Life history variation in space and time: environmental and seasonal responses of a parthenogenetic invasive freshwater snail in northern Germany

Abstract

The processes that lead to a successful invasion are complex. Here, we investigated life history characteristics potentially explaining the invasion success of Potamopyrgus antipodarum, a small parthenogenetic and ovoviviparous freshwater snail that was recently added to the top “hundred worst” alien species in Europe. We monitored monthly, over the course of 1 year, shell size, number of brooded embryos, and the presence of castrating parasites at three Northeast German sites: a lake (the Kiessee), a stream (Hohen Sprenz), and a small spring brook (Rügen) (N = 1165). We found that (1) despite sharing the same clonal lineage, drastic differences in space and time for size and fecundity were observed, and these differences were linked to specific environmental variables (water temperature, salinity, and current); (2) P. antipodarum reproduces all year around, except at one of our sites, the spring Rügen, where the reproduction was seasonal; (3) none of our dissected specimens was infected by parasites. Together with ovoviviparity and the ability to reproduce parthenogenetically while being released from parasite pressure, the ability to adapt readily to a wide range of habitat conditions is likely paramount for the invasive success of P. antipodarum.

The Colonization of a Cold Spring Ecosystem by the Invasive Species Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Gray, 1843) (Gastropoda: Tateidae) (Southern Poland)

“…Larger snails also brooded significantly more embryos. Our observed positive impact of temperature was consistent with earlier surveys on size [54,106] and fecundity [58,[106][107][108]. As shown by experimental studies [73,109], the positive effect of temperature on life history has an upper limit.…”

“…It also has a variety of ways of dealing with potential enemies and parasites and is weakly affected by parasites [50][51][52]. In the invaded range of P. antipodarum, no infected snails were found in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands [53,54], and only very low percentages in Poland [55,56], the USA [57,58], France [50,59,60], the United Kingdom (UK) [61] and Australia [62]. Verhaegen et al [54] suggest adding early sexual maturity and the adaptation of size at sexual maturity to the list of functional traits explaining the invasive success of P. antipodarum.…”

Temporal dynamics of freshwater planktonic parasites inferred using a DNA metabarcoding time-series

“…The strong differences in compositional dissimilarity were mainly due to species turnover, where each individual season gains additional (unique) species not found in the other three seasons. Interactions among host life-history traits, environmental heterogeneity and seasonality might be driving these patterns (Berkhout et al ., 2020 ; Verhaegen et al ., 2020 ).…”

Aquatic invasive species: introduction to the Special Issue and dynamics of public interest

“…Several life history characteristics, including high reproductive plasticity, ovoviviparity and the ability to reproduce parthenogenetically as well as lack of castrating parasites, which are common in its native range, may all contribute to the success of another high-impact AIS, the apple snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Gray, 1843) (Verhaegen et al, 2021). Parasite loads and diversity can vary across different populations of the same invader depending on the size of the source population, with larger founding populations more likely to harbor greater parasite diversity, as demonstrated in genetically distinct and independently introduced populations of pumpkinseed sunfish, Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Europe (Ondračková et al, 2021).…”