In recent decades, maritime traffic has been increasing globally. Introduction vectors involving ships, hull fouling and ballast water are often cited as having high risk for introducing marine non-indigenous species (NIS) worldwide. Due to its geographical location, Madeira Island (Portugal) had a significant role in past maritime connections, with the ability to serve as a “port of call” facility. However, little is known about past temporal maritime traffic patterns in Madeira, and particularly its relationship with NIS introductions. In this context, the present study was designed to create a first and comprehensive baseline for historical maritime traffic data for Funchal port, Madeira’s main port, between 1936 and 2004. Official marine traffic data with stops in Funchal were documented, including information concerning last port, ship type, ship size, and residence time in port. In addition, a comprehensive literature search of NIS detected in Madeira Island until 2004 was conducted. Based on the frequency of ship arrivals from different origins five statistically different periods of maritime traffic were determined. The most common maritime traffic origin arriving at Funchal was from Portugal (mainland), Great-Britain, Canary Islands and Spain mainland (Mediterranean). The most relevant IUCN bioregions of Madeira’s maritime traffic origins were in accordance with the frequency of the native distribution of the island’s marine NIS inventories until 2004. The present study reports for the first time a significant and positive relationship with native regions of NIS present in Madeira until 2004 with the most relevant maritime traffic routes, confirming maritime traffic as one of the main vectors for the introduction of these species in Madeira Island. Finally, a continuous monitoring, update, and analysis of maritime traffic, identifying invading corridors, needs to be maintained as a fundamental tool for management NIS introductions in Madeira Island.

近几十年来，全球海上交通量一直在增长。涉及船舶，船体污垢和压载水的引入媒介经常被认为在全世界范围内引入海洋非本土物种（NIS）的风险很高。由于其地理位置，马德拉岛（葡萄牙）在过去的海上联系中发挥了重要作用，并具有充当“停靠港”设施的能力。但是，对于马德拉岛过去的海上海上交通方式，尤其是与NIS引入的关系知之甚少。在这种情况下，本研究旨在为1936年至2004年之间马德拉岛主要港口丰沙尔港口的历史海上交通数据创建第一个综合基线。对丰沙尔中途停靠的官方海上交通数据进行了记录，包括有关最后一个港口的信息，船型，船舶尺寸以及在港口的停留时间。此外，对2004年之前在马德拉岛发现的NIS进行了全面的文献检索。根据来自不同来源的船舶到达的频率，确定了五个统计上不同的海上运输时间段。到达丰沙尔的最常见海上交通来源是葡萄牙（大陆），大不列颠，加那利群岛和西班牙大陆（地中海）。马德拉海上交通起源地最相关的自然保护联盟生物区域与该岛的海洋NIS清单本地分布的频率一致，直到2004年。本研究首次报告与马德拉群岛上NIS的本地区域存在显着且积极的关系。直到2004年为止，最相关的海上交通路线，确认海上交通是在马德拉岛引入这些物种的主要媒介之一。最后，需要保持对海上交通的持续监视，更新和分析，以识别入侵的走廊，以此作为管理在马德拉岛引入NIS的基本工具。