The role of recreational marinas in facilitating the impacts of invasive non-native species.

生物多样性正受到全球变化的若干驱动因素的威胁，对沿海生境产生有害影响。特别令人关切的是外来入侵物种的增加，这种物种继续增长，没有显示出饱和的迹象。在沿海和河口系统，水上基础设施，如休闲码头，是INNS的重要入口点，作为“踏脚石”的栖息地，为他们随后的传播。因此，INNS在这些地区的存在已被广泛报道，然而，许多相关的破坏性生态影响尚未完全了解，仍然没有量化。人们越来越关注在游艇码头上建造INNS，但对相关生态影响的关注有限。例如，入侵物种“溢出”到邻近地点的情况尚未得到充分探讨。此外，鲜为人知的是，关于INNS之间的连接码头存在的一部分，作为一个本地网络，以及是否二次传播从最初的介绍网站可能会导致孤立的人口，发展独特的一套特征，健身和快速人口扩张的基础。然而，对于那些被动移动的INNS，例如通过休闲划船在码头之间移动，这种“特征分类”的发生是未知的。甲壳类被认为是世界上最严重的入侵类群之一，拥有一系列有利于成功建立的生活史特征，包括短世代时间和广泛的环境耐受性。Caprellidae是一个特别值得注意的群体，体现了这些特征并支持大量非本土端足类物种。其中一个例子是全球入侵的日本骨骼虾Caprella mutica，它起源于东北亚，已成为欧洲入侵最快的物种之一。与水生基础设施和殖民栖息地有关，如浮动浮筒，系泊绳和水产养殖笼，现在有许多关于C。英国各地的mutica，其中许多与休闲码头密切相关。2002年在苏格兰首次报道，C. 2006年，在克莱德河口记录了mutica，然而，它被认为在此之前已经存在，但尚未在该系统中进行彻底研究。在克莱德河口内，存在一个完善的码头网络，支持高度的休闲船使用，并与更广泛的苏格兰西海岸地区相连。因此，这提供了一个机会，了解入侵的INNS在一个码头网络和潜在的溢出到邻近的栖息地/基础设施和随后的生态影响。与INNS一样，C. mutica已被证明具有高度侵略性，这种行为与繁殖成功和后代存活有关，但不知道在地方（或全球）规模上，这在入侵地点之间有何不同。在这种情况下，了解与影响有关的指标，如不同人群之间生活史特征和行为的差异，是至关重要的，因为它们与INNS影响的已知联系和对未来入侵的潜在预测能力。在过去十年中，海洋入侵物种受到科学家和政策制定者越来越多的关注，但解决其影响的生态知识落后于其他系统。因此，该项目的目的是调查休闲码头在促进入侵物种影响方面的作用。通过这样做，我们将阐明潜在的影响机制，提供重要的和缺乏新的栖息地和沿海系统物种入侵的相互作用的信息。

Biodiversity is under threat from a number of drivers of global change with detrimental implications for coastal habitats. Of particular concern is the increase of invasive nonnative species (INNS), which continues to grow and shows no indication of saturation. In coastal and estuary systems, aquatic infrastructure, such as recreational marinas, are important entry points for INNS, acting as 'stepping-stone' habitats for their subsequent spread. As such the presence of INNS in these locations has been widely reported, however, many of their associated damaging ecological impacts are not fully understood and remain unquantified. There is a growing focus on the presence of INNS in marinas, however limited attention has been made towards the associated ecological impacts. For example, the occurrence of 'spill-over' of invading species into adjacent sites has not been fully explored. Furthermore, little is known regarding the connectivity of INNS between marinas that exist as part of a local network and whether secondary spread from initial introduction sites can lead to isolated populations which develop unique sets of traits that underlie fitness and rapid population expansion. For INNS, however, that have been moved passively, such as between marinas via recreational boating, the occurrence of such 'trait sorting' is unknown. Crustacea are considered one of the world's worst invading taxa, possessing a range of life history traits that are conducive to successful establishment, including short generation time and broad environmental tolerance. Caprellidae are a particular notable group, exemplifying these traits and supporting high numbers of non-native amphipod species. One such example is the globally invasive Japanese skeleton shrimp Caprella mutica, which originates from north-east Asia and has become one of the most rapidly invading species in Europe. Associated with aquatic infrastructure and colonising habitats such as floating pontoons, mooring ropes and aquaculture cages, there are now numerous reports of the presence of C. mutica across the UK, many which are closely linked to recreational marinas. Having been first reported in Scotland in 2002, C. mutica was recorded in the Clyde estuary in 2006, however, it was considered to have been present before this time yet it has not been thoroughly studied within this system. Within the Clyde estuary there exists a local network of well-established marinas supporting a high degree of recreational boat use with connections to the broader Scottish West Coast region. Therefore, this provides an opportunity for understanding the invasion of an INNS within a marina network and the potential for overspill into neighbouring habitats/infrastructure and subsequent ecological impact. As is common with INNS, C. mutica has been shown to be highly aggressive with such behaviour linked to reproductive success and offspring survival, however it is not known how this differs between invaded locations on a local (or global) scale. In this context, understanding metrics related to impact such as differences in life-history traits and behaviour between different populations is vital because of their known links to INNS impact and potential predictive power for future invasions. During the last decade, marine invasive species have received increased attention from both scientists and policy makers, however ecological knowledge to address their impacts lags behind that of other systems. The aim of this project is to therefore investigate the role of recreational marinas in the facilitation of impact of an invasive species. By doing so we will elucidate mechanisms underlying impact, providing vital and lacking information on the interaction of novel habitats and species invasions in coastal systems.