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Coyle O, Vredenburg VT, Stillman JH. Interactive abiotic and biotic stressor impacts on a stream-dwelling amphibian. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11371. [PMID: 38711490 PMCID: PMC11070774 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Organisms within freshwater and marine environments are subject to a diverse range of often co-occurring abiotic and biotic stressors. Despite growing awareness of the complex multistress systems at play in aquatic ecosystems, many questions remain regarding how simultaneous stressors interact with one another and jointly impact aquatic species. We looked at multistress interactions in a protected stream ecosystem in Mendocino County, California. Specifically, we examined how diurnal temperature variation, turbidity, and predator cues altered the movement speed of larval Pacific giant salamanders (Dicamptodon tenebrosus). In a second experiment, we looked at how simulated low-flow summer conditions impact the expression of heat-shock proteins (HSPs) in the same species. Larvae moved almost one and a half times faster in the presence of chemical cues from trout and suspended sediment, and almost two times faster when both sediment and trout cues were present but were only marginally affected by temperature and visual cues from conspecifics. Interestingly, the order of stressor exposure also appeared to influence larval speed, where exposure to sediment and trout in earlier trials tended to lead to faster speeds in later trials. Additionally, larvae exposed to low-flow conditions had more variable, but not statistically significantly higher, expression of HSPs. Our findings highlight the potential interactive effects of an abiotic stressor, sedimentation, and a biotic stressor, and predator chemical cues on an ecologically important trait: movement speed. Our findings also demonstrate the likely role of HSPs in larval salamander survival in challenging summer conditions. Taken together, these findings show that larval D. tenebrosus responds behaviorally to biotic and abiotic stressors and suggests a possible pathway for physiological tolerance of environmental stress. Consideration of multistress systems and their effects is important for understanding the full effects of co-occurring stressors on aquatic organisms to guide appropriate conservation and management efforts based on ecologically relevant responses of organisms within an environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Coyle
- Department of BiologySan Francisco State UniversitySan FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
| | - Vance T. Vredenburg
- Department of BiologySan Francisco State UniversitySan FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
- Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of California BerkeleyBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Jonathon H. Stillman
- Department of BiologySan Francisco State UniversitySan FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of California BerkeleyBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
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Yin C, He W, Guo L, Gong L, Yang Y, Yang J, Ni L, Chen Y, Jeppesen E. Can top-down effects of planktivorous fish removal be used to mitigate cyanobacterial blooms in large subtropical highland lakes? WATER RESEARCH 2022; 218:118483. [PMID: 35489149 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 04/10/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Removal of planktivorous fish is used extensively in northern temperate lakes to reduce phytoplankton abundance via enhanced zooplankton grazing. However, whether this method would work also in large subtropical highland lakes to alleviate cyanobacterial blooms is unknown. We conducted a one-year pilot in situ experiment where we removed a substantial biomass of fish in a fenced-in area, followed by a 3-year whole-lake experiment where the dominant fish species (Japanese smelt) was removed in Lake Erhai in southwest China. The fencing experiments showed that between July and November, when the biomass of the removed stock reached 4 g/m2, the zooplankton biomass inside the fence increased significantly compared to a control fence. In the full-lake experiment, we found that sustained removal of Japanese smelt led to an increase in the biomass of cladocerans (Daphnia spp. but especially of Bosmina spp.) and a significant decrease in the biomass of Cyanobacteria and Chlorophyta. Additionally, a marked increase in the ratio of zooplankton to phytoplankton biomass, as well as an increase in the body size of cladocerans, emphasising the importance of enhanced top-down control for mitigating cyanobacterial blooms following extensive fish removal. Our results reveal that removal of small fish (here Japanese smelt) can lead to a reduction of the phytoplankton and cyanobacteria biomass through a trophic cascade in highland deep subtropical lakes. Thus fish removal may be a feasible additional restoration tool to external nutrient loading reduction in such lakes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengjie Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Wanchao He
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Longgen Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Li Gong
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yalan Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jiaojiao Yang
- Kunming Dianchi & Plateau Lakes Institute, Kunming 650000, China
| | - Leyi Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yushun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Erik Jeppesen
- Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research, Beijing, China; Limnology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey; Centre for Ecosystem Research and Implementation (EKOSAM), Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey; Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Mersin, Turkey
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3
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Monk JD, Schmitz OJ. Landscapes shaped from the top down: predicting cascading predator effects on spatial biogeochemistry. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Julia D. Monk
- School of the Environment, Yale Univ. New Haven CT USA
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Abstract
Many species of salamanders (newts and salamanders per se) have a pivotal role in energy flow pathways as they include individuals functioning as prey, competitors, and predators. Here, I synthesize historic and contemporary research on the reciprocal ecological role of salamanders as predators and prey in aquatic systems. Salamanders are a keystone in ecosystem functioning through a combination of top–down control, energy transfer, nutrient cycling processes, and carbon retention. The aquatic developmental stages of salamanders are able to feed on a wide variety of invertebrate prey captured close to the bottom as well as on small conspecifics (cannibalism) or other sympatric species, but can also consume terrestrial invertebrates on the water surface. This capacity to consume allochthonous resources (terrestrial invertebrates) highlights the key role of salamanders as couplers of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (i.e., aquatic–terrestrial linkages). Salamanders are also an important food resource for other vertebrates such as fish, snakes, and mammals, covering the energy demands of these species at higher trophic levels. This study emphasizes the ecological significance of salamanders in aquatic systems as central players in energy flow pathways, enabling energy mobility among trophic levels (i.e., vertical energy flow) and between freshwater and terrestrial habitats (i.e., lateral energy flow).
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Sanders AJ, Taylor BW. Using ecological stoichiometry to understand and predict infectious diseases. OIKOS 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.05418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J. Sanders
- Dept of Applied Ecology; North Carolina State Univ.; Raleigh NC 27695 USA
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory; Crested Butte CO 81224 USA
| | - Brad W. Taylor
- Dept of Applied Ecology; North Carolina State Univ.; Raleigh NC 27695 USA
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory; Crested Butte CO 81224 USA
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Ludwig L, Barbour MA, Guevara J, Avilés L, González AL. Caught in the web: Spider web architecture affects prey specialization and spider-prey stoichiometric relationships. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:6449-6462. [PMID: 30038747 PMCID: PMC6053566 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2017] [Revised: 01/31/2018] [Accepted: 02/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Quantitative approaches to predator-prey interactions are central to understanding the structure of food webs and their dynamics. Different predatory strategies may influence the occurrence and strength of trophic interactions likely affecting the rates and magnitudes of energy and nutrient transfer between trophic levels and stoichiometry of predator-prey interactions. Here, we used spider-prey interactions as a model system to investigate whether different spider web architectures-orb, tangle, and sheet-tangle-affect the composition and diet breadth of spiders and whether these, in turn, influence stoichiometric relationships between spiders and their prey. Our results showed that web architecture partially affects the richness and composition of the prey captured by spiders. Tangle-web spiders were specialists, capturing a restricted subset of the prey community (primarily Diptera), whereas orb and sheet-tangle web spiders were generalists, capturing a broader range of prey types. We also observed elemental imbalances between spiders and their prey. In general, spiders had higher requirements for both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) than those provided by their prey even after accounting for prey biomass. Larger P imbalances for tangle-web spiders than for orb and sheet-tangle web spiders suggest that trophic specialization may impose strong elemental constraints for these predators unless they display behavioral or physiological mechanisms to cope with nutrient limitation. Our findings suggest that integrating quantitative analysis of species interactions with elemental stoichiometry can help to better understand the occurrence of stoichiometric imbalances in predator-prey interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorraine Ludwig
- Department of ZoologyBiodiversity Research CentreUniversity of BritishColumbiaBCCanada
| | - Matthew A. Barbour
- Department of ZoologyBiodiversity Research CentreUniversity of BritishColumbiaBCCanada
- Universidad Regional Amazónica IKIAMTenaNapoEcuador
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichSwitzerland
| | - Jennifer Guevara
- Universidad Regional Amazónica IKIAMTenaNapoEcuador
- Department of BiologyCenter for Computational and Integrative BiologyRutgers UniversityCamdenNJUSA
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichSwitzerland
| | - Leticia Avilés
- Department of ZoologyBiodiversity Research CentreUniversity of BritishColumbiaBCCanada
| | - Angélica L. González
- Department of BiologyCenter for Computational and Integrative BiologyRutgers UniversityCamdenNJUSA
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Atkinson CL, Capps KA, Rugenski AT, Vanni MJ. Consumer-driven nutrient dynamics in freshwater ecosystems: from individuals to ecosystems. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2016; 92:2003-2023. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2016] [Revised: 11/14/2016] [Accepted: 11/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carla L. Atkinson
- Department of Biological Sciences; University of Alabama; Tuscaloosa AL 35487 U.S.A
| | - Krista A. Capps
- Odum School of Ecology; University of Georgia; Athens GA 30602 U.S.A
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory; University of Georgia; Aiken SC 29808 U.S.A
| | - Amanda T. Rugenski
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Cornell University; Ithaca NY 14853 U.S.A
| | - Michael J. Vanni
- Department of Biology and Graduate Program in Ecology Evolution and Environmental Biology; Miami University; Oxford OH 45056 U.S.A
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Milanovich JR, Hopton ME. Stoichiometry of Excreta and Excretion Rates of a Stream-dwelling Plethodontid Salamander. COPEIA 2016. [DOI: 10.1643/ot-14-028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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9
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Predicted Changes in Climatic Niche and Climate Refugia of Conservation Priority Salamander Species in the Northeastern United States. FORESTS 2014. [DOI: 10.3390/f6010001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Milanovich JR, Hopton ME. Stoichiometry of a semi-aquatic plethodontid salamander: intraspecific variation due to location, size and diet. Integr Zool 2014; 9:613-22. [PMID: 25236804 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Ecological stoichiometry provides a framework to investigate an organism's relationship to nutrient cycles. An organism's stoichiometry is thought to constrain its contribution to nutrient cycles (recycling or storage), and to limit its growth and reproduction. Factors that influence the stoichiometry of a consumer are largely unstudied, but what is known is that consumer stoichiometry is influenced by the elemental requirements of the consumer (e.g. for growth, reproduction and cell maintenance) and the availability of elements. We examined whole-body stoichiometry of larval southern two-lined salamanders (Eurycea cirrigera) and described the influence of location, body size, stoichiometry of diet items, and environmental nutrient supply on whole-body stoichiometry. Mean composition of phosphorous was 2.6%, nitrogen was 11.3%, and carbon was 39.6%, which are similar for other aquatic vertebrate taxa. The most significant predictor of whole-body stoichiometry was the site where the samples were collected, which was significant for each nutrient and nutrient ratio. Body size and stoichiometry of diet items were also predictors of Eurycea cirrigera stoichiometry. Our study suggests that spatial differences in environmental nutrient supply have a stronger influence on consumer whole-body stoichiometry among similar-sized larvae compared to life history traits, such as body size or diet.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph R Milanovich
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Sustainable Technology Division, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Sustainable Environments Branch, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
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Atlas WI, Palen WJ, Courcelles DM, Munshaw RG, Monteith ZL. Dependence of stream predators on terrestrial prey fluxes: food web responses to subsidized predation. Ecosphere 2013. [DOI: 10.1890/es12-00366.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- William I. Atlas
- Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 Canada
| | - Wendy J. Palen
- Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 Canada
| | - Danielle M. Courcelles
- Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 Canada
| | - Robin G. Munshaw
- Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 Canada
| | - Zachary L. Monteith
- Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 Canada
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