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Effects of intrapopulation phenotypic traits of invasive crayfish on leaf litter processing

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Abstract

The impact of invasive alien species (IAS) on an ecosystem is primarily studied at the species level, whereas the functional impacts of their genetic and phenotypic traits are poorly investigated. We used two laboratory based experiments to assess how intrapopulation phenotypic traits (size, sex, and number of claws) of the invasive red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii affect invertebrate shredders and leaf processing. Leaf consumption was significantly affected by the size and number of claws but not by the sex of the crayfish. Bigger animals presented a higher overall consumption but, in contrast, the mass of leaves consumed per unit crayfish body mass decreased with size. Indeed, the production of particulate organic matter followed the same trend, suggesting that the higher metabolic needs of smaller animals are responsible for their higher feeding activity on leaf litter. Claw loss in P. clarkii also led to increased leaf consumption and may be related to increased energy requirements for claw regeneration. Our results highlight the importance of also considering the phenotypic traits within populations for better understanding the impacts of IAS on ecosystem processes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569) and the FreshBioFun project (PTDC/AAC-AMB/117068/2010) funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), by the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (MCTES) and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI). We acknowledge the anonymous referees and the editor for their constructive suggestions and our colleague Tony Collins for the English revision.

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  1. Department of Biology, CBMA – Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Francisco Carvalho, Cláudia Pascoal, Fernanda Cássio & Ronaldo Sousa

  2. IB-S, Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Francisco Carvalho, Cláudia Pascoal, Fernanda Cássio & Ronaldo Sousa

  3. Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR/CIMAR), University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123, Porto, Portugal

    Ronaldo Sousa

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  1. Francisco Carvalho
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Correspondence to Francisco Carvalho.

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Carvalho, F., Pascoal, C., Cássio, F. et al. Effects of intrapopulation phenotypic traits of invasive crayfish on leaf litter processing. Hydrobiologia 819, 67–75 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3631-y

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