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Complex impacts of an invasive omnivore and native consumers on stream communities in California and Hawaii

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Abstract

The effects of invasive species on native communities often depend on the characteristics of the recipient community and on the food habits of the invasive species, becoming complicated when the invader is omnivorous. In field enclosure experiments, we assessed the direct and interactive effects of an invasive omnivorous crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and either native herbivorous snails (Physella gyrina) or shrimp (Atyoida bisulcata) on stream communities in California and Hawaii, respectively. Based on literature data and the characteristics of each study site, we predicted that crayfish would affect primarily algal-based trophic linkages in an open California stream but detritus-based trophic linkages in a shaded Hawaiian stream, with trophic cascades mediated through crayfish effects on primary consumers being observed in both systems. As predicted, crayfish in California directly reduced periphyton, filamentous algae, sediment, and snail levels, but generated a cascade by decreasing snail densities and increasing periphyton biomass. Contrary to prediction, crayfish did not reduce total invertebrate biomass. As predicted, crayfish in Hawaii reduced leaf litter, filamentous algae, and benthic invertebrate biomass. Contrary to our predictions, however, a trophic cascade was not observed because shrimp did not affect periphyton levels, crayfish did not reduce shrimp abundance, and crayfish had greater negative impacts on filamentous algae than did shrimp. Our findings highlight that the same invasive species can generate different effects on disparate systems, probably as mediated through the availability of different food types, flexibility in the invasive species’ food habits, and complex pathways of trophic interaction.

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Acknowledgments

We thank A. Alker, S. Asao, T. Even, D. Johnson, J. Jones, N. Lackey-Shaffer, H. Le, C. Nelson, C. Osovitz, L. Resovsky, B. Rowan, J. Serb, K. Taulbee, C. Tillman, M. Watts, J. Wiklund and S. Wiseman for laboratory and field assistance. We also thank A. Alldredge, S. Holbrook, B. Downes, and three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments that improved the quality of this manuscript. We are grateful to R. Sheets of the Ojai Sanitation District for permission to work at the Ventura River site and his generous hospitality. This research was supported by funds from a Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research Grant (NSF OCE99-82105), a Graduate Opportunity Fellowship, and Science and Engineering Research Grant from the University of California. The senior author would like to dedicate this paper, which is the result of our shared field efforts, to the memory of Charles T. Chong. Charlie’s profound knowledge of Hawaiian streams inspired this work, and my memories of his friendship, dedication, and devotion to his homeland brought it to completion. Aloha.

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  1. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology and Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Kristie Klose & Scott D. Cooper

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  1. Kristie Klose
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Correspondence to Kristie Klose.

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Communicated by Barbara Downes.

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Klose, K., Cooper, S.D. Complex impacts of an invasive omnivore and native consumers on stream communities in California and Hawaii. Oecologia 171, 945–960 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-012-2449-y

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