Event Abstract Back to Event Biofilms shaping compositions of macrofouling assemblages: An initial barrier against NIS settlement? Eva Cacabelos1*, Patrício Ramalhosa1, 2, João Canning-Clode1, 3, 4, Jesus S. Troncoso5, Celia Olabarria5, Cristina Delgado5, Sergey Dobretsov6, 7 and Ignacio Gestoso1, 2, 3 1 Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences (MARE), Portugal 2 Observatório Oceânico da Madeira (OOM), Portugal 3 Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SI), United States 4 Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, University of the Azore, Portugal 5 Department of Ecology and Animal Biology, University of Vigo, Spain 6 Department of Marine Science and Fisheries, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman 7 Center of Excellence in Marine Biotechnology, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman Maritime traffic facilitates the transport and arrival of non-indigenous species (NIS) into new regions through ballast water and/or encrusting organisms attached to hulls of ships. The introduction of NIS into the environment represent a great risk due to their potential impacts on structure and functioning of receiving ecosystems, that result in loss of ecosystem services and huge economic costs. Monitoring their presence and impacts is therefore critical for marine environmental management. Microfouling or biofilms, mainly composed of bacteria and diatoms, can have an important role in larval and spore settlement of macrofouling organisms, such as barnacles, polychaetes, ascidians and mussels. Biofilms can induce, repel or have no effect on larval and spore settlement of macrofouling species. Within this context, we proposed that settlement of native and NIS macrofouling species is facilitated by the presence of particular microbial biofilms. In order to test this hypothesis, in January 2019 we deployed a set of PVC settlement plates in several ports subjected to different maritime pressures, i.e. port located in marine protected areas (“pristine” biofilms), ports with almost no maritime traffic and without protection, i.e. controls, ports experiencing high maritime traffic (fisheries, recreational vessels and commercial traffic) and ports affected by secondary traffic (recreational boats and short ferry crossing). Using both modern genetic and classical taxonomic analyses, we will describe and compare the composition of “pristine” and “local” biofilms. After one month, PVC plates colonized by “pristine” biofilms were transplanted to the impacted habitats. We will determine how biofilms developed in pristine vs. impacted habitats affect the settlement of invertebrate larvae, determining both biodiversity and functioning of macrofouling communities. Preliminary analysis indicates greater recruitment and biomass of macrofouling species in secondary ports, especially on those plates colonized with “local” biofilms. Early detection monitoring of NIS is critical for marine environmental management. With the deployment of the PVC plates in January 2019 in the several ports subjected to different maritime pressures within the Ría de Vigo, we established a monitoring network of sessile organisms. These plates were and will be periodically (3-monthly) sampled to determine biodiversity and detecting both the presence of NIS already established and the new NIS arrivals in the different ports of the estuary, as well as their possible expansion along the coast. The information obtained within this project will be useful for the future optimization of standardized survey, impact assessment protocols, and prevention and control mechanisms to mitigate threats posed by NIS. Keywords: non-indigenous species, Biofilms, macrobenthic assemblages, Maritime traffic, Monitoring Conference: XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) , Braga, Portugal, 9 Sep - 12 Sep, 2019. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Global Change, Invasive Species and Conservation Citation: Cacabelos E, Ramalhosa P, Canning-Clode J, Troncoso JS, Olabarria C, Delgado C, Dobretsov S and Gestoso I (2019). Biofilms shaping compositions of macrofouling assemblages: An initial barrier against NIS settlement?. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) . doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.08.00062 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 May 2019; Published Online: 27 Sep 2019. * Correspondence: Mx. Eva Cacabelos, Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences (MARE), Lisbon, Portugal, evacacabelos@yahoo.es Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Eva Cacabelos Patrício Ramalhosa João Canning-Clode Jesus S Troncoso Celia Olabarria Cristina Delgado Sergey Dobretsov Ignacio Gestoso Google Eva Cacabelos Patrício Ramalhosa João Canning-Clode Jesus S Troncoso Celia Olabarria Cristina Delgado Sergey Dobretsov Ignacio Gestoso Google Scholar Eva Cacabelos Patrício Ramalhosa João Canning-Clode Jesus S Troncoso Celia Olabarria Cristina Delgado Sergey Dobretsov Ignacio Gestoso PubMed Eva Cacabelos Patrício Ramalhosa João Canning-Clode Jesus S Troncoso Celia Olabarria Cristina Delgado Sergey Dobretsov Ignacio Gestoso Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.