The Combined Effects of Multiple Invasive Species on the Persistence of Experimental Populations of Imperiled Pahrump Poolfish

Author(s):  
Brandon L. Paulson ◽  
Craig A. Stockwell

Abstract Many ecosystems have been invaded by more than one non-native species, but research evaluating the combined effects of multiple invasive species has been limited. In the southwest USA, many aquatic systems have been invaded by multiple species such as non-native crayfish and non-native fishes. We used experimental mesocosms to test individual and combined effects of invasive Red Swamp Crayfish, Procambarus clarkii , and Western Mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis , on endangered Pahrump Poolfish, Empetrichthys latos. We found that crayfish alone reduced adult poolfish survival, however crayfish did not limit production of poolfish juveniles. By contrast, mosquitofish had no effect on survival of poolfish adults, but significantly reduced recruitment of juveniles. When both crayfish and mosquitofish were present, both adult survival and juvenile production were significantly decreased. These findings were consistent with the recent decline of a wild poolfish population from over 10,000 fish to less than 1,000 poolfish following the establishment of crayfish and mosquitofish. This study demonstrates that conservation management of the Pahrump Poolfish must have active management and removal of invasive species, otherwise extirpation and eventually extinction will likely occur and provides an example for the compounding effects of multiple invasive species for other study systems.

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 966-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dapeng Zhao ◽  
Peishan Feng

Abstract Climate change, such as elevated temperatures, may facilitate biological invasion. Aquatic animal systems are more vulnerable to biological invasion when the temperature rises. Animal personality also plays an important role in the possibility of successful establishment of invasive species. However, it is still unclear how personality traits of invasive species will respond to global warming. This study focuses on juveniles of red swamp crawfish Procambarus clarkii, an invasive poikilothermic species with wide distribution throughout the world, and explores how slight temperature increases influence three personality traits (activity, boldness and aggressiveness) of P. clarkii. For each personality, individual variation is to be presented in condition of the same temperature. Individual personality values can significantly increase with the subtle rising of water temperature. Significant correlations among activity, boldness and aggressiveness are found at any temperature stage, and such relationships are maintained at a similar level in the face of different temperatures. It is most likely that significant expressions of personality traits may be an ecological compensation strategy to offset increased metabolic costs when faced with small temperature increases. Aggression syndromes are formed due to stable linkages between personality traits, in order to acquire allopatric resources efficiently and establish a new population in this species.


Author(s):  
A. V. Alekhnovich ◽  
D. V. Molotkov ◽  
K. Śliwińska

The trends in the distribution and occurrence of the freshwater crayfish in the water bodies of the Neman River basin are presents. It has been shown that both native species: the noble and the narrow-clawed crayfish are declined and/or are displaced with rapidly expanding its range the invasive spiny-cheek crayfish. In recent years the alien species was found in isolated gravel pits and lakes, where it could be transferred only by the human activity. These findings confirm the need of the education about the threats posed by the invasive species on the native biodiversity especially with the local community, which is an obligatory practice for protection the native species in the area expanded with non-native crayfish species. Further, to increase the likelihood of the local biodiversity conservation it is highly needed to undertake targeted actions aimed at resettling endangered populations into waterbodies unavailable for the invasive spiny-cheek crayfish expansion.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 714-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Both ◽  
Taran Grant

Invasive species are known to affect native species in a variety of ways, but the effect of acoustic invaders has not been examined previously. We simulated an invasion of the acoustic niche by exposing calling native male white-banded tree frogs ( Hypsiboas albomarginatus ) to recorded invasive American bullfrog ( Lithobates catesbeianus ) calls. In response, tree frogs immediately shifted calls to significantly higher frequencies. In the post-stimulus period, they continued to use higher frequencies while also decreasing signal duration. Acoustic signals are the primary basis of mate selection in many anurans, suggesting that such changes could negatively affect the reproductive success of native species. The effects of bullfrog vocalizations on acoustic communities are expected to be especially severe due to their broad frequency band, which masks the calls of multiple species simultaneously.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Martín-Torrijos ◽  
Angel Jose Correa-Villalona ◽  
Antonio Pradillo ◽  
Javier Diéguez-Uribeondo

Procambarus clarkii is a worldwide freshwater invasive crustacean from North America and was first introduced into Europe the 1970s. Along with P. clarkii, another invasive alien species was also spreading: Aphanomyces astaci. This pathogen is listed among the 100 World’s worst invasive species and involved in the European native crayfish decline. Although both species live in freshwater ecosystems, P. clarkii can withstand brackish waters and inhabit estuarine habitats. However, the presence of A. astaci associated to North American crayfishes has never been described in brackish waters. In this study, we have investigated the presence of A. astaci in a P. clarkii population of a Mediterranean coastal lagoon in the Albufera Natural Park, Valencia, Spain introduced in 1976. Our study confirmed the presence of this pathogen, and suggests that A. astaci has been spreading for more than four decades in the mentioned estuarine environment. Mitochondrial ribosomal rnnS and rnnL indicated that the isolated pathogen belongs to d1-haplotype (i.e., D-haplogroup) typically hosted by P. clarkii. The presence of this pathogen in a brackish environment may suggest a better adaptation than other A. astaci strains to adverse conditions, such as high salinity levels. This is a matter of concern for the conservation of European native freshwater crayfish and highlights once more the risk of introducing invasive alien crustaceans.


2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-441
Author(s):  
Kamil Wiśniewski ◽  
Daniel Szarmach ◽  
Małgorzata Poznańska-Kakareko

AbstractInvasive species are those that have been transferred by humans out of their natural range. Native crayfish species in Polish waters include: Astacus astacus and Pontastacus leptodactylus, whereas invasive species are: Pacifastacus leniusculus, Faxonius limosus, Procambarus clarkii and Procambarus virginalis. The objective of this study was to determine how abiotic and biotic environmental factors contribute to interspecific competition of Polish crayfish based on the available literature. Abiotic factors affecting the interspecific competition include tolerance to extreme pH values, calcium ion content, temperature, oxygenation, water salinity, preferred substrate and the type of water bodies. Biotic factors are, inter alia, pathogens, food base, plant cover and interactions in the prey–predator system, as well as interactions between crayfish species. The most important abiotic factors are water temperature and oxygenation, while the most important biotic factor is the crayfish plague – a deadly disease for native species. Each invasive species has a different set of traits and adaptations that enable a successful invasion. However, a successful invasion of a given species is not determined by one, but many adaptations that coexist.


2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. 195-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
EM DeRoy ◽  
R Scott ◽  
NE Hussey ◽  
HJ MacIsaac

The ecological impacts of invasive species are highly variable and mediated by many factors, including both habitat and population abundance. Lionfish Pterois volitans are an invasive marine species which have high reported detrimental effects on prey populations, but whose effects relative to native predators are currently unknown for the recently colonized eastern Gulf of Mexico. We used functional response (FR) methodology to assess the ecological impact of lionfish relative to 2 functionally similar native species (red grouper Epinephelus morio and graysby grouper Cephalopholis cruentata) foraging in a heterogeneous environment. We then combined the per capita impact of each species with their field abundance to obtain a Relative Impact Potential (RIP). RIP assesses the broader ecological impact of invasive relative to native predators, the magnitude of which predicts community-level negative effects of invasive species. Lionfish FR and overall consumption rate was intermediate to that of red grouper (higher) and graysby grouper (lower). However, lionfish had the highest capture efficiency of all species, which was invariant of habitat. Much higher field abundance of lionfish resulted in high RIPs relative to both grouper species, demonstrating that the ecological impact of lionfish in this region will be driven mainly by high abundance and high predator efficiency rather than per capita effect. Our comparative study is the first empirical assessment of lionfish per capita impact and RIP in this region and is one of few such studies to quantify the FR of a marine predator.


Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Charalampos Dimitriadis ◽  
Ivoni Fournari-Konstantinidou ◽  
Laurent Sourbès ◽  
Drosos Koutsoubas ◽  
Stelios Katsanevakis

Understanding the interactions among invasive species, native species and marine protected areas (MPAs), and the long-term regime shifts in MPAs is receiving increased attention, since biological invasions can alter the structure and functioning of the protected ecosystems and challenge conservation efforts. Here we found evidence of marked modifications in the rocky reef associated biota in a Mediterranean MPA from 2009 to 2019 through visual census surveys, due to the presence of invasive species altering the structure of the ecosystem and triggering complex cascading effects on the long term. Low levels of the populations of native high-level predators were accompanied by the population increase and high performance of both native and invasive fish herbivores. Subsequently the overgrazing and habitat degradation resulted in cascading effects towards the diminishing of the native and invasive invertebrate grazers and omnivorous benthic species. Our study represents a good showcase of how invasive species can coexist or exclude native biota and at the same time regulate or out-compete other established invaders and native species.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melody A. Keena ◽  
Paul M. Moore ◽  
Gregg Bradford

Anoplophora chinensis (Forster) is an invasive species that can damage many tree species in orchard, urban, and forested habitats. Adult survival, reproduction, and egg hatch of A. chinensis from Italy and China are evaluated at eight constant temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 °C) under laboratory conditions. The estimated Tmax for longevity was 42 and 33 °C for females and 42 and 39 °C for males from China and Italy, respectively. The estimated Tmax, Tmin, and optimum temperature for fecundity were 35, 9, and 29 °C, respectively. Females laid eggs at 15–30 °C and eggs hatched at 15–35 °C. Days to first oviposition increased exponentially from 13 days at 30 °C to >300 days near 10 °C. The estimated Tmin for egg hatch was 13 °C, the Tmax at 38 °C, and the optimum 29 °C. Percentage hatch was estimated to be highest at 26 °C and have a Tmax of 31 °C and Tmin of 10 °C. These results indicate that summer temperatures over a wide range of latitudes should support beetle survival and reproduction, but at temperatures ≥35 °C, oviposition ceases, and adult survivorship declines. In addition, females may survive into the fall, but lay fewer eggs that may not hatch. These responses of A. chinensis to temperature can be used for developing phenological models to predict the timing of stages for management or eradication efforts.


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