Article Review: Lessepsian migration of zooplankton through Suez Canal and its impact on ecological system

The marine environment of the East Mediterranean has been considerably impacted in modern times by two man-made changes: the creation of a waterway between the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean basins and the control of the Nile fresh-water outflow. The opening of the Suez Canal caused a migration...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Howaida Y. Zakaria
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2015-01-01
Series:Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1687428515000382
_version_ 1818983651802611712
author Howaida Y. Zakaria
author_facet Howaida Y. Zakaria
author_sort Howaida Y. Zakaria
collection DOAJ
description The marine environment of the East Mediterranean has been considerably impacted in modern times by two man-made changes: the creation of a waterway between the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean basins and the control of the Nile fresh-water outflow. The opening of the Suez Canal caused a migration generally from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and rarely in the opposite direction as the Red Sea is generally saltier and more nutrient-poor than the Atlantic, so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic species in the salty and nutrient-poor eastern Mediterranean. Accordingly Red Sea species invaded the Mediterranean ecosystem and not vice versa; this phenomenon is known as the Lessepsian migration or erythrean invasion. The composition of zooplankton in the eastern Mediterranean has been shown to include a large proportion of Indo-Pacific and other circumtropical species which have successfully settled and proliferated in this environment. During the present study, an overview is provided on zooplankton migration through Suez Canal and its impact on the ecological system based on published literature. It is also meant with the hydrographic and zooplankton characteristics of the adjacent seas. It is clear that, except jellyfish Rhopilema nomadica, the negative impact of zooplankton Lessepsian migratory species in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters is not evident. Finally, it would be concluded that, a continuous monitoring programme will be needed to record the recent erythrean zooplankton species and follow up the distribution and abundance of those previously recorded as aliens to assess their impacts on the native biodiversity of the Mediterranean.
first_indexed 2024-12-20T18:06:30Z
format Article
id doaj.art-d85d0657f9664d0ca6a6ec4f727485e4
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1687-4285
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-20T18:06:30Z
publishDate 2015-01-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research
spelling doaj.art-d85d0657f9664d0ca6a6ec4f727485e42022-12-21T19:30:33ZengElsevierEgyptian Journal of Aquatic Research1687-42852015-01-0141212914410.1016/j.ejar.2015.04.001Article Review: Lessepsian migration of zooplankton through Suez Canal and its impact on ecological systemHowaida Y. ZakariaThe marine environment of the East Mediterranean has been considerably impacted in modern times by two man-made changes: the creation of a waterway between the Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean basins and the control of the Nile fresh-water outflow. The opening of the Suez Canal caused a migration generally from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and rarely in the opposite direction as the Red Sea is generally saltier and more nutrient-poor than the Atlantic, so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic species in the salty and nutrient-poor eastern Mediterranean. Accordingly Red Sea species invaded the Mediterranean ecosystem and not vice versa; this phenomenon is known as the Lessepsian migration or erythrean invasion. The composition of zooplankton in the eastern Mediterranean has been shown to include a large proportion of Indo-Pacific and other circumtropical species which have successfully settled and proliferated in this environment. During the present study, an overview is provided on zooplankton migration through Suez Canal and its impact on the ecological system based on published literature. It is also meant with the hydrographic and zooplankton characteristics of the adjacent seas. It is clear that, except jellyfish Rhopilema nomadica, the negative impact of zooplankton Lessepsian migratory species in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters is not evident. Finally, it would be concluded that, a continuous monitoring programme will be needed to record the recent erythrean zooplankton species and follow up the distribution and abundance of those previously recorded as aliens to assess their impacts on the native biodiversity of the Mediterranean.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1687428515000382ZooplanktonLessepsian migrationRed SeaMediterranean SeaSuez Canal
spellingShingle Howaida Y. Zakaria
Article Review: Lessepsian migration of zooplankton through Suez Canal and its impact on ecological system
Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research
Zooplankton
Lessepsian migration
Red Sea
Mediterranean Sea
Suez Canal
title Article Review: Lessepsian migration of zooplankton through Suez Canal and its impact on ecological system
title_full Article Review: Lessepsian migration of zooplankton through Suez Canal and its impact on ecological system
title_fullStr Article Review: Lessepsian migration of zooplankton through Suez Canal and its impact on ecological system
title_full_unstemmed Article Review: Lessepsian migration of zooplankton through Suez Canal and its impact on ecological system
title_short Article Review: Lessepsian migration of zooplankton through Suez Canal and its impact on ecological system
title_sort article review lessepsian migration of zooplankton through suez canal and its impact on ecological system
topic Zooplankton
Lessepsian migration
Red Sea
Mediterranean Sea
Suez Canal
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1687428515000382
work_keys_str_mv AT howaidayzakaria articlereviewlessepsianmigrationofzooplanktonthroughsuezcanalanditsimpactonecologicalsystem