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- Title
Survival, behaviour, and morphology of larval wood frogs, Lithobates sylvaticus, under threat from an exotic crayfish predator, Orconectes virilis.
- Authors
Crane, Adam L.; Bairos-Novak, Kevin R.; Jefferson, Dale M.; Chivers, Douglas P.; Ferrari, Maud C. O.
- Abstract
There are numerous examples of species introductions that have caused declines in native populations. In many cases, exotic species are predators of native prey which do not respond correctly to these new and often much different threats. Amphibians, as a group, have been strongly affected by introductions of fish and other aquatic predators such as crayfish. Our goal in this study was to explore the potential impacts of exotic crayfish on the behaviour, morphology, and survival of naïve wood frog tadpoles, Lithobates sylvaticus. In mesocosms, groups of tadpoles were exposed to either a native predator (larval beetle or dragonfly nymph) or an exotic crayfish, Orconectes virilis. Tadpoles were the largest following exposure to dragonflies, indicating that dragonflies were selecting smaller tadpoles. Vertical space use of tadpoles was highest in the presence of crayfish, suggesting that tadpoles were learning to avoid crayfish in the benthos. Mortality was highest in the presence of beetles and lowest with crayfish, and hence in isolation, exotic crayfish were poorer predators of wood frog tadpoles. However, half way through the experiment, we replaced each predator with a new predator of either the same species or a different species to assess how the impact of the new predator was affected by experience with the first predator. When crayfish were added following beetles, the mortality due to crayfish increased significantly, possibly due to differences in predator space use and foraging mode.
- Subjects
CRAYFISH; WOOD frog; PREDATORY animals
- Publication
Aquatic Ecology, 2019, Vol 53, Issue 3, p383
- ISSN
1386-2588
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10452-019-09696-2