Search results for "Biological Invasion"
showing 10 items of 59 documents
Molecular data attest to the occurrence of autochthonous Daphnia pulex (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) populations in Sicily, Italy
2021
Biological invasions are known to be among the most important threats to the long-term conservation of native biota, and their effects might be even more difficult to contrast when they are cryptic, i.e., when the non-native invaders cannot be easily recognised based on morphology, and can thus be confused with native taxa. Such cryptic invasions are known to widely occur in the cladoceran genus Daphnia O.F. Müller, 1785, so that the actual distribution and status of most species and lineages need to be checked with a genetic approach. In the frame of this work, we investigated if the Sicilian populations of D. (Daphnia) pulex Leydig, 1860 belonged to the allochthonous North American lineag…
Invasion biology in non‐free‐living species: interactions between abiotic (climatic) and biotic (host availability) factors in geographical space in …
2013
In invasion processes, both abiotic and biotic factors are considered essential, but the latter are usually disregarded when modeling the potential spread of exotic species. In the framework of set theory, interactions between biotic (B), abiotic (A), and movement-related (M) factors in the geographical space can be hypothesized with BAM diagrams and tested using ecological niche models (ENMs) to estimate A and B areas. The main aim of our survey was to evaluate the interactions between abiotic (climatic) and biotic (host availability) factors in geographical space for exotic symbionts (i.e., non-free-living species), using ENM techniques combined with a BAM framework and using exotic Entoc…
Loss of a freshwater copepod species from El Junco Lake, Galápagos following the introduction and eradication of the Nile tilapia
2021
An undescribed diaptomid copepod probably belonging to a new Mastigodiaptomus species has been discovered and was very abundant in El Junco Lake (San Cristóbal Island, Ecuador) from 1966 until 2004. The species was not found in samples from 2007, 2008 or 2018. The loss of this key species from the lake coincides with the illegal introduction of Nile tilapia to El Junco Lake in 2005 and its subsequent eradication in 2008. The disappearance of this biogeographically and ecologically important copepod population may be explained by direct mechanisms of predation and competition, by a combination of both processes, and by indirect mechanisms linked to alterations in the lake ecosystem. The effe…
New Data on Native and Alien Vascular Flora of Sicily (Italy): New Findings and Updates
2023
In this paper, based on fieldwork and herbaria surveys, new data concerning the presence of 32 native and alien vascular species for Sicily (Italy) are provided. Among the native species, the occurrence of the following taxa is reported for the first time or confirmed after many decades of non-observation: Aira multiculmis, Arum maculatum, Carex flacca subsp. flacca, Mentha longifolia, Oxybasis chenopodioides, Najas minor and Xiphion junceum. Furthermore, we document the presence of three native species (Cornus mas, Juncus foliosus and Limonium avei) that, despite being repeatedly observed in Sicily and reported in the literature, are inexplicably omitted by the most recent authoritative ch…
First record of the alien leech Myzobdella lugubris Leidy, 1851 (Hirudinea, Piscicolidae) in the Palearctic
2018
espanolEn este estudio reportamos la aparicion de la sanguijuela Neartica Myzobdella lugubris en un cuerpo de agua salobre de la reserva natural Riserva Naturale dello Stato “Le Cesine” (Apulia, Italy). Dos especimenes de la especie fueren recolectados en el cuello y las extremidades anteriores de una tortuga de estanque europea Emys orbicularis hellenica en Octubre del 2016. La identificacion de los dos especimenes fue basada en datos morfologicos y de secuenciacion molecular. En su distribucion natural, M. lugubris es conocida por ser huesped y vector de bacterias y virus, de los cuales algunos son patogenos de gravedad en peces. En vista de los posibles efectos nocivos, que ejercen sobre…
Invasions of the non-indigenous red alga Lophocladia lallemandii (Montagne) F. Schmitz off the Island of Ischia (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy)
2021
This paper describes the distribution and spread of the non-indigenous red alga Lophocladia lallemandii (Montagne) F. Schmitz along the coast of the Island of Ischia (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). Lophocladia lallemandii was monitored through surveys from July 2019 to January 2020 at the Capo Sant’Angelo (Ischia), where L. lallemandii was observed, but not reported, in the years preceding the invasion of the upper rocky infralittoral shore reported here. It is noteworthy that a large portion of the study area is included within one of the two “B no-take” zones of the Marine Protected Area of the “Regno di Nettuno” (“Neptune’s Realm”). During the surveys, the alga was first observed in the middle …
Unpublished Mediterranean records of marine alien and cryptogenic species
2020
Este artículo contiene 18 páginas, 4 figuras.
The spreading of the invasive italian wall lizard on Vulcano, the last island inhabited by the critically endangered aeolian wall lizard
2018
[EN] The Aeolian Wall Lizard (Podarcis raffoneae) is an endemic species of the Aeolian Archipelago of Italy (Mediterranean Sea). Its distribution is limited to three islets and two relict populations on a relatively large island: Vulcano (a population on the summit of Gran Cratere volcano and another on Capo Grosso promontory). The critically endangered Aeolian Wall Lizard is threatened by the introduction of the Italian Wall Lizard (Podarcis siculus), which successfully competes and hybridizes with the endemic lizard. The invasive lizard is widespread on Vulcano, although the literature does not provide the exact distribution. Our first aim was updating the distribution of the Italian Wall…
Island incidence and mainland population density: Mammals from Mediterranean islands
2002
. The reasons why some species are resistant to extinction or are better invaders of islands than others remain unexplained. In this study, we test the hypothesis that mammals living on the mainland at higher density than predicted by the density/body mass relationship have a much greater chance to colonize a small island successfully, and/or that they are less likely to become extinct when living on small islands. For this, we used data compiled on mammals from a number of Mediterranean islands. We show a nested pattern for mammals on western Mediterranean islands, which suggests that the distribution of mammals on these islands is not the result of a random process. Using two comparative …
Differential influence of Pomphorhynchus laevis (Acanthocephala) on brain serotonergic activity in two congeneric host species.
2007
The physiological mechanisms by which parasites with complex life cycles manipulate the behaviour of their intermediate hosts are still poorly understood. In Burgundy, eastern France, the acanthocephalan parasitePomphorhynchus laevisinverses reaction to light in its amphipod hostGammarus pulex, but not inGammarus roeseli, a recent invasive species. Here, we show that this difference in manipulation actually reflects a difference in the ability of the parasite to alter brain serotonergic (5-HT) activity of the two host species. Injection of 5-HT in uninfected individuals of both host species was sufficient to inverse reaction to light. However, a difference in brain 5-HT immunocytochemical s…