Growth‐enhanced salmon modify stream ecosystem functioning

• Published in: Journal of Fish Biology
• Main Authors: Cucherousset, Julien, Sundt‐hansen, Line, Buoro, Mathieu, Závorka, Libor, Lassus, Rémy, Bækkelie, Knut, Fleming, Ian, Björnsson, Björn Thrandur, Johnsson, Jörgen, Hindar, Kjetil
• Other Authors: Evolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Ecologie Comportementale et Biologie des Populations de Poissons (ECOBIOP), Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Department of Ocean Sciences Newfoudland, Canada (Memorial University of Newfoundland), Memorial University of Newfoundland (Memorial University of Newfoundland)-Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg (GU), Research Council of Norway, ANR-13-EBID-0004,WhoIsNext,Climate change and escaping ornamentals: Predicting the next generation of European plant invaders(2013)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: domestication; ecosystem functioning; escapees; growth enhancement; intraspecific variability; stocking; [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Ecosystems; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment; Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03436888; https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14904

International audience Use of fast-growing domesticated and/or genetically modified strains of fish is becoming increasingly common in aquaculture, increasing the likelihood of deliberate or accidental introductions into the wild. To date, their ecological impacts on ecosystems remain to be quantified. Here, using a controlled phenotype manipulation by implanting growth hormone in juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), we found that growth-enhanced fish display changes in several phenotypic traits known to be important for ecosystem functioning, such as habitat use, morphology and excretion rate. Furthermore, these phenotypic changes were associated with significant impacts on the invertebrate community and key stream ecosystem functions such as primary production and leaf-litter decomposition. These findings provide novel evidence that introductions of growth-enhanced fish into the wild can affect the functioning of natural ecosystems and represent a form of intraspecific invasion.Consequently, environmental impact assessments of growth-enhanced organisms need to explicitly consider ecosystem-level effects