Exploring Synergistic Inter Linkages Among Three Ecological …
277
4 Discussion
The review brought to light some important mechanisms through which climate
change facilitates species invasion and algal blooms. Climate change exerts leads to
a number of primary, secondary and tertiary effects on habitats and the biology of
organisms. This in turn intensifies these natural events up to the level at which they
shape up as severe ecological problems. A closely related factor is human activity
and its impact on ecosystems.
When the environment is changed, the outcome of competitive interactions among
species is reversed. Thus, anthropogenic habitat alterations place native species at a
competitive disadvantage with non-native species. When such changes trigger drastic
changes, the environment can become entirely novel to the natives (Byers 2002).
Anthropogenic activities, especially fishing have a synergistic effect and magnify
the impact of climate-induced changes (Harley et al. 2006). Shipping is another
important human activity that can exert tremendous impact of aquatic biodiversity
because widespread interoceanic and transoceanic dispersal of aquatic non-native
species take place via ballast water (Simkanin et al. 2009). Invasion probability
for alien species that are spread by shipping is highest for intermediate geographic
distances between donor and recipient ports (Seebens et al. 2013). Thus, cooperation
among regional trading partners is essential to mitigate the problem of alien marine
species (Bax et al. 2003).
It has been projected that biological invasions would be the main driver of biodiversity and ecosystem function loss in lakes in the 21st century. But the extent of
future losses is difficult to quantify because most invasions are recent and depend
upon other stressors (Bajer et al. 2016). It is also very difficult to explain the processes
that determine the patterns of invasion ecology (Bajer et al. 2015). However, the most
efficient invaders are more likely to belong to genera, which are not already present
in the system (Ricciardi and Atkinson 2004). The pairing attributes of the invading
species and the affected species are crucial to make simple predictions on the response
of entire communities to species invasions locally (Thomsen et al. 2014). Important
management options that could implemented to control such non natives include dispersal corridors that enable species to track environmental changes, translocation of
species to new suitable habitats into which migration is not possible, and development
of action plans for the early detection and eradication of new invasive species (Rahel
et al. 2008) as well as management of vectors responsible for the introduction (Chen
et al. 2017). In addition, studies that aim to predict future range shifts should consider trophic traits of aquatic non native species because such traits indicate multiple
interacting mechanisms involved in the promotion of species invasions (McKnight
et al. 2017). Physiological tolerance and propagule pressure can be used to make
the best prediction about the spread of introduced fishes, whereas a measure of prior
invasion success can be used to make the best prediction about their integration
and impact (Marchetti et al. 2004). Information, education and public awareness are
also required for the success of initiatives to prevent the spread of such fish species
277
4 Discussion
The review brought to light some important mechanisms through which climate
change facilitates species invasion and algal blooms. Climate change exerts leads to
a number of primary, secondary and tertiary effects on habitats and the biology of
organisms. This in turn intensifies these natural events up to the level at which they
shape up as severe ecological problems. A closely related factor is human activity
and its impact on ecosystems.
When the environment is changed, the outcome of competitive interactions among
species is reversed. Thus, anthropogenic habitat alterations place native species at a
competitive disadvantage with non-native species. When such changes trigger drastic
changes, the environment can become entirely novel to the natives (Byers 2002).
Anthropogenic activities, especially fishing have a synergistic effect and magnify
the impact of climate-induced changes (Harley et al. 2006). Shipping is another
important human activity that can exert tremendous impact of aquatic biodiversity
because widespread interoceanic and transoceanic dispersal of aquatic non-native
species take place via ballast water (Simkanin et al. 2009). Invasion probability
for alien species that are spread by shipping is highest for intermediate geographic
distances between donor and recipient ports (Seebens et al. 2013). Thus, cooperation
among regional trading partners is essential to mitigate the problem of alien marine
species (Bax et al. 2003).
It has been projected that biological invasions would be the main driver of biodiversity and ecosystem function loss in lakes in the 21st century. But the extent of
future losses is difficult to quantify because most invasions are recent and depend
upon other stressors (Bajer et al. 2016). It is also very difficult to explain the processes
that determine the patterns of invasion ecology (Bajer et al. 2015). However, the most
efficient invaders are more likely to belong to genera, which are not already present
in the system (Ricciardi and Atkinson 2004). The pairing attributes of the invading
species and the affected species are crucial to make simple predictions on the response
of entire communities to species invasions locally (Thomsen et al. 2014). Important
management options that could implemented to control such non natives include dispersal corridors that enable species to track environmental changes, translocation of
species to new suitable habitats into which migration is not possible, and development
of action plans for the early detection and eradication of new invasive species (Rahel
et al. 2008) as well as management of vectors responsible for the introduction (Chen
et al. 2017). In addition, studies that aim to predict future range shifts should consider trophic traits of aquatic non native species because such traits indicate multiple
interacting mechanisms involved in the promotion of species invasions (McKnight
et al. 2017). Physiological tolerance and propagule pressure can be used to make
the best prediction about the spread of introduced fishes, whereas a measure of prior
invasion success can be used to make the best prediction about their integration
and impact (Marchetti et al. 2004). Information, education and public awareness are
also required for the success of initiatives to prevent the spread of such fish species