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Invasive macroalgae in native seagrass beds: vectors of spread and impacts

Annals of Botany 2023 10 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 40 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Louise B. Firth Louise B. Firth Louise B. Firth Andy Foggo, Louise B. Firth Andy Foggo, Antony M. Knights, Louise B. Firth Andy Foggo, Andy Foggo, Thomas D. Watts, Antony M. Knights, Stacey Lynn DeAmicis, Louise B. Firth Louise B. Firth

Summary

This paper is not about microplastics — it investigates how the invasive macroalga Sargassum muticum spreads into native seagrass beds using limpets as transport hosts, and how it suppresses the seagrass Zostera marina's chemical defenses.

Our results show limpets support S. muticum as an epibiont and may act as a previously unreported transport mechanism introducing invaders into sensitive habitats. S. muticum reduced production of phenolics in Z. marina, which may weaken its defensive capabilities and facilitate proliferation of S. muticum. The effect of S. muticum on Z. marina photosynthesis requires further work but having no effect on the capacity of Z. marina to sequester nutrients suggests a degree of resilience to this invader.

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