caa a22 4500 445892455 CHVBK 20180317145620.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110701xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10750-011-0680-x doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10750-011-0680-x Mesograzers prefer mostly native seaweeds over the invasive brown seaweed Sargassum muticum [Elektronische Daten] [Aschwin Engelen, Nuno Henriques, Carla Monteiro, Rui Santos] Introduced algae form globally an increasing problem. Grazing on invaders could provide communities with resistance to algal invasions. In this study, we experimentally tested the food choice of mesoherbivores for native macroalgae versus the invader Sargassum muticum. We performed food choice experiments with common grazers (Gammarus insensibilis, Hydrobia ulvae and Stenosoma nadejda) and both the brown algal invader Sargassum muticum and its native macroalgal competitors, from both the south (Cystoseira humilis, Stypocaulon scoparium, Cladostephus spongiosus, Dictyota dichotoma, Dictyopteris polypodioides, Sargassum vulgare) and southwest (Cystoseira humilis) coast of Portugal. We tested whether (i) the invader affects the growth rates of native macro algae, and (ii) the grazers have a food preference for S. muticum compared to native macroalgae. The presence of S. muticum did not affect the growth rates of any of the native species. Grazers affected the growth rate of all seaweeds, but S. muticum had the highest growth rates with and without grazers. For the south coast set of species, Stypocaulon scoparium was the most and S. muticum was the least or among the least preferred by grazers. The grazers from the southwest coast did not show a specific preference for C. humilis or S. muticum. Contrary to our expectations the food choice of mesoherbivores may provide S. muticum with some competitive advantage on the Portuguese south coast, but this may not be applicable to the Southwest communities. Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2011 Food choice nationallicence Invasion theory nationallicence Sargassum muticum nationallicence Seaweed-grazer interaction nationallicence Engelen Aschwin ALGAE Research Group, CCMAR, CIMAR-Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, FCMA, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal aut Henriques Nuno ALGAE Research Group, CCMAR, CIMAR-Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, FCMA, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal aut Monteiro Carla ALGAE Research Group, CCMAR, CIMAR-Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, FCMA, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal aut Santos Rui ALGAE Research Group, CCMAR, CIMAR-Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, FCMA, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal aut Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 669/1(2011-07-01), 157-165 0018-8158 669:1<157 2011 669 10750 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0680-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0680-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Engelen Aschwin ALGAE Research Group, CCMAR, CIMAR-Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, FCMA, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Henriques Nuno ALGAE Research Group, CCMAR, CIMAR-Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, FCMA, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Monteiro Carla ALGAE Research Group, CCMAR, CIMAR-Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, FCMA, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Santos Rui ALGAE Research Group, CCMAR, CIMAR-Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, FCMA, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 669/1(2011-07-01), 157-165 0018-8158 669:1<157 2011 669 10750 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer