Studies were conducted to evaluate nutritional qualities of two edible green seaweeds, Caulerpa lentillifera and Ulva reticulata, with a view to their utilization in human nutrition. The proximate composition, mineral and vitamin contents, free fatty acid, and amino acid profiles were investigated. Protein and ash contents were the two most abundant components in these seaweeds. Caulerpa lentil...

Invasive habitat-forming species cause large changes to the abiotic environment, whichmay lead to lethal and sublethal effects on native fauna. In this study, we tested whether morphological anti-predator traits of an infaunal bivalve, Anadara trapezia, differed between areas invaded by the habitat-forming seaweed Caulerpa taxifolia and uninvaded habitats in estuaries in New South Wales, Austra...

The siphonous algae of the Caulerpa genus harbor internal microbial communities hypothesized to play important roles in development, defense and metabolic activities of the host. Here, we characterize the endophytic bacterial community of four Caulerpa taxa in the Mediterranean Sea, through 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Results reveal a striking alpha diversity of the bacterial communities, sim...

The difficulty in teasing apart the effects of biological invasions from those of other anthropogenic perturbations has hampered our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the global biodiversity crisis. The recent elaboration of global-scale maps of cumulative human impacts provides a unique opportunity to assess how the impact of invaders varies among areas exposed to different anthropo...

Alien Invasion: the spread of Caulerpa taxifolia in Australian waters The eradication or control of introduced marine pests will represent one of the greatest challenges of this century. Indeed, hundreds of introduced marine species are already present in Australian waters. Marine pests pose such a challenge because by the time they are discovered they are usually well established and almost im...

Biological invasions threaten biodiversity worldwide. Nonetheless, a unified theory linking disturbance and resistance to invasion through a mechanistic understanding of the changes caused to biodiversity is elusive. Building on different forms of the disturbance-biodiversity relationship and on the Biotic Resistance Hypothesis (BRH), we constructed conceptual models showing that, according to ...

The genus Caulerpa is known for its invasion of tropical, subtropical, and temperate coastal waters. Whereas the role of humans as vectors for the introduction of Caulerpa has been well documented, other anthropogenic factors that may mediate the success of an invasion are poorly understood. We provide evidence that a recent invasion of Caulerpa ollivieri into shallow Bahamian seagrass meadows ...