Alien Macroalgal Rearrangement in the Soft Substrata of the Venice Lagoon (Italy): Impacts, Threats, Time and Future Trends

Abstract

Non-native species are a concern for aquatic environments both for the ecosystem biodiversity and from the economical point of view. The Venice Lagoon is a Mediterranean hotspot of alien introductions and macroalgae are probably the most represented systematic category. For this reason, alien macroalgal distribution and variation were monitored in late spring-autumn surveys, carried out in 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2021 in the soft bottoms of the entire lagoon (87 common stations). Overall, 21 taxa were recorded; three of them (i.e., Acanthosiphonia echinata, Caulacanthus okamurae, Osmundea oederi) are well-established recent introductions for the lagoon, which has increased the total number of non-native species to 33. Ulva australis, previously reported as Ulva laetevirens, is the most abundant species and it is replacing Ulva rigida, especially in the less eutrophic areas. The invasive Gracilariopsis vermiculophylla, an engineering species colonizing the eutrophic choked areas especially in the central lagoon, is instead decreasing. Other abundant established taxa are now dominant components of the lagoon biomass, whereas many others are rare or have small sizes that make their biomass negligible. Overall, these species do not represent serious threats to the environment, but they rather increase biodiversity, with some of them having positive effects on ecosystem services.