Wang, Shasha (2017) Is fouling a determinant of invasion success? - A comparison of the susceptibility to fouling between native and non-native populations of Gracilaria vermiculophylla. (PhD/ Doctoral thesis), Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Kiel, Germany, 127 pp.

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Abstract

The number of introduced species, also called non-native or invasive species, has substantially increased in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems worldwide in past years. One possible reason for invasion success, i.e. the permanent establishment and spread after introduction, could be a high resistance towards biotic stressors such as herbivory. In the marine environment epibiosis (the colonization of living surfaces or exoskeletons by sessile organisms) is a common stressor and a high resistance towards fouling could explain invasion success in introduced species. This the first study that compares the susceptibility to eukaryote microfouling, macrofouling and natural fouling between native and non-native populations of an aquatic species. Further, this work gives the first example that non-native individuals of an aquatic species are better defended against fouling than native conspecifics and suggests that an enhanced defence against fouling after introduction could explain – at least in parts - the invasion success of G. vermiculophylla. Additionally, this work demonstrates that the chemical antifouling defence in G. vermiculophylla varies with season and is based on multiple compounds that have different polarities. Finally, the new technique of enclosing macroalgae in dialysis tubes represents a simple, efficient and accurate way to test for the presence of chemical antifouling defences in these organisms and could possibly be applied to other algal species. The study thus provides new insights into the invasion ecology of macroalgae.

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