Meeting Abstract

P3.34  Sunday, Jan. 6  Does oceanography constrain marine bivalve invasions? CHIANG, S.*; BELANGER, C.L.; BERKE, S.K.; JABLONSKI, D.; Univ. of Chicago; South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Siena College; Univ. of Chicago schiang@uchicago.edu

Invasive species can detrimentally impact marine systems via competition, predation, and other interactions. Understanding the mechanisms behind successful introductions can help reduce the frequency and ameliorate the effects of further invasions as the Earth grows warmer and human-mediated transport intensifies. Here we present preliminary results on the most influential environmental factors in the success of 42 invasive marine bivalves using a database of occurrences and remote-sensing data for both native and and invasive habitats at 1° resolution. Invasive marine bivalves appear to be less tightly restricted to the temperature ranges of their native habitat than are terrestrial plants (see Petipierre et al. 2012); only 31% of invasive bivalves occupy ranges with median temperatures within the interquartile range of their native ranges and 15% of invasive bivalves are able to succeed in areas with temperatures outside their native range. In contrast, invasive bivalves conform more closely to the net primary productivity (NPP) of their native ranges with 56% occupying areas whose NPP falls within their native range(significantly more than for temperature; Fisher’s Exact Test) and less than 5% succeeding in areas with NPP outside their native range. Unsurprisingly, failed invasions are often outside or near the extremes of their observed native ranges for both temperature and NPP. However, our data show a slight trend for some species to occupy increasingly different thermal regimes as the invasion progresses over time.