ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.

Sec. Marine Ecosystem Ecology

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1631423

This article is part of the Research TopicThe Threat of Invasive Alien Species and the Challenge of Climate ChangeView all articles

CIMPAL expanded: unraveling the cumulative impacts of Invasive Alien Species, Jellyfish Blooms, and Harmful Algal Blooms

Provisionally accepted
Marina ChiappiMarina Chiappi1,2,3*Yolanda StrangaYolanda Stranga4Chrysanthi KalloniatiChrysanthi Kalloniati4Konstantinos TsirintanisKonstantinos Tsirintanis4George TsirtsisGeorge Tsirtsis4Ernesto AzzurroErnesto Azzurro2,3Stelios KatsanevakisStelios Katsanevakis4
  • 1Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences (BIGEA), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
  • 2National Research Council (CNR), Institute for Biological Resources and Marine Biotechnologies (IRBIM), Ancona, Italy
  • 3NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, Italy
  • 4Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece

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The introduction of invasive alien species (IAS) and the occurrence of jellyfish blooms and harmful algal blooms (HABs) can significantly alter native biodiversity and disrupt ecosystem functioning. This study expands the Cumulative IMPacts of invasive ALien species (CIMPAL) index to assess the cumulative impacts of IAS, HABs, and jellyfish blooms, also accounting for interspecific interactions. The approach is implemented in the Aegean Sea, analyzing data on 26 alien species (including one jellyfish), seven phytoplankton species responsible for HABs, and four native jellyfish species known to cause blooms. The application of CIMPAL revealed the spatial patterns and the relative importance of impacts across the Aegean Sea, identifying the most affected areas and ranking species based on four impact indicators. The results indicated that IAS contributed the most to cumulative impacts, with the highest scores observed in confined southern coastal areas of the Aegean Sea. Consequently, highly impacted coastal regions due to IAS were more prevalent in the southern Aegean compared to the north. In contrast, cumulative impacts in open waters decreased from the northern to the southern Aegean. HABs and jellyfish blooms also caused considerable impacts, particularly in certain gulfs. This study provides essential spatially explicit information to support effective management and mitigation of these environmental challenges in the Aegean Sea.

Keywords: alien species, HABs, Jellyfish blooms, impacts, CIMPAL, Impact mapping, Management, Mediterranean Sea

Received: 19 May 2025; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Chiappi, Stranga, Kalloniati, Tsirintanis, Tsirtsis, Azzurro and Katsanevakis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Marina Chiappi, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences (BIGEA), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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