Intertidal habitat; Maritime traffic; Mollusca; Moorea Island