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Over recent decades, the neophyte Fucus evanescens has extended eastwards along the salinity gradient within the Baltic Sea, indicating gradual adaptation to low salinity conditions. To find out whether F. evanescens can migrate further into the Baltic Sea and potentially become a competitor to the native F. vesiculosus, the acclimation potentials of different F. evanescens and F. vesiculosus populations were investigated with respect to habitat salinity. For both species, pigmentation, water content, and photosynthetic rate were measured under laboratory and field conditions. The instantaneous measurement data and incubation experiment did not show clear differences in the measured photosynthetic parameters between different salinity levels (6–20), or between species. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of the nuclear marker PDI (a putative protein disulfide isomerase) separated F. vesiculosus and F. evanescens into well-defined groups supporting the hypothesis that the two very similar species do not represent different morphotypes of the same species/gene pool. These findings indicate that – at least for the vegetative stage of F. evanescens – salinity may not be a limiting factor for a further spread into the Baltic Sea.

Recent studies have shown that predator chemical cues can limit prey demographic rates such as recruitment. For instance, barnacle pelagic larvae reduce settlement where predatory dogwhelk cues are detected, thereby limiting benthic recruitment. However, adult barnacles attract conspecific larvae through chemical and visual cues, aiding larvae to find suitable habitat for development. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that the presence of adult barnacles (Semibalanus balanoides) can neutralize dogwhelk (Nucella lapillus) nonconsumptive effects on barnacle recruitment. We did a field experiment in Atlantic Canada during the 2012 and 2013 barnacle recruitment seasons (May–June). We manipulated the presence of dogwhelks (without allowing them to physically contact barnacles) and adult barnacles in cages established in rocky intertidal habitats. At the end of both recruitment seasons, we measured barnacle recruit density on tiles kept inside the cages. Without adult barnacles, the nearby presence of dogwhelks limited barnacle recruitment by 51%. However, the presence of adult barnacles increased barnacle recruitment by 44% and neutralized dogwhelk nonconsumptive effects on barnacle recruitment, as recruit density was unaffected by dogwhelk presence. For species from several invertebrate phyla, benthic adult organisms attract conspecific pelagic larvae. Thus, adult prey might commonly constitute a key factor preventing negative predator nonconsumptive effects on prey recruitment.