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Utilization of invasive tamarisk by salt marsh consumers

  • Plant-Animal Interactions - Original Paper
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Abstract

Plant invasions of coastal wetlands are rapidly changing the structure and function of these systems globally. Alteration of litter dynamics represents one of the fundamental impacts of an invasive plant on salt marsh ecosystems. Tamarisk species (Tamarix spp.), which extensively invade terrestrial and riparian habitats, have been demonstrated to enter food webs in these ecosystems. However, the trophic impacts of the relatively new invasion of tamarisk into marine ecosystem have not been assessed. We evaluated the trophic consequences of invasion by tamarisk for detrital food chains in the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve salt marsh using litter dynamics techniques and stable isotope enrichment experiments. The observations of a short residence time for tamarisk combined with relatively low C:N values indicate that tamarisk is a relatively available and labile food source. With an isotopic (15N) enrichment of tamarisk, we demonstrated that numerous macroinvertebrate taxonomic and trophic groups, both within and on the sediment, utilized 15N derived from labeled tamarisk detritus. Infaunal invertebrate species that took up no or limited 15N from labeled tamarisk (A. californica, enchytraeid oligochaetes, coleoptera larvae) occurred in lower abundance in the tamarisk-invaded environment. In contrast, species that utilized significant 15N from the labeled tamarisk, such as psychodid insects, an exotic amphipod, and an oniscid isopod, either did not change or occurred in higher abundance. Our research supports the hypothesis that invasive species can alter the trophic structure of an environment through addition of detritus and can also potentially impact higher trophic levels by shifting dominance within the invertebrate community to species not widely consumed.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff of Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), field assistants and laboratory helpers, especially P. McMillan, G. Mendoza, J. Gonzalez, J. Fodrie, J. Leddick, L. Pierotti, J. Hart, L. Warner-Lara, E. Kim, K. McFarland, M. Cordrey, M. Kiener, and C. Cody. D. Harris and the UC Davis Stable Isotope Facility provided prompt and accurate isotope analyses. Thanks also to C. Neira, T. Talley, and anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by the National Sea Grant College Program of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s NOAA Grants R/CZ 173 and R/CZ 190C through the CA Sea Grant and by the CA State Resources Agency, by the Edna Bailey Sussman fund, by CEQI Grant to LAL 06-000531-02, by the National Science Foundation under Grant OCE 0333444, by 2006 Space Grant (CalSpace), by a San Diego Foundation Blasker Grant, and by the Western Regional Panel of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of those organizations. Access to the study site was granted by the NOAA NERR and US Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Integrative Oceanography Department, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0218, USA

    Christine R. Whitcraft & Lisa A. Levin

  2. San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, SFSU-Romberg Tiburon Center, 3152 Paradise Drive, Tiburon, CA, 94920-1205, USA

    Christine R. Whitcraft & Drew Talley

  3. Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, 301 Caspian Way, Imperial Beach, CA, 91932, USA

    Jeffrey A. Crooks

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  1. Christine R. Whitcraft
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Correspondence to Christine R. Whitcraft.

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Communicated by Barbara Downes.

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Whitcraft, C.R., Levin, L.A., Talley, D. et al. Utilization of invasive tamarisk by salt marsh consumers. Oecologia 158, 259–272 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1144-5

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