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Physicochemical and morphological degradation of stream and river habitats increases invasion risk

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Abstract

One of the key challenges of invasion biology in aquatic systems is determining the environmental conditions under which non-indigenous species establish populations in new habitats. It is widely believed that environmental degradation of streams and rivers may facilitate susceptibility to invasion; however, this has not yet been demonstrated consistently across a wide range of taxonomic groups. We analyzed macroinvertebrate data from 398 stream and river sites in Germany in order to test whether morphologically and physicochemically degraded stream and river habitats are more prone to invasion. Further, we identified the most important environmental variables facilitating invasion. The study confirmed that invaded sites were significantly more degraded than sites where only indigenous species were recorded. In both streams and rivers, invaded sites featured increased maximum temperatures, chloride and total organic carbon concentrations and a decreased morphological habitat quality. In streams, additionally the variables minimum temperature, oxygen, orthophosphate and ammonium contributed to greater degradation. In rivers also nitrate concentration was increased at invaded sites. Generalized linear models indicated that chloride was one of the most important variables that favored invasibility in both streams and rivers. In streams, the most indicative variables for invasion risk also included orthophosphate and maximum temperature. In rivers, in addition to chloride, morphological habitat quality was important. Our results confirm that the physicochemical and morphological intactness of riverine systems is a safeguard against invasion of aquatic non-indigenous macroinvertebrates. Based on this knowledge, management strategies can be developed to reduce invasion risk.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Umweltbundesamt and the Hessisches Landesamt für Umwelt und Geologie (HLUG) for kindly providing the species and physicochemical and morphological data. Further, we wish to thank Sami Domisch, Heike Kappes and two anonymous referees for constructive comments. The present study was funded by the research funding program “LOEWE—Landes-Offensive zur Entwicklung Wissenschaftlich-ökonomischer Exzellenz” of Hesse’s Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and the Arts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Denise Früh, Stefan Stoll & Peter Haase

  2. Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Denise Früh, Stefan Stoll & Peter Haase

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  1. Denise Früh
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  2. Stefan Stoll
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Correspondence to Denise Früh.

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Früh, D., Stoll, S. & Haase, P. Physicochemical and morphological degradation of stream and river habitats increases invasion risk. Biol Invasions 14, 2243–2253 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0226-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0226-9

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