Genetics of marine bioinvasions

Anthropogenic biological introductions have captured the attention of marine scientists and resource managers in recent years. Human-mediated marine bioinvasions are presently acknowledged as often ecologically and financially devastating events. Despite recent increases in scientific interest and financial resources devoted to nonindigenous nuisance species globally, fundamental questions pertaining to taxonomic identity, geographic source, introduction vector and invasive population dynamics frequently remain unanswered. Ecological surveys based on photometric and observational methods are unable to identify cryptogenic taxa, source populations, multiple introductions, or genetic diversity. The twofold goal of this paper is to discuss the application of molecular genetic techniques to fundamental ecological questions pertaining to bioinvasions and to demonstrate the utility of DNA technology in providing data useful in the development of predictive models for marine bioinvasion science.