Abstract
We are facing a global loss of biodiversity due to climate change. This will lead to unpredictable changes in ecosystems, affecting the goods and services they provide introduction of non-indigenous marine species. This represents one of the major threats to marine biodiversity and therefore, there is a strong need to assess, map and monitor these alien species. The appearance of non-indigenous species is especially dangerous in fragile ecosystems and it is of great importance to better understand the invasion mechanisms of these invasive species. This is the case for invasive alga Asparagopsis armata, present in the Azores Archipelago. In this study we propose a methodology to define the realized ecological niche of this invasive alga, alongside the native Asparagopsis taxiformis, to understand better its distribution and potential impact on native communities and ecosystem services. These objectives comply with the EU Biodiversity strategy for 2020 goals and the need to map and assess ecosystems and their services. The lack of reliable high-resolution data makes this a challenging task. Within this scope, we propose a combination of Remote Sensing, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle based imagery together with in-situ field data to build ecological niche modelling approaches as a cost-effective methodology to identify and characterize vulnerable marine ecosystems. Our results show that this combination can help achieve monitoring, leading to a better understanding of ecological niches and the consequences of non-indigenous species invasion in fragile ecosystems, like small islands, when faced with limited data.
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Acknowledgements
This study is a contribution to the research project ‘ASPAZOR— Ecosystem impacts and socio‐economic benefits of Asparagopsis armata in the Azores' (Ref. ACORES‐01‐1045‐FEDER‐00060) funded through FEDER (85%) and regional funds (15%) via ‘Programa Operacional Açores 2020'. CY is supported by Research England. All authors dedicate this work to the memory of our beloved co-author, Prof. Ana Neto. May she rest in peace.
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Using the initials of every co-author, as in: EC, MF, AG, CY, AP, IM, AN, MA. EC, MF, AG, CY and AN conceived the main research idea. MA contributed to the integration and development of the MAES approach into the main research idea. EC, MF, AG, IM and AP contributed to the production, collection and selection of field and modeling data. EC and MF developed the theory and performed the computations. EC, CY and MF verified the analytical methods. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.
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Casas, E., Fernandez, M., Gil, A. et al. Macroalgae niche modelling: a two-step approach using remote sensing and in situ observations of a native and an invasive Asparagopsis. Biol Invasions 23, 3215–3230 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02554-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02554-z