Caulerpa taxifolia

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The following images show different stages for the simulation of Caulerpa taxifolia evolution in the north mediterranean sea. Caulerpa taxifolia is a green tropical alga (leaves up to 60 cm of lenght) wich was firstly discovered (one square meter) in the mediterranean sea at Monaco in 1984.
Actually, the alga shows a spectacular proliferation and the area colonized has reached more than 1500 ha (French-Italian coast). Some settlements had been discovered recently from the croatian coast (Adriatic sea) to the Baleares islands (Spain). This explosive development endangers the endogenous ecosystems and we expect an irreversible alteration of the coastal ecosystems both on endogenous species distribution and ecosystem functioning point of view (trophic relationships).

Most photographs are provided by Prof. Alexandre Meinesz and geographical information were built with MapGraphix GIS under the direction of Dr. Jean de Vaugelas.
More information concerning this alga propagation can be found on the web server of our partners of the Marine Littoral Environment Lab University of Nice- Sophia Antipolis.

The Caulerpa modelling & simulation program is actually supported by the European Community Research Program "LIFE" (D.G.XI) Nr = 95/F/A31/EPT/782

NEW

Invading Caulerpa species in Mediterranean Conclusions & recommandations of the symposium organised by NATO Program for Environment & Plan d'Action pour la Méditerranée (18 - 20) March, 1998

The simulation is implemented with GNU C++ on PC and Unix workstations. The technique used corresponds to a combination of stochastic discrete event simulation and Cellular Automata. The alga propagation is mainly done by :

stolon growth

spread of cuttings (including anchroring dissemination).

and can be found as far deep as 100m.

Preliminary Simulation Studies

• Simulation over Cap Martin
• Simulation in Villefranche Bay
• Simulation from Villefranche to Menton
• Simulation for the whole Mediterranean Sea
• Spectral analysis of spatial results

The screen dumps below show an aerian view, spectral analysis of spatial simulation results and site simulation results obtains at different resolutions (Cap Martin Headland & Mediterranean Sea)