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Science 2 July 1993:
Vol. 261. no. 5117, pp. 78 - 82
DOI: 10.1126/science.261.5117.78
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Articles

Ecological Roulette: The Global Transport of Nonindigenous Marine Organisms

James T. Cariton 1 and Jonathan B. Geller 2

1 Maritime Studies Program, Williams College, Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT 06355, and Department of Biology, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267
2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC 28403

Ocean-going ships carry, as ballast, seawater that is taken on in port and released at subsequent ports of call. Plankton samples from Japanese ballast water released in Oregon contained 367 taxa. Most taxa with a planktonic phase in their life cycle were found in ballast water, as were all major marine habitat and trophic groups. Transport of entire coastal planktonic assemblages across oceanic barriers to similar habitats renders bays, estuaries, and inland waters among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Presence of taxonomically difficult or inconspicuous taxa in these samples suggests that ballast water invasions are already pervasive.

Submitted on February 16, 1993
Accepted on May 5, 1993


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)