Retirement risks: Invasive coral on old oil platform on the Brazilian equatorial continental shelf

Braga, Marcus Davis Andrade; Paiva, Sandra Vieira; Gurjão, Lívio Moreira de; Teixeira, Cláudia Fernanda Almeida; Gurgel, Anne Larisse Alves Rebouças; Pereira, Pedro Henrique Cipresso; Soares, Marcelo de Oliveira

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112156

Cited by 20 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Once "the table is set" and considering the extensive use of marambaias throughout the Cearástate coastal waters, the patchy distribution of these artificial reefs can play a key role in the expanding range of lionfish, including the colonization of shallow environments (Supplementary Material Videos 1 and 2). This also demonstrates the negative role of artificial structures in facilitating species invasion along the northeastern Brazil Ecoregion, a previously highlighted problem for invasive corals (Soares et al, 2020;Braga et al, 2021).…”

Section: And Also Inhabits Artificial Reefs In Other Areasmentioning

confidence: 59%

Lionfish on the loose: Pterois invade shallow habitats in the tropical southwestern Atlantic

et al. 2022

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Lionfish (Pterois spp.) evolved in the Indo-Pacific with predators and prey and invaded regions (e.g., the Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean) where no such balance yet exists. In 2020, four lionfish were recorded on mesophotic reefs of the Amazon offshore Coast and Fernando de Noronha Archipelago. However, until now, there were no records of invasive lionfish in Brazilian nearshore waters or even such a high number of individuals. In this article, we report the continuing invasion process along the Brazilian Province by multiple sightings (72) of lionfish from March to May 2022 in estuaries, seagrass beds, and artificial and natural reefs across 240 km of the Brazilian coast. These are the first records of lionfish in coastal northeast Brazil and the shallowest records (1–16 m) from South Atlantic tropical waters. The largest simultaneous records of lionfish in breakwaters, fishing weirs, and marambaias (artificial reefs used as fishing grounds) on the Brazilian Northeastern coast indicate that these man-made structures are suitable habitats for this species. Most of the lionfish (58%) were recorded in artificial reefs and fishing weirs. Moreover, the detection of invasions in marginal reefs, estuaries, and two marine protected areas characterized by moderately turbid water and high sedimentation rates highlights the adaptability of the lionfish, making it extremely difficult for divers and fishers to capture them. We call for an urgent management plan considering that the invaded tropical region hosts a high level of endemism, and rare and/or cryptic taxa, which increases the risk of impacts since these are primary lionfish prey.

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Section: And Also Inhabits Artificial Reefs In Other Areasmentioning

confidence: 59%

Lionfish on the loose: Pterois invade shallow habitats in the tropical southwestern Atlantic

et al. 2022

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“…Regarding the management implications of our results, we concur that the installation of new oil/gas platforms will require a priori risk assessments and that the decommissioning of retired platforms should take into consideration non-native species dispersal, especially that of T. coccinea [70]. In the United States, federal legislation requires that all offshore platforms be removed within a year after production has ended [71].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Importance of Anthropogenic Determinants of Tubastraea coccinea Invasion in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Brockinton

Peterson

Wang

et al. 2022

Water

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Tubastraea coccinea is an invasive coral that has had ecological, economic, and social impacts in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Tubastraea coccinea is considered a major threat to marine biodiversity, whose occurrence in its non-native range has been associated with artificial structures such as oil/gas platforms and shipwrecks. A recent species distribution model identified important determinants of T. coccinea invasion in the northern GoM and projected its potential range expansion. However, the potential effects of anthropogenic factors were not considered. We used boosted regression trees to develop a species distribution model investigating the importance of oil/gas platforms and shipping fairways as determinants of T. coccinea invasion in the northern GoM. Our results indicate that maximum salinity, distance to platform, minimum nitrate, and mean pH were the first to fourth most influential variables, contributing 31.9%, 23.5%, 22.8%, and 21.8%, respectively, to the model. These findings highlight the importance of considering the effects of anthropogenic factors such as oil/gas platforms as potential determinants of range expansion by invasive corals. Such consideration is imperative when installing new platforms and when decommissioning retired platforms.

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“…We hope that by identifying those oil-producing regions with the greatest potential to supply the Brazilian coast with larvae (Fig. 7 ), the present study can contribute to the decommissioning planning of oil units and the installation of new structures regarding their potential for enhancing biological invasion 82 . This information supports the requirement of environmental counterparts for oil exploration in the region, and the urgent need to establish antifouling protocols on oil platforms, which have been absent in Brazil and in the world so far 83 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Western boundary currents drive sun-coral (Tubastraea spp.) coastal invasion from oil platforms

Coelho

Gherardi

Gouveia

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Most marine species have a planktonic larval phase that benefit from the surface oceanic flow to enhance their dispersion potential. For invasive species, the interaction of environmentally resistant larvae with different flow regimes and artificial substrates can lead to complex larval dispersion patterns and boost geographic expansion. In the Southwest Atlantic, the invasive corals Tubastraea spp. (sun-coral) have been recorded biofouling on oil platforms since the late 1980s. These platforms are considered important vectors for the established populations throughout the Brazilian coast. However, we still do not know how the position of these structures relative to regional flow contribute to the natural dispersion potential of these invaders on a regional scale. Herein, we used an eddy-resolving ocean model (ROMS) and an Individual Based Model (IBM-Ichthyop) to simulate the natural dispersion patterns of sun-coral larvae from all oil platforms on Brazilian oil-producing basins, for the austral summer and winter along 6 years (2010–2015) in 90-day simulations. We found that mortality rates by advection were significantly higher during the winter (p = 0.001) and when sources of larvae were compared throughout this season (p = 1.9 × 10–17). The influence of two western boundary currents and persistent eddy activity contribute to the dispersal of larvae to distances up to 7000 km. The effectiveness of each oil-producing basin as vectors for the entire Brazilian coastline, measured as the percentage of larval supply, highlights the importance of the northern Ceará (59.89%) and Potiguar (87.47%) basins and the more central Camamu (44.11%) and Sergipe-Alagoas (39.20%) basins. The poleward shift of the Southern branch of the South Equatorial Current during the winter causes larvae released from the Sergipe-Alagoas and Camamu basins to enter the North Brazil Current, expanding their dispersion towards the north. The Brazil Current disperses larvae southwards, but strong mesoscale activity prevents their dispersion to the coast, especially for those released from the oil platforms on Campos and Santos basins. Within this complex hydrodynamic setting, a few source areas, like those in the Sergipe-Alagoas and Camamu basins, can potentially contribute to the spread of larvae along nearly all the Brazilian coast. Therefore, oil platforms act as possible chronic sources of sun-coral propagules to the coast, emphasizing the urgency for a more detailed set of actions to control and monitor these invasive exotic species.

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Retirement risks: Invasive coral on old oil platform on the Brazilian equatorial continental shelf

Cited by 20 publications

References 45 publications

Lionfish on the loose: Pterois invade shallow habitats in the tropical southwestern Atlantic

Lionfish on the loose: Pterois invade shallow habitats in the tropical southwestern Atlantic

Importance of Anthropogenic Determinants of Tubastraea coccinea Invasion in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Western boundary currents drive sun-coral (Tubastraea spp.) coastal invasion from oil platforms

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