Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record: Northampton County/VA/Hog Island Bay (1998, Thomsen 2004; Thomsen et al. 2005; Tyler et al. 2005; Thomsen and McGlathery 2006)
Geographic Extent
Northampton County/VA/Hog Island Bay (1998, Thomsen 2004; Thomsen et al. 2005; Tyler et al. 2005; Thomsen and McGlathery 2006); Northampton County/VA/Castle Ridge Creek, Hog Island Bay (2006, Thomsen et al. 2009); Northampton County/VA/Oyster Harbor, Hog Island Bay (2006, Thomsen et al. 2009); FishermansIsland/VA/Chesapeake Bay-Atlantic Ocean (2006, Thomsen et al. 2009);
Vectors
Level | Vector |
---|---|
Alternate | Hull Fouling |
Alternate | Natural Dispersal |
Regional Impacts
Ecological Impact | Habitat Change | |
Incorporated into tubes of Diopatra cuprea, tube-building polychaete; reduced biodiversity of mobile fauna in drift masses of A. vermiculophyllum (Thomsen et al. 2009). Mats of G. vermiculophylla had increased concentrations of Vibrio bacteria compared to surrounding sediments (Gonzalez et al. 2014). Fouling of the tubes is causing high mortality of D. cuprea, and altering the topography of mudflats (Berke et al. 2014). In 2013, an exceptional 'superbloom' of A. vermiclophyllum covered extensive areas of mudflats in Burton's Bay, Virgnia, leading to anoxia and sulfide production, and extensive mortality of D. cuprea. Outside of this exceptional event, a long-term decline of D. cuprea is occurring in Virignia Coastal Bays, but not in Cape Cod mudflats. where A. vermiculophylla is a recent invader (Keller et al. 2019); The algal mats reduced water flow, increasing sediment stability, favoring further deposition (Volaric et al. 2023). | ||
Ecological Impact | Food/Prey | |
Increases organic matter deposited in marshes and lagoons, increased nitrogen release form decaying drift masses (Thomsen et al. 2009; Gulbranson and McGlathery 2013). Agarophyton vermiculophylla is grazed at lower rates than native Ulva spp., but at similar rates to native Gracilaria tikvahiae. There appears to be ltiile biotic resistance to this invasion (Berke et al. 2020). | ||