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Differences in refuge function for prey and tolerance to crayfish among macrophyte species

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Abstract

The invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii is an omnivore and an ecosystem engineer whose feeding mechanism has reduced the abundance of many native invertebrates and macrophytes. Since macrophytes provide refuges for aquatic insects, macrophyte depletion by crayfish might have indirect negative effects on animal prey in aquatic habitats. We postulated that the prey refuges provided by macrophytes and macrophyte tolerance to crayfish cutting and feeding vary among macrophyte species. We conducted two experiments to (1) investigate differences in macrophyte refuge function for dragonfly larvae against crayfish, and (2) test the tolerance to crayfish cutting and feeding among macrophyte species. Elodea nuttallii (submerged plant), Potamogeton crispus (submerged plant), and Carex idzuroei (emergent plant) had greater refuge effects than Trapa japonica (floating-leaved plant), an effect that might result from the larger total cover of E. nuttallii, P. crispus, and C. idzuroei, and the hardness of C. idzuroei leaves. Tolerance to crayfish cutting and feeding was greater in C. idzuroei than in the other species. As the macro-invertebrate assemblages in submerged vegetation are more abundant and species-rich than those in emergent and floating-leaf vegetation, conservation of E. nuttallii and P. crispus should be prioritized for restoring native aquatic animals in ecosystems invaded by the introduced crayfish.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Moe Miyake, Shun Takagi, Hisako Chidani and the members of the Laboratory of Biodiversity Science (The University of Tokyo) for providing useful advice and helpful support of the experimental work. We also thank Naoki Yasumura, Dai Kusumoto for giving us the place to conduct an experiment in Tanashi Forest (The University of Tokyo), and Kazuo Obata, Shigeru Komatsuzaki and Noriko Takamura for the help with collecting macrophytes in Ibaraki Nature Museum and National Institute for Environmental studies. Constructive comments on the manuscript from Jun Nishihiro were appreciated. This study was supported financially in part by the GCOE program (Asian Conservation Ecology) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, by the Sumitomo Foundation (No. 093117) and by Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (KAKENHI 22-4267) to S. N.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, 1 Aikappu, Akkeshi-cho, Akkeshi-gun, Hokkaido, 088-1113, Japan

    Masaaki Sato

  2. Laboratory of Biodiversity Science, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Shota Nishijima & Tadashi Miyashita

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  1. Masaaki Sato
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  2. Shota Nishijima
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Correspondence to Masaaki Sato.

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Sato, M., Nishijima, S. & Miyashita, T. Differences in refuge function for prey and tolerance to crayfish among macrophyte species. Limnology 15, 27–35 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-013-0410-3

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