Climate, habitat and human disturbance driving the variation of life-history traits of the invasive goldfish Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) in a Tibetan Plateau river

• Published in: Aquatic Invasions
• Main Authors: Jia, Yintao, Liu, Yuhan, Chen, Kang, Sun, Heying, Chen, Yifeng
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: REGIONAL EURO-ASIAN BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS CENTRE-REABIC 2019
• Subjects: alpine freshwater ecosystems; invasive fish; life history plasticity; environment; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Marine & Freshwater Biology; Ecology; FRESH-WATER FISH; EGG SIZE; BODY-SIZE; ATLANTIC SALMON; TRADE-OFF; TEMPERATURE; STRATEGIES; GROWTH; REPRODUCTION; PREDICTIONS; Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: http://ir.ihb.ac.cn/handle/342005/35452; https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2019.14.4.11

Explaining variation in life-history traits of invasive species is a key goal in invasion ecology. The goldfish, Carassius auratus, is one of the most successful invaders in freshwater systems and has successfully invaded the Yarlung Zangbo River located in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Although many studies on life-history trait variations in goldfish have been carried out worldwide, few have focused on plateau areas, and factors driving this variation have received little attention. In this study, six life-history traits of goldfish and twenty-five environmental variables, including climate, habitat and human disturbance, were selected to examine their impacts on life-history traits. Multiple regression and hierarchical partitioning analyses were performed to determine the relationships between life-history traits and environmental variables. Maximal body length (MaxL), corrected total fecundity (TFecC) and egg diameter (EggD) were significantly explained by environmental variables. MaxL was positively related to elevation (ELE), population density (POP) and precipitation of the wettest month (BIO13) but negatively related to isothermality (BIO3). TFecC was positively related to ELE, POP and BIO13 but negatively related to BIO3, whereas EggD was negatively related to ELE and BIO13. Body size, fecundity and egg size were significantly affected by the environment, which suggested that a trade-off between growth and reproduction was the key to goldfish adaptation to plateau environments. Climate, habitat and human disturbance are closely related to the life history, suggesting that goldfish will expand their distribution in response to future global environmental changes. Therefore, we advocate that current efforts should focus on taking targeted action and preventing future introductions of goldfish to other areas. Education to promote public awareness of the threats caused by goldfish and other non-native species should be the first priority.