Climate Change and Invasive Species Affect Marine Waters, According to Scientists

According to research from the University of California, Davis, native species in California's estuaries are likely to decline further when invading species interact with climate change.

According to the study, which was published in the journal Ecology of the Ecological Society of America, these drops are anticipated not just as a result of climate-related stress factors, but also as a result of the growing influence of new invasive predators, the effects of which are being felt much further up the estuary.

Estuaries are a unique environment

(Photo : CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP via Getty Images)

During the summer of 2019, the researchers investigated the effects of environmental factors and predators on motile invertebrates in Tomales Bay, California. Sessile invertebrates, such as bryozoans and ascidians, are organisms without backbones that adhere to reefs or seagrasses and move very slowly.

Among their predators are sea stars, crabs, and snails, among others.

Changes in salinity and temperature of the water have a significant impact on the distribution of numerous invertebrate species in estuaries, ranging from shellfish to crustaceans to sea squirts.

These gradients may be extremely steep in California's estuaries, which are particularly sensitive to climate change and exotic species, as per ScienceDaily.

Stressful circumstances for marine creatures, such as low salinity and high temperature, increase as you approach inland from the ocean in most estuaries.

Climate change is quickly altering the stress gradients typical of West Coast estuaries, according to co-lead author Edwin "Ted" Grosholz, a UC Davis professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy and the Bodega Marine Laboratory.

These shifting gradients are reshaping the historical predator-prey ecosystem, resulting in novel matches and putting local species at a greater risk of invasion.

According to Grosholz, such shifts are difficult to foresee, and only experimental research like this one can separate the combined impacts of climate change and invaders on struggling native species.

From June to October 2019, the researchers put square PVC plates with various caging procedures at three distinct locations throughout Tomales Bay for the study.

Some plates were predator-proof, whereas others permitted predator access.

At the conclusion of the period, the researchers took the plates back into the lab and used a microscope to identify species and measure the percent cover.

Read more: Scottish Chef Makes Delicacies Out of Squirrels to Combat Invasive Species: Discussing Invasivorism 

Ocean's invasive species

The ocean is filled with plants and animals that are willing and able to leave their natural homes. Often, all they require is a ride. Humans are introduced, as per the Smithsonian Ocean.

The ocean is filled with plants and animals that are willing and able to leave their natural homes. Often, all they require is a ride. Humans are introduced. Some invaders travel on ship hulls or within ballast tanks, while others enter through the aquarium trade. Invasive species, no matter how they spread, have the potential to disrupt environments, nutrient cycles, and industries.

Some invaders travel on ship hulls or within ballast tanks, while others enter through the aquarium trade. Invasive species, no matter how they spread, have the potential to disrupt environments, nutrient cycles, and industries.

Green crab

The European crab, sometimes known as the green crab, has been transported in ballast water by ships and is used as fish bait in many parts of the world.

It is currently found on both coasts of North America, as well as in southern South America, Australia, South Africa, and Japan.

It preys on a variety of beach life, including worms and mollusks. The crab's ravenous appetite has had an impact on the commercial shellfish sector in some locations.

Walnut jellyfish

This ctenophore (a stingless jellyfish-like animal) is endemic to North and South America's east coasts. It was discovered in the Black Sea in 1982, where it had been carried by ballast water.

It afterward extended to the Caspian Sea. It multiplied and produced massive populations in both locations. Because sea walnuts graze on zooplankton, which commercial fish also devour, they led to the demise of local fisheries.

Veined rapa whelk

It is a huge marine snail with a magnificent shell that is endemic to the northwest Pacific, from Vladivostok, Russia to Hong Kong.

It was found in the Black Sea in 1946 and spread to the Mediterranean Sea later that year.

It was discovered in the Chesapeake Bay in 1998, when it was most likely brought in ship ballast water.

It is also found in European coastal waters from Norway to Spain, as well as in South America's Rio de la Plata estuary.

This predator on bivalve mollusks greatly decreased shellfish in the Black Sea, but it is now caught and marketed as food to Asian countries.

Related article: Invasive Species May Beat Climate Change to Extinction of Endangered Plants