Evaluating The Effects of Invasive Species on Marine Food Webs and Ecosystem Services in Coastal Habitats

Abstract

Marine food webs play a crucial role in sustaining marine ecosystems. Ecosystem services include the provision of fisheries as well as stability in the habitat. An invader species can be described as a species that enters the ecosystem through anthropogenic means and poses a risk to ecosystem services due to its disturbance of marine food webs. It is unclear what the specific impact of these invasive species is with respect to marine food webs and the services rendered by the ecosystem. The research focused on some of the most common invasive species, including Caulerpa taxifolia, Asterias amurensis, and Mnemiopsis leidyi, in estuaries, sandy beaches, and mangroves of the eastern seaboard of India. Sampling and data analysis lasted 12 months using stable isotope analysis and food web modeling techniques. Findings suggest that there is an observable disruption in the complexity of food webs due to the presence of alien species within different trophic levels, which contributed to the reduction in species diversity, biomass, and ecosystem resilience. There were impacts on ecosystem services in terms of fish production and nutrient cycling, according to the findings of the research. The findings of the current research emphasize the importance of implementing conservation policies and measures for detection and intervention in the early stages of ecosystem damage.