Are salinity tolerances of non-native macroinvertebrates in France an indicator of potential for their translocation in a new area?

Abstract

a b s t r a c tBecause of its geographic and economic position, the Western part of Europe and France is prone to biological invasions. Among the aquatic species non-native to France, a high proportion of these species are considered to be salt-tolerant. To verify this assumption, we compared the salinity tolerance of 18 native and non-native species in France in order to determine whether the introduced non-native species are more salt-tolerant than the native ones. Contrary to our expectations, our study shows that both native and non-native macroinvertebrate species from the same taxonomic group which had originated from within Eurasia had very similar salinity tolerance. Our results show that species originate from outside Eurasia (introduced by the ballast or drinking water on ships) were more salt tolerant than native from France and non-native species originated from Eurasia. Thus, derivation of the acute test of the salinity tolerance in native ranges may give good indications of their potential ability to survive during the translocation by shipping from the area of origin to another area. Our approach does provide empirical evidence for potential of non-native species to survive translocation in saline water using standard, quick and inexpensive protocols.

Sensitivity of native and non-native mollusc species to changing river water temperature and salinity

“…The difference between native and non-native species can be explained by the origin of species, as previous studies found significantly higher temperature tolerances for (sub)tropical than for temperate species (De Vries et al 2008). Salinity tolerances of native and non-native species were not significantly different, which agrees with other recent studies on salinity tolerance of native and non-native macroinvertebrates (Piscart et al 2011;Van de Meutter et al 2010). However, our results also show that some non-native species can tolerate considerably higher salinities than native species.…”

“…Their main vector of intercontinental dispersal is ballast water Nehring 2002), which acts as a strong filter in favour of species with high salinity tolerances. This is, again, consistent with Piscart et al (2005Piscart et al ( , 2011, who also found higher tolerance levels for nonnative species from outside Eurasia.…”

Drying duration and stream characteristics influence macroinvertebrate survivorship within the sediments of a temporary channel and exposed gravel bars of a connected perennial stream

“…However, conductivity was within the typical tolerance range reported for G. pulex (e.g. Piscart et al, 2011) and the highest levels were recorded in the temporary channel where survivorship was greatest. These results illustrate that the direct effect of increasing conductivity during drying events on the survival of macroinvertebrates is poorly understood.…”

Invasive alien Crustacea: dispersal, establishment, impact and control

“…Salt tolerance was also shown in the isopod Jaera istri (Veuille), which has invaded many water bodies in Western Europe via the River Danube-Main-River Rhine Canal (Holdich and Pöckl 2007). A recent meta-analysis indicates however that elevated salinity tolerance is not a common feature among amphipod invaders in Europe (Piscart et al 2011): only the North American G. tigrinus is more salt tolerant than their native counterparts, whereas the Eurasian Gammarus roeseli (Gervais), Corophium curvispinum (Sars) and D. villosus have similar salinity tolerances as native amphipod species.…”