Salvinia molesta D.S. Mitchell (Salviniaceae) is a damaging free-floating invasive alien macrophyte native to South America. The biological control programme against S. molesta by the weevil Cyrtobagous salviniae Calder and Sands (Erirhinidae) has been successful in controlling S. molesta infestations in the introduced range, however, there is some debate as to how biological control success is measured. This study measured the response of epilithic algae and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in a S. molesta-dominated state and subsequently where the weed had been cleared by biological control, as a proxy for ecosystem recovery in a before–after control–impact mesocosm experiment. The restored treatment (S. molesta and C. salviniae) demonstrated epilithic algae and aquatic macroinvertebrate recovery during the “after” biological control phase, defined as similar to the control treatment. Comparatively, the impacted treatment (100% S. molesta) showed a drastic decline in biodiversity and shifts in community assemblages. We conclude that the biological control effort by C. salviniae facilitated biodiversity recovery of the impacted treatment. Furthermore, epilithic algae and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities were reliable biological indicators for measuring ecological impacts of invasion and ecosystem recovery following biological control, and thus represent potential tools for evaluating biological control success and ecological restoration.

中文翻译：

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Salvinia molesta（DS Mitchell）的生物控制推动水生生态系统的恢复

Salvinia molesta DS Mitchell（Salviniaceae）是一种破坏性的，漂浮的，外来入侵的外来大型植物，原产于南美。针对生物控制程序S.食心虫由象鼻虫Cyrtobagous salviniae考尔德和金沙（Erirhinidae）已成功地在控制S.食心虫在引入范围的侵扰，但是，有一些争论如何生物控制成功进行测量。本研究中测量的藻类石生，并在水生无脊椎动物社区的响应S.食心虫-dominated状态并随后在杂草已被生物控制清零，如在之前-后控制冲击围隔实验对生态系统恢复的代理。恢复的治疗（S. molesta和C. salviniae）在“后”生物防治阶段表现出上石质藻类和水生大型无脊椎动物的恢复，定义为与对照处理类似。相比之下，受影响的处理（100％葡萄球菌）显示出生物多样性的急剧下降和社区群体的变化。我们得出的结论是，沙门氏菌的生物防治工作促进了受影响治疗的生物多样性恢复。此外，表石藻类和水生大型无脊椎动物群落是衡量生物控制后入侵和生态系统恢复的生态影响的可靠生物指标，因此代表了评估生物控制成功和生态恢复的潜在工具。