Substitution of top predators: effects of pike invasion in a subarctic lake
Summary 1. Invasions of top predators may have strong cascading effects in ecosystems affecting both prey species abundance and lower trophic levels. A recently discussed factor that may enhance species invasion is climate change and in this context, we studied the effects of an invasion of northern...
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2007.01763.x 2024-09-09T19:23:36+00:00 Substitution of top predators: effects of pike invasion in a subarctic lake BYSTRÖM, PÄR KARLSSON, JAN NILSSON, PER VAN KOOTEN, TOBIAS ASK, JENNY OLOFSSON, FRANS 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2007.01763.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2427.2007.01763.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2007.01763.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Freshwater Biology volume 52, issue 7, page 1271-1280 ISSN 0046-5070 1365-2427 journal-article 2007 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2007.01763.x 2024-08-13T04:18:47Z Summary 1. Invasions of top predators may have strong cascading effects in ecosystems affecting both prey species abundance and lower trophic levels. A recently discussed factor that may enhance species invasion is climate change and in this context, we studied the effects of an invasion of northern pike into a subarctic lake ecosystem formerly inhabited by the native top predator Arctic char and its prey fish, ninespined stickleback. 2. Our study demonstrated a strong change in fish community composition from a system with Arctic char as top predator and high densities of sticklebacks to a system with northern pike as top predator and very low densities of sticklebacks. A combination of both predation and competition from pike is the likely cause of the extinction of char. 3. The change in top predator species also cascaded down to primary consumers as both zooplankton and predator‐sensitive macroinvertebrates increased in abundance. 4. Although the pike invasion coincided with increasing summer temperatures in the study area we have no conclusive evidence that the temperature increase is the causal mechanism behind the pike invasion. But still, our study provides possible effects of future pike invasions in mountain lakes related to climate change. We suggest that future pike invasions will have strong effects in lake ecosystems, both by replacing native top consumers and through cascading effects on lower trophic levels. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Northern pike Subarctic Zooplankton Wiley Online Library Arctic Freshwater Biology 52 7 1271 1280 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Summary 1. Invasions of top predators may have strong cascading effects in ecosystems affecting both prey species abundance and lower trophic levels. A recently discussed factor that may enhance species invasion is climate change and in this context, we studied the effects of an invasion of northern pike into a subarctic lake ecosystem formerly inhabited by the native top predator Arctic char and its prey fish, ninespined stickleback. 2. Our study demonstrated a strong change in fish community composition from a system with Arctic char as top predator and high densities of sticklebacks to a system with northern pike as top predator and very low densities of sticklebacks. A combination of both predation and competition from pike is the likely cause of the extinction of char. 3. The change in top predator species also cascaded down to primary consumers as both zooplankton and predator‐sensitive macroinvertebrates increased in abundance. 4. Although the pike invasion coincided with increasing summer temperatures in the study area we have no conclusive evidence that the temperature increase is the causal mechanism behind the pike invasion. But still, our study provides possible effects of future pike invasions in mountain lakes related to climate change. We suggest that future pike invasions will have strong effects in lake ecosystems, both by replacing native top consumers and through cascading effects on lower trophic levels. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
BYSTRÖM, PÄR KARLSSON, JAN NILSSON, PER VAN KOOTEN, TOBIAS ASK, JENNY OLOFSSON, FRANS |
spellingShingle |
BYSTRÖM, PÄR KARLSSON, JAN NILSSON, PER VAN KOOTEN, TOBIAS ASK, JENNY OLOFSSON, FRANS Substitution of top predators: effects of pike invasion in a subarctic lake |
author_facet |
BYSTRÖM, PÄR KARLSSON, JAN NILSSON, PER VAN KOOTEN, TOBIAS ASK, JENNY OLOFSSON, FRANS |
author_sort |
BYSTRÖM, PÄR |
title |
Substitution of top predators: effects of pike invasion in a subarctic lake |
title_short |
Substitution of top predators: effects of pike invasion in a subarctic lake |
title_full |
Substitution of top predators: effects of pike invasion in a subarctic lake |
title_fullStr |
Substitution of top predators: effects of pike invasion in a subarctic lake |
title_full_unstemmed |
Substitution of top predators: effects of pike invasion in a subarctic lake |
title_sort |
substitution of top predators: effects of pike invasion in a subarctic lake |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2007.01763.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2427.2007.01763.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2007.01763.x |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Northern pike Subarctic Zooplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Northern pike Subarctic Zooplankton |
op_source |
Freshwater Biology volume 52, issue 7, page 1271-1280 ISSN 0046-5070 1365-2427 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2007.01763.x |
container_title |
Freshwater Biology |
container_volume |
52 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1271 |
op_container_end_page |
1280 |
_version_ |
1809893599162138624 |