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Edge effects and intraguild predation in native and introduced centipedes: evidence from the field and from laboratory microcosms

  • Conservation Ecology
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Abstract

Human alteration of habitat has increased the proportion of forest edge in areas of previously continuous forest. This edge habitat facilitates invasion of exotic species into remaining fragments. The ability of native species to resist invasion varies and may depend on intrinsic variables such as dispersal and reproductive rates as well as external factors such as rate of habitat change and the density of populations of introduced species in edge habitat. We examined the distributional and competitive relationships of two members of the class Chilopoda, Scolopocryptops sexspinosus, a centipede native to the eastern US, and Lithobius forficatus, an exotic centipede introduced from Europe. We found that L. forficatus was most abundant in edge habitat and S. sexspinosus was most abundant in the interior habitat at our field sites. Although L. forficatus was present in habitat interiors at 11 of 12 sites, there was no correlation between fragment size and numbers of L. forficatus in interior habitat. The native centipede was rarely found occupying fragment edges. We used laboratory microcosms to examine potential competitive interactions and to indirectly assess prey preferences of the two species. In microcosms both species consumed similar prey, but the native centipede, S. sexspinosus, acted as an intraguild predator on the introduced centipede. Native centipedes were competitively superior in both intraspecific and interspecific pairings. Our results suggest that intraguild predation may aid native centipedes in resisting invasion of introduced centipedes from edge habitat.

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Acknowledgements

Our manuscript benefited from the comments of two anonymous reviewers. The Ohio Conservation Alliance provided funding for this study. We thank J. Keiper and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for additional support. CDA was supported by a JCU summer faculty research grant. All experiments complied with current laws of the country in which they were performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, 44115, USA

    Cari-Ann M. Hickerson & B. Michael Walton

  2. Department of Biology, John Carroll University, University Heights, OH, 44118, USA

    Carl D. Anthony

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  1. Cari-Ann M. Hickerson
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Correspondence to Cari-Ann M. Hickerson.

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Communicated by Scott Robinson

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Hickerson, CA.M., Anthony, C.D. & Walton, B.M. Edge effects and intraguild predation in native and introduced centipedes: evidence from the field and from laboratory microcosms. Oecologia 146, 110–119 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0197-y

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