Behavioural interactions between ecosystem engineers may strongly influence community structure. We tested whether an invasive ecosystem engineer, the alga Caulerpa taxifolia, indirectly facilitated community diversity by modifying the behaviour of a native ecosystem engineer, the clam Anadara trapezia, in southeastern Australia. In this study, clams in Caulerpa-invaded sediments partially unbu...

The invasion of the aquarium strain of the green alga Caulerpa taxifolia and subsequent alteration of community structure in the Mediterranean Sea raised awareness of the potential for non-native seaweeds to impact coastal communities. An introduction of C. taxifolia in southern California in 2000, presumably from the release of aquarium specimens, cost ~$7 million for eradication efforts. Besi...

Habitat-modifying invasive species can influence rates of predation on native prey either directly by providing protective structure or indirectly by modifying traits of prey species responding to the habitat. The alga Caulerpa taxifolia is one of the most successful invasive species of shallow-water marine systems globally, often provisioning habitat in areas previously lacking in vegetated st...

Like invasive macrophytes, some native macrophytes are spreading rapidly with consequences for community structure. There is evidence that the native alga Caulerpa filiformis is spreading along intertidal rocky shores in New South Wales, Australia, seemingly at the expense of native Sargassum spp. We experimentally investigated the role physical disturbance plays in the spread of C. filiformis ...

The biodiversity assessment of different taxa of the genus Caulerpa is of interest from the context of morphological plasticity, invasive potential of some species and biotechnological and pharmacological applications. The present study investigated the identification and molecular phylogeny of different species of Caulerpa occurring along the Indian coast inferred from tufA, rbcL, 18S rDNA and...

Invasive habitat-forming ecosystem engineers modify the abiotic environment and thus represent a major perturbation to many ecosystems. Because native species often persist in these invaded habitats but have no shared history with the ecosystem engineer, the engineer may impose novel selective pressure on native species. In this study, we used a phenotypic selection framework to determine wheth...

Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea is a marine Chlorophyta introduced into the Mediterranean Sea from south-western Australia. Since 1990, it has been invading the Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Islands, raising ecological problems. Although this invasion event can be considered as one of the most serious in the history of species introduced into the Mediterranean Sea, C. racemosa has not tri...

Caulerpa species are marine green algae, which often act as invasive species with rapid clonal proliferation when growing outside their native biogeographical borders. Despite many publications on the genetics and ecology of Caulerpa species, their life history and ploidy levels are still to be resolved and are the subject of large controversy. While some authors claimed that the thallus found ...

Studies were conducted to evaluate nutritional qualities of two edible green seaweeds, Caulerpa lentillifera and Ulva reticulata, with a view to their utilization in human nutrition. The proximate composition, mineral and vitamin contents, free fatty acid, and amino acid profiles were investigated. Protein and ash contents were the two most abundant components in these seaweeds. Caulerpa lentil...

Marine natural products have been the focus of discovery for new products of chemical and pharmacological interest. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antinociceptive activity of the methanolic (ME), acetate (AE), hexanic (HE) and chloroform (CE) extracts obtained from Caulerpa mexicana, and ME, CE and HE obtained from Caulerpa sertularioides. These marine algae are found all over the wo...