Invasions have originated from
both Atlantic and Mediterranean Europe.Global Invasions of the European Green Crab
Marine bioinvasions are occurring at a rapid and accelerating rate, with potentially massive ecological and economic impacts. The European green crab, Carcinus maenas, is a voracious intertidal and subtidal predator that invaded five bioregions over the last two centuries and is now circumglobally distributed. Research to date has utilized microsatellite DNA markers to elucidate dispersal pathways and founder population sizes. Important results to date include: Invasions have originated from
both Atlantic and Mediterranean Europe.
Old invasion sites have become
springboards for two recent invasions.
Estimates of founder effective
population sizes were extremely small (2 < Ne < 8).
Our current interests are in using microsatellite DNA markers to study population processes following successful invasions. Specifically,
Do limitations to dispersal following invasion create a
nonequilibrium population structure and can this structure be exploited as a means of
population control?
Utilizing the comparative method, what does our knowledge
of global invasion pathways and genetic bottlenecks tell us about potential ecological
impacts, rates of spread, rates of population growth, and eventual integration of green
crabs into local ecosystems?