Marine species raft on floating litter, including various plastics, potentially spreading non-native species and threatening global marine habitats. Despite limited attention, Didemnum vexillum, an invasive colonial tunicate in Europe, colonised coasts of southwest Scotland (2009) and northeast Ireland (2012), likely transported via rafting. We studied D. vexillum survival and performance on three plastic types (Polyethylene, Polypropylene and Polystyrene) finding high survival rates over 42 days, with colonies thriving best on PS. Using these data, hydrodynamic and particle tracking models simulated dispersal from existing Irish Sea colonies, projecting potential rafting distances of up to ∼150 km for surface particles influenced by tide and wind, and half that for neutrally-buoyant mid-depth particles driven by tidal currents alone. Hence, the modelling supports the potential for dispersion of this species within the Irish Sea via rafting. This study highlights marine plastics as a vector that may facilitate widespread dispersal of non-native species.

中文翻译：

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漂浮塑料作为漂流海洋非本地物种的潜在扩散载体


海洋物种漂浮在包括各种塑料在内的漂浮垃圾上，可能会传播非本地物种并威胁全球海洋栖息地。尽管受到的关注有限，但 Didemnum vexillum 是一种入侵欧洲的殖民被囊动物，它在苏格兰西南部（2009 年）和爱尔兰东北部（2012 年）的殖民地海岸很可能是通过漂流运输的。我们研究了 D. vexillum 在三种塑料类型（聚乙烯、聚丙烯和聚苯乙烯）上的存活率和性能，发现超过 42 天的存活率很高，其中在 PS 上菌落生长得最好。利用这些数据，水动力和粒子跟踪模型模拟了现有爱尔兰海殖民地的扩散，预测受潮汐和风影响的表面粒子的潜在漂流距离可达~150公里，而受潮汐驱动的中性浮力中深度粒子的潜在漂流距离则为一半单独的电流。因此，该模型支持该物种通过漂流在爱尔兰海内扩散的潜力。这项研究强调海洋塑料作为一种载体，可能促进非本地物种的广泛传播。