2005-2006 Harries et al. Isle of Cumbrae Sargassum muticum records
The invasive alga Sargassum muticum has recently been reported in the Firth of Lorn, west coast of Scotland. This represents the first sighting of the species north of the Kintyre Peninsula, a land barrier that had been expected to slow the northwards spread of S. muticum. This paper presents a thorough review of literature concerning the dispersal and establishment of this invasive alga and predicts potential dispersal trajectories and likely areas for future establishment in Scotland. From previous dispersal rates, S. muticum is likely to spread throughout the west coast of Scotland in the next few years, predominantly via natural pathways although anthropogenic vectors may also contribute to dispersal. Sheltered and moderately exposed sea lochs and shorelines, on the west coast of Scotland in particular, are likely to provide favourable conditions for the establishment of persistent populations of S. muticum. Conditions on the north and east coasts of Scotland were considered less favourable, both for the dispersal and establishment of S. muticum. The spread of S. muticum is unlikely to cause serious widespread ecological impacts, however, it does have the potential to cause economic damage to the aquaculture industry which is a major employer on the west coast of Scotland. The establishment of dense highly visible canopies would also constitute a degradation of the natural heritage value of Scottish shorelines. It would be prudent to investigate means of preventing persistent populations from establishing in areas of economic importance or with high natural heritage value.
dataset
name: Click to get data
description: A link to the web service or dataset
name: DASSH website
description: A link to the general host site
DASSHDT00000211
http://www.dassh.ac.uk
eng
urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326
Harries, D.B., Cook, E., Donnan, D.W., Mair, J.M., Harrow, S. and Wilson, J.R., 2007. The establishment of the invasive alga Sargassum muticum on the west coast of Scotland: rapid northwards spread and identification of potential new areas for colonisation. Aquatic Invasions, 2(4), pp.367-377.
biota
revision
2008-01-06
revision
2009-11-16
-4.9891
-4.8737
55.8151
55.6984
creation
1954-01-01
Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland
revision
2010-01-01
infralittoral
revision
2010-01-01
littoral
creation
2014-05-16
VIa
2005-07-24
2006-07-13
publication
2016-07-15
notPlanned
Part of MSFD NNS baseline data collation project (Jan 2016). Subset of a dataset as we were only pulling out records for a selection of INNS. Contains records for Sargassum muticum.
publication
2012-12-19
true
Data is in a pro forma provided by DASSH
DASSH terms and conditions apply
DASSH terms and conditions apply
Teaching Fellow
Heriot-Watt University School of Life Sciences
originator
Data Manager
Data Archive for Seabed Species and Habitats (DASSH)
Marine Biological Association of the UK, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill
Plymouth
PL1 2PB
01752 633102
01752 633291
custodian
DASSH, The Archive for Marine Species and Habitat Data
pointOfContact
2016-07-15