﻿More than we bargained for: Zebra mussels transported amongst European native freshwater snails

Dickey, James W. E.; Brennan, Reid S.; Chung, Sheena Suet-Wah; Jeschke, Jonathan M.; Steffen, Gregor T.; Briski, Elizabeta

doi:10.3897/neobiota.83.97647

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Our metrics could also provide a starting point for the creation of low‐risk species lists to be sold in place of riskier species (Patoka et al, 2018; Simberloff, 2006). Of course, such lists would warrant ‘serious expert scrutiny’ (Simberloff, 2006), requiring traits beyond ecological niche, such as potential for disease spread (Tilmans et al, 2014) or zoochorous dispersal of other invasive NNS (Dickey et al, 2023) to be accounted for.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Identifying potential emerging invasive non‐native species from the freshwater pet trade

Dickey,

Liu,

Briski

et al. 2023

People and Nature

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An increasingly globalised world has facilitated the movement of non‐native species (NNS) via the poorly regulated international pet trade. While focus is increasingly being placed on preventative action to combat invasive NNS—often cheaper and less difficult than the management of established populations—successful prevention requires controlling potential pathways and obtaining baseline knowledge of species' availability. Here we performed an in‐depth analysis of the freshwater pet trade as one major vector of NNS, compiling its species inventory and deriving threats of NNS release and establishment in the wild. With Germany as our study region, we surveyed pet stores, websites and the country's largest online classified portal, eBay Kleinanzeigen, recording the taxa encountered. For each species, we determined the likelihood of release based on availability and price (cheaper and/or more readily available species have been shown to be of greater risk), and the likelihood of establishment based on ecological niche breadth and niche overlap with environmental conditions in Germany. The survey revealed 669 species, of which 651 were non‐native to Germany. Looking at release likelihood, more readily available species in pet stores and on websites proved to be cheaper. For websites, there was a significant effect of occurrence status (i.e. released, not released, native) on price, with released and native species being significantly cheaper. Species previously released in Germany and elsewhere demonstrated greater niche breadths and greater niche overlaps between their source regions and Germany; and for species released in Germany, there was a significantly positive relationship between the magnitude of niche overlap and the number of documented occurrences. Finally, we combined our release and establishment likelihood findings under ‘Release Risk’ metrics to highlight the species most worthy of prioritisation. We propose these metrics as proactive methods for screening species in the trade, which can inform future policy direction and intervention. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of course, such lists would warrant 'serious expert scrutiny' (Simberloff, 2006), requiring traits beyond ecological niche, such as potential for disease spread (Tilmans et al, 2014) or zoochorous dispersal of other invasive NNS (Dickey et al, 2023) to be accounted for.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying potential emerging invasive non‐native species from the freshwater pet trade

Dickey,

Liu,

Briski

et al. 2023

People and Nature

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The faunal Ponto-Caspianization of central and western European waterways

et al. 2023

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As alien invasive species are a key driver of biodiversity loss, understanding patterns of rapidly changing global species compositions depends upon knowledge of invasive species population dynamics and trends at large scales. Within this context, the Ponto-Caspian region is among the most notable donor regions for aquatic invasive species in Europe. Using macroinvertebrate time series collected over 52 years (1968–2020) at 265 sites across 11 central and western European countries, we examined the occurrences, invasion rates, and abundances of freshwater Ponto-Caspian fauna. We examined whether: (i) successive Ponto-Caspian invasions follow a consistent pattern of composition pioneered by the same species, and (ii) Ponto-Caspian invasion accelerates subsequent invasion rates. In our dataset, Ponto-Caspian macroinvertebrates increased from two species in 1972 to 29 species in 2012. This trend was parallelled by a non-significant increasing trend in the abundances of Ponto-Caspian taxa. Trends in Ponto-Caspian invader richness increased significantly over time. We found a relatively uniform distribution of Ponto-Caspian macroinvertebrates across Europe without any relation to the distance to their native region. The Ponto-Caspian species that arrived first were often bivalves (46.5% of cases), particularly Dreissena polymorpha, followed secondarily by amphipods (83.8%; primarily Chelicorophium curvispinum and Dikerogammarus villosus). The time between consecutive invasions decreased significantly at our coarse regional scale, suggesting that previous alien establishments may facilitate invasions of subsequent taxa. Should alien species continue to translocate from the Ponto-Caspian region, our results suggest a high potential for their future invasion success highly connected central and western European waters. However, each species’ population may decline after an initial ‘boom’ phase or after the arrival of new invasive species, resulting in different alien species dominating over time.

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Differential survival and feeding rates of three commonly traded gastropods across salinities

Renk,

Dickey,

Cuthbert

et al. 2024

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Increasing rates of biological invasions pose major ecological and economic threats globally. The pet trade is one major invasion pathway, and environmental change could mediate the successful establishment and impact of these released or escaped non-native species (NNS). Salinity regime shifts are a pervasive but often overlooked environmental change in aquatic ecosystems. This study investigates the establishment and impact risks posed by three readily available, traded snail species – Melanoides tuberculata, Tarebia granifera and Anentome helena – by assessing their survival and feeding responses across a spectrum of salinity levels (0.2–16 g/kg). Survival differed among the species, with M. tuberculata showing close to 100% survival across the salinity range, T. granifera exhibiting heightened mortality at 16 g/kg, and A. helena displaying no survival at salinities above 12 g/kg. In feeding experiments assessing the more resilient M. tuberculata and T. granifera, the former had greater consumption rates towards both plant- (spinach) and animal-based (daphniid) resources. While salinity and density effects did not affect animal consumption, they both had significant effects on plant consumption, with feeding suppressed for both consumers under a salinity of 8 g/kg relative to freshwater conditions. When combining proportional survival and resource consumption for M. tuberculata and T. granifera, M. tuberculata demonstrated higher impact potential towards both plant and animal resources, highlighting its potential to exert higher ecological impacts. Studies have overlooked the importance of salinity for invasion success and the impact of pet trade species. We therefore propose that these methods provide a screening tool to assess the potential risks of traded species establishing and exerting impacts, and we encourage future studies to account for a broader range of abiotic stressors.

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More than we bargained for: Zebra mussels transported amongst European native freshwater snails

Cited by 3 publications

References 30 publications

Identifying potential emerging invasive non‐native species from the freshwater pet trade

Identifying potential emerging invasive non‐native species from the freshwater pet trade

The faunal Ponto-Caspianization of central and western European waterways

Differential survival and feeding rates of three commonly traded gastropods across salinities

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﻿More than we bargained for: Zebra mussels transported amongst European native freshwater snails

Cited by 3 publications

References 30 publications

Identifying potential emerging invasive non‐native species from the freshwater pet trade

Identifying potential emerging invasive non‐native species from the freshwater pet trade

The faunal Ponto-Caspianization of central and western European waterways

Differential survival and feeding rates of three commonly traded gastropods across salinities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

More than we bargained for: Zebra mussels transported amongst European native freshwater snails