The Recent Expansion of Invasive Tubastraea coccinea Throughout the Gulf of Mexico and its Relation to Oil and Gas Platforms
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Date
2019-04-23
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Abstract
Invasive species have large economic and ecological impacts, including agriculture losses, native species replacement, ecological function modification, and altered community structure. Despite this, invasive marine species are relatively understudied. The orange cup coral, Tubastraea coccinea, is the first Scleractinia to invade the Western Atlantic. The coral is shown to have negative effects on native reef corals and has been spreading to natural reefs within the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Our objective is to document the recent range expansion of T. coccinea throughout the GoM and produce a species distribution model to project its potential range of invasion and identify the factors for its distribution. Our results show that potential habitat for T. coccinea to be mainly distributed within the western half, with the highest probabilities (0.8 < P 1.0) clustered along the Texas and Louisiana borders. Considering the threat that T. coccinea presents to native reefs within the GoM, it is important to be able to track and predict its distribution, as well as identify potential factors facilitating its invasion.
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Invasive Species, Marine, Coral, Orange Cup Coral, Sun Coral, Tubastraea coccinea, Tubastrea coccinea, Tubastraea, Tubastrea, Gulf of Mexico, GoM, Invasive, Stony Coral, T. coccinea, Scleractinia, Marine Invasive, ahermatypic