Indirect effects of invasive species affecting the population structure of an ecosystem engineer

Species invasion is of increasing concern as non‐native species often have negative impacts on ecosystems that they were introduced to. Invaders negatively affect the abundance of native species due to direct interactions like predation and competition. Additionally, invaders may benefit native biot...

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Published in:Ecosphere
Main Authors: Waser, Andreas M., Splinter, Wouter, van der Meer, Jaap
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/es14-00437.1
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1890%2FES14-00437.1
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/ES14-00437.1
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spelling crwiley:10.1890/es14-00437.1 2024-10-20T14:08:16+00:00 Indirect effects of invasive species affecting the population structure of an ecosystem engineer Waser, Andreas M. Splinter, Wouter van der Meer, Jaap 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/es14-00437.1 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1890%2FES14-00437.1 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/ES14-00437.1 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Ecosphere volume 6, issue 7, page 1-12 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 journal-article 2015 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1890/es14-00437.1 2024-09-23T04:37:38Z Species invasion is of increasing concern as non‐native species often have negative impacts on ecosystems that they were introduced to. Invaders negatively affect the abundance of native species due to direct interactions like predation and competition. Additionally, invaders may benefit native biota by imposing indirect effects on resident species interactions. Invaders indirectly affect resident species via both density‐mediated indirect interactions (DMIIs) and trait‐mediated indirect interactions (TMIIs). Previous studies on these different indirect interactions have largely examined the effects on structuring ecological systems, with paying little attention to the role of body size. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that an invasive habitat modifier of European coastal waters, the Pacific oyster ( Crassostrea gigas ), alters the population structure of native mussels ( Mytilus edulis ) by modifying the size specific predator‐prey interaction between the mussels and the shore crab ( Carcinus maenas ). In laboratory split‐plot experiments, the presence of Pacific oysters reduced the mortality of unconditioned mussels as well as mussels that were acclimatized in presence of predatory cues, while being exposed to predation by crabs of two different size classes. The reduction in mortality was size‐dependent both in terms of the predators and the prey. The presence of oysters notably reduced mussel mortality in presence of small crabs, while the mortality rate in presence of big crabs was less affected. Mussels that benefited the most by the presence of oysters were those of recruitment stages, smaller than 20 mm in shell length. Our results suggest that oysters cause a strong shift in the population structure of M. edulis , reducing particularly the mortality of smaller sized mussels. Article in Journal/Newspaper Crassostrea gigas Pacific oyster Wiley Online Library Pacific Ecosphere 6 7 1 12
institution Open Polar
collection Wiley Online Library
op_collection_id crwiley
language English
description Species invasion is of increasing concern as non‐native species often have negative impacts on ecosystems that they were introduced to. Invaders negatively affect the abundance of native species due to direct interactions like predation and competition. Additionally, invaders may benefit native biota by imposing indirect effects on resident species interactions. Invaders indirectly affect resident species via both density‐mediated indirect interactions (DMIIs) and trait‐mediated indirect interactions (TMIIs). Previous studies on these different indirect interactions have largely examined the effects on structuring ecological systems, with paying little attention to the role of body size. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that an invasive habitat modifier of European coastal waters, the Pacific oyster ( Crassostrea gigas ), alters the population structure of native mussels ( Mytilus edulis ) by modifying the size specific predator‐prey interaction between the mussels and the shore crab ( Carcinus maenas ). In laboratory split‐plot experiments, the presence of Pacific oysters reduced the mortality of unconditioned mussels as well as mussels that were acclimatized in presence of predatory cues, while being exposed to predation by crabs of two different size classes. The reduction in mortality was size‐dependent both in terms of the predators and the prey. The presence of oysters notably reduced mussel mortality in presence of small crabs, while the mortality rate in presence of big crabs was less affected. Mussels that benefited the most by the presence of oysters were those of recruitment stages, smaller than 20 mm in shell length. Our results suggest that oysters cause a strong shift in the population structure of M. edulis , reducing particularly the mortality of smaller sized mussels.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Waser, Andreas M.
Splinter, Wouter
van der Meer, Jaap
spellingShingle Waser, Andreas M.
Splinter, Wouter
van der Meer, Jaap
Indirect effects of invasive species affecting the population structure of an ecosystem engineer
author_facet Waser, Andreas M.
Splinter, Wouter
van der Meer, Jaap
author_sort Waser, Andreas M.
title Indirect effects of invasive species affecting the population structure of an ecosystem engineer
title_short Indirect effects of invasive species affecting the population structure of an ecosystem engineer
title_full Indirect effects of invasive species affecting the population structure of an ecosystem engineer
title_fullStr Indirect effects of invasive species affecting the population structure of an ecosystem engineer
title_full_unstemmed Indirect effects of invasive species affecting the population structure of an ecosystem engineer
title_sort indirect effects of invasive species affecting the population structure of an ecosystem engineer
publisher Wiley
publishDate 2015
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/es14-00437.1
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1890%2FES14-00437.1
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1890/ES14-00437.1
geographic Pacific
geographic_facet Pacific
genre Crassostrea gigas
Pacific oyster
genre_facet Crassostrea gigas
Pacific oyster
op_source Ecosphere
volume 6, issue 7, page 1-12
ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925
op_rights http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1890/es14-00437.1
container_title Ecosphere
container_volume 6
container_issue 7
container_start_page 1
op_container_end_page 12
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