Effects of Invasive Western Mosquitofish and Ammonium Nitrate on Green Frog Tadpoles

Smith, Geoffrey R.; Dibble, Christopher J.; Terlecky, Andrew J.; Dayer, Christopher B.; Burner, Allison B.; Ogle, Megan E.

doi:10.1643/ce-12-072

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…While fish are present in all of the surveyed sites, the only fish documented at the SCW are Gambusia affinis, which may mediate interactions between the two Lithobates spp. observed in this study (Werner 1991;Smith et al 2008;Smith and Dibble 2012;Smith et al 2013). Because L. catesbeianus do not appear to react to the presence of Gambusia spp.…”

Section: Body Size and Conditionsupporting

confidence: 62%

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Evaluation of anuran diversity and success in tertiary wastewater treatment wetlands

Zeitler

Cecala

McGrath

2018

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

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Constructed wetlands (CWs) are a multifunctional environmental technology capable of supporting plant and wildlife communities and removing excess nutrients and other pollutants. Tertiary treatment wetlands have also been proposed as one solution to remove persistent pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) that remain after conventional wastewater treatment. Though aquatic wildlife is generally sensitive to environmental contaminants, it is unknown whether CWs can serve dual purposes supporting wildlife habitat and polishing wastewater. Our objective was to assess the capacity of a newly established CW for tertiary wastewater treatment to support amphibians. Specifically, we assessed adult anuran occupancy and tadpole and adult body size and condition relative to nearby unimpacted ponds. We found that a diverse community of adult anurans rapidly colonized the wetlands where successful reproduction was documented. Adult frogs and tadpoles were observed to have variable sizes among ponds with some life stages in better body condition at the tertiary treatment wetlands. Preliminary investigations suggest that tertiary treatment wetlands provide habitat for successful colonization and reproduction of anurans, but carryover effects need to be evaluated to determine if tertiary treatment wetlands serve as sinks or suitable habitat that supports stable populations.

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Section: Body Size and Conditionsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…(Smith et al 2008), predation by Gambusia spp. on L. clamitans may be maximized in a simple aquatic environment without emergent vegetation as found in Basin 2 relative to Basin 3 (Hartel et al 2007;Smith et al 2013).…”

Section: Body Size and Conditionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Evaluation of anuran diversity and success in tertiary wastewater treatment wetlands

Zeitler

Cecala

McGrath

2018

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

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“…In addition, I have used similar numbers of G . affinis in other mesocosm experiments that had high survivorship of G. affinis and had impacts on tadpoles, including A. americanus (e.g., Smith et al, 2013 ; Smith & Dibble, 2012 ; Smith & Harmon, 2019 ). Water levels in mesocosms were allowed to fluctuate with evaporation and precipitation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy effects in temporally separated tadpole species are not mediated by invasive Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis)

Smith

2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Temporally separated species are often thought to have limited competition over a shared resource. However, early arriving species may consume a limited resource such that later-arriving species have access to fewer resources and thus experience competitive effects, even if they are temporally separated (i.e., they experience legacy How to cite this article: Smith, G. R. (2023). Legacy effects in temporally separated tadpole species are not mediated by invasive Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis). Ecology and Evolution, 13, e010034.

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“…We randomly selected half the mesocosms (32 mesocosm) for use in metamorph behaviors trials, while metamorphs from other half were used for in the overwintering portion of the study (see details below). We chose these predator densities as they are within the range of densities in natural communities (Stevenson et al, 1969 : approximate bluegill density 0.67–2.02 m −2 ; Smith et al, 2013 : mosquito fish 1–32 m −2 ; Lamontagne & Rasmussen, 1993 : approximate crayfish density 1–3 m −2 ). We used snail density that are below the densities found in wetlands in the Midwest that serve as common anuran breeding habitats (mean density in wetlands >250 planorbid snails per m 2 ; Hentges & Stewart, 2010 ) due to availability and challenge of screening snails for infection status.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can predators stabilize host–parasite interactions? Changes in aquatic predator identity alter amphibian responses and parasite abundance across life stages

Strasburg

Boone

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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The role of parasites can change depending on the food web community. Predators, for instance, can amplify or dilute parasite effects on their hosts. Likewise, exposure to parasites or predators at one life stage can have long‐term consequences on individual performance and survival, which can influence population and disease dynamics. To understand how predators affect amphibian parasite infections across life stages, we manipulated exposure of northern leopard frog ( Rana pipiens ) tadpoles to three predators (crayfish [ Orconectes rusticus ], bluegill [ Lepomis macrochirus ], or mosquitofish [ Gambusia affinis ]) and to trematode parasites ( Echinostoma spp.) in mesocosms and followed juveniles in outdoor terrestrial enclosures through overwintering. Parasites and predators both had strong impacts on metamorphosis with bluegill and parasites individually reducing metamorph survival. However, when fish were present, the negative effects of parasites on survival was not apparent, likely because fish altered community composition via increased algal food resources. Bluegill also reduced snail abundance, which could explain reduced abundance of parasites in surviving metamorphs. Bluegill and parasite exposure increased mass at metamorphosis, which increased metamorph jumping, swimming, and feeding performance, suggesting that larger frogs would experience better terrestrial survival. Effects on size at metamorphosis persisted in the terrestrial environment but did not influence overwintering survival. Based on our results, we constructed stage‐structured population models to evaluate the lethal and sublethal effects of bluegill and parasites on population dynamics. Our models suggested that positive effects of bluegill and parasites on body size may have greater effects on population growth than the direct effects of mortality. This study illustrates how predators can alter the outcome of parasitic infections and highlights the need for long‐term experiments that investigate how changes in host–parasite systems alter population dynamics. We show that some predators reduce parasite effects and have indirect positive effects on surviving individuals potentially increasing host population persistence.

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Effects of Invasive Western Mosquitofish and Ammonium Nitrate on Green Frog Tadpoles

Cited by 13 publications

References 50 publications

Evaluation of anuran diversity and success in tertiary wastewater treatment wetlands

Evaluation of anuran diversity and success in tertiary wastewater treatment wetlands

Legacy effects in temporally separated tadpole species are not mediated by invasive Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis)

Can predators stabilize host–parasite interactions? Changes in aquatic predator identity alter amphibian responses and parasite abundance across life stages

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