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Comparison of resource use by invasive Black Carp and native fishes using isotopic niche analysis reveals spatial variation in potential competition

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Abstract

Invasive Black Carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) pose a dual threat to North American freshwater ecosystems through consumption of threatened and endangered mussels and competition with native molluscivores. Despite the potential for Black Carp to compete with native riverine fishes for mussels and other invertebrate prey, only one published study has compared Black Carp trophic position with that of native fishes and only encompassed a single river. The objectives of this study were to assess trophic overlap between Black Carp and two native fish species in the Mississippi River Basin using isotopic niche analysis. Dorsal muscle tissue samples were collected from Black Carp, Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens), and Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) and analyzed for δ13C and δ15N. Although overlap in isotopic niches between Black Carp and native species was low to moderate (10–48%) across most comparisons, native species isotopic niches were entirely or almost entirely inside Black Carp isotopic niche in the Upper/Middle Mississippi River and Lower Mississippi River, indicating that potential for competition for food resources may vary spatially. Intraspecific isotopic niche overlap among locations within the Mississippi River Basin was highly variable (0–69%) for all three species. This variation appeared to be driven by differences among locations, highlighting the importance of assessing interspecific isotopic niche overlap spatially. Broad isotopic niches exhibited by Black Carp in the Mississippi River Basin are indicative of substantial trophic diversity among individuals and use of multiple basal energy sources. The large breadth of their trophic niche has likely contributed to Black Carp invasion success.

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Datasets used in this work are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences as well as the Mass Spectrometry Facility of Southern Illinois University for resources and support. Additional thanks to the U.S. Geological Survey Columbia Environmental Research Center, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and Missouri Department of Conservation for help with collection of samples. A final thank you goes to Patrick Kroboth, Nicole Baccus, Amanda Rothert, Kasey Yallaly, Patrick Padilla, and Octavio Silva for their help with field sampling and processing of samples. Funding was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Grant F17AP00159) to Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.

Funding

This work was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Grant F17AP00159).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

    Hudman S. Evans Jr. & Gregory W. Whitledge

  2. Department of Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, 57007, USA

    Alison A. Coulter

  3. Mississippi Monitoring Station, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Bellevue, IA, 52031, USA

    Ashley L. Johnson

  4. Illinois River Biological Station, Illinois Natural History Survey, Havana, IL, 62644, USA

    James T. Lamer

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  1. Hudman S. Evans Jr.
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  3. Ashley L. Johnson
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  5. Gregory W. Whitledge
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Contributions

Hudman Evans and Gregory Whitledge designed the study. Hudman Evans collected and prepared muscle tissue samples for stable isotope analysis. Hudman Evans, Alison Coulter, and Gregory Whitledge planned and completed data analysis. Hudman Evans, Ashley Stanley, Gregory Whitledge, and James Lamer acquired the data. All authors contributed to the drafting, editing, and completion of this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gregory W. Whitledge.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest. This research involved animals.  Procedures carried out in this manuscript were approved by the Southern Illinois University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee under Protocol #16-014.

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Evans, H.S., Coulter, A.A., Johnson, A.L. et al. Comparison of resource use by invasive Black Carp and native fishes using isotopic niche analysis reveals spatial variation in potential competition. Biol Invasions 25, 2249–2260 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03038-y

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