Caulerpa taxifolia

Davidson, Alisha D., Campbell, Marnie L., Hewitt, Chad L. & Schaffelke, Britta, 2015, Assessing the impacts of nonindigenous marine macroalgae: an update of current knowledge, Botanica Marina (Warsaw, Poland) 58 (2), pp. 55-79 : 62-64

Caulerpa taxifolia

Research effort on the ecological impacts of Caulerpa taxifolia decreased relative to other invasive macroalgae, and the geographic focus shifted in large part from the Mediterranean Sea (1 study in this review) to Australia (12 studies in this review). However, this species continued to affect the diversity ( Gallucci et al. 2012, Bishop and Kelaher 2013), growth, condition, and survival ( Gribben et al. 2009) of invertebrates. Gribben et al. (2013) found that faunal impacts varied by community: C. taxifolia had a negative effect on infauna but a positive effect on epifauna. It also affected higher trophic levels by providing

Australia / New Zealand

SE Pacific

NW Pacific

NE Pacific

S Pacific

E Asian Sea E Africa

Arabian Sea Bioregion Central Indian S Atlantic Ocean W Africa

Caribbean Baltic NE Atlantic

NW Atlantic Mediterranean

Arctic Antarctic 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Total number by algal type

Figure 3: Ecological case studies by bioregion (bioregion classification based on Kelleher et al. 1995) and algal type. Macroalgal groups: brown algae ( Phaeophyceae), red algae (Rhodophyta), and green algae (Chlorophyta).

Australia / New Zealand

SE Pacific

NW Pacific NE Pacific

S Pacific E Asian Sea E Africa

Arabian Sea Bioregion Central Indian S Atlantic Ocean

W Africa

Caribbean

Baltic

NE Atlantic

NW Atlantic Mediterranean

Arctic Antarctic

a less attractive food source to herbivores ( Gollan and Wright 2006, Burfeind et al. 2009) and a less attractive fish habitat ( York et al. 2006) relative to native macroalgae.