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Heat and hypoxia give a global invader, Gambusia holbrooki, the edge over a threatened endemic fish on Australian floodplains

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Abstract

Deciphering the mechanisms by which climate change interacts with invasive species to affect biodiversity is a major challenge of global change biology. We conducted experiments to determine whether the global invader, Gambusia holbrooki, was more resistant to high water temperature (heat) and low dissolved oxygen (hypoxia) than a threatened native fish, Nannoperca australis. Metabolic experiments conducted at 25 and 29 °C showed that G. holbrooki had at least four times the capacity for metabolic depression during hypoxia than N. australis. An increase in environmental temperature from 25 to 29 °C had no significant impact on the critical oxygen tension, P crit, of G. holbrooki, but significantly and strongly increased P crit of N. australis. Gambusia holbrooki also had a lower Q 10 of standard metabolic rate than N. australis. Our results indicate that G. holbrooki have physiological traits conferring greater resistance to hypoxia than N. australis, and as temperature increases, the resistance of N. australis to hypoxia was more eroded than that of G. holbrooki. Intensive monitoring of the temperature and dissolved oxygen dynamics of wetlands showed that contemporary heat waves are already causing conditions that might give G. holbrooki the edge over N. australis on Australian floodplains. Our study adds weight to recent anecdotal reports of drought and heat waves causing localised extinction of N. australis, but the proliferation of G. holbrooki.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Goulburn-Broken Catchment Management Authority, with additional support from CSIRO Land and Water and the Yorta Yorta Nations Aboriginal Corporation. We are indebted to Keith Ward from the GBCMA for his support. Chris Mercier and Alan Trutt (Parks Victoria) assisted with site access at the Killawarra Forrest. Cassie King, Simon Mom and Larissa Moffit assisted with the completion of fieldwork, particularly Cassie King, who worked through the January and February heatwaves. We thank two anonymous referees, Georgia Dwyer and Amina Price for helpful reviews of earlier drafts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre, CSIRO Land and Water, PO Box 821, Wodonga, VIC, 3689, Australia

    Rick J. Stoffels

  2. Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Wodonga, VIC, Australia

    Rick J. Stoffels & Slade Allen-Ankins

  3. Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre, La Trobe University, PO Box 821, Wodonga, VIC, 3689, Australia

    Kyle E. Weatherman

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  1. Rick J. Stoffels
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Correspondence to Rick J. Stoffels.

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All experimental work, including fish housing, collection and transport, was carried out under La Trobe University Ethics Permit AEC15-17. Fish were collected and transported under VIC Department of Primary Industry Permits NP123 and RP1014.

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Stoffels, R.J., Weatherman, K.E. & Allen-Ankins, S. Heat and hypoxia give a global invader, Gambusia holbrooki, the edge over a threatened endemic fish on Australian floodplains. Biol Invasions 19, 2477–2489 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1457-6

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