Developing an integrated framework for studying

Halophila stipulacea, the world’s first globally invasive marine

angiosperm (Seagrass) - A Euromarine foresight workshop

The Inter University Institute (IUI), Eilat, Israel 3-5th July 2016

H. stipulacea meadows in their native habitat (the northern Red Sea)

opening of

Suez 1869

Lessepsian migrant

1st record in Med: Rhodes (Fritsch 1895)

Since 1894 Spreading only in eastern Med:

Likpin 1975, Gambi et al. 2009, Sghaier et al. 2011winter surface isotherms (November -April)

limited by cold waters ?

Since 2003, reported in western Med: Sicily, Southwest Italy, Tunis

1st record of viable pods in Med (Aug 2012)

Gerakaris and Tsiamis (2015)

H. stipulacea meadows in their invasive native habitat (Caribbean)

2002: H. stipulacea found 1st time in the Caribbean, island of Granada

(Ruiz and Ballantine 2004)

Since 2002, spreading fast

Willette et al., 2014, Vera et al. 2014Interaction with

native seagrasses

Willette and Ambrose 2012

Steiner and Willette 2015

St

Jo

hn

:P

ho

to D

W

Dominican Republic

Halophila is taking over

of all local species

Recent doubling of the Suez Canal

26.6

Marba` et al. (2010)

Jordà et al. (2012)

Mediterranean becoming warmer and saltier

Could European seagrass species (P. oceanica, Z. marina)

be replaced by the invasive H. stipulacea ?

Should Europe worry ?

?

Highlights and main topics discussed at the workshop

H. stipulacea in its native habitat

Bio invasions: What makes a successful invader?

The invasion of H. stipulacea into the Mediterranean

The invasion of H. stipulacea into the Caribbean

Developing molecular tools for H. stipulacea

Predictions for the future: Developing climate envelope distribution models

How to predict the future distribution and impacts of H. stipulacea ?

1. Produce a review paper:

The invasive tropical seagrass Halophila stipulacea –

identifying the gaps of knowledge (in progress)

2. Develop Framework for European proposals:

a) Predicting ability of H. stipulacea to invade European coastal waters

b) Assessing its impacts on both biodiversity and ecosystem functions.

Participating organisations

Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR), Israel

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN), Italy

Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), Italy

National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG),Ireland

Universidade do Algarve, Portugal

Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenökologie (ZMT), Germany

UCLA, USA

BGU + TAU, Israel

The Dead Sea-Arava Science Center, Israel

The Inter University Institute (IUI), Israel

The Inter University Institute (IUI), Eilat, Israel 3-5th July 2016

13 talks, 6 countries, 4 grad students, 3 post docs