Non-native minnows cause much larger negative effects than trout on littoral macroinvertebrates of high mountain lakes

Osorio, Víctor; Puig, Maria Angeles; Buchaca, Teresa; Sabás, Ibor; Miró, Alexandre; Lucati, Federica; Suh, Jongmo; Pou‐Rovira, Quim; Ventura, Marc

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109637

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…These cascades could cause collapse in native species abundances and alter food-web stability. This result echoes previous studies in mountain lakes which showed declines in macroinvertebrate diversity in presence of trout that were exacerbated with the addition of minnows (Osorio et al, 2022).…”

Section: Effects Of Vertical Diversitysupporting

confidence: 89%

Changes in vertical and horizontal diversities mediated by the size structure of introduced fish collectively shape food‐web stability

Vagnon,

Pomeranz,

Loheac

et al. 2023

Ecology Letters

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Species introductions can alter local food‐web structure by changing the vertical or horizontal diversity within communities, largely driven by their body size distributions. Increasing vertical and horizontal diversities is predicted to have opposing effects on stability. However, their interactive effects remain largely overlooked. We investigated the independent and collective effects of vertical and horizontal diversities on food‐web stability in alpine lakes stocked with variable body size distributions of introduced fish species. Introduced predators destabilize food‐webs by increasing vertical diversity through food chain lengthening. Alternatively, increasing horizontal diversity results in more stable food‐web topologies. A non‐linear interaction between vertical and horizontal diversities suggests that increasing vertical diversity is most destabilizing when horizontal diversity is low. Our findings suggest that the size structure of introduced predators drives their impacts on stability by modifying the structure of food‐webs, and highlights the interactive effects of vertical and horizontal diversities on stability.

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Section: Effects Of Vertical Diversitysupporting

confidence: 89%

Changes in vertical and horizontal diversities mediated by the size structure of introduced fish collectively shape food‐web stability

Vagnon,

Pomeranz,

Loheac

et al. 2023

Ecology Letters

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“…Likely, the composition of phytoplankton is not the most sensitive indicator of the possible impact of trout on mountain lakes. On the contrary, amphibians and invertebrates from the littoral zone are impacted by trout and, even more, by minnows when present (Miró et al., 2018; Osorio et al., 2022). Therefore, the presence of trout does not appear to be an obstacle that interferes with the contribution of phytoplankton to the global change sentinel role of high mountain lakes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinearities in phytoplankton groups across temperate high mountain lakes

Buchaca,

Catalan

2024

Journal of Ecology

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High mountain lakes are increasingly recognized as sentinel ecosystems of global change. Monitoring phytoplankton changes or reconstructing their composition from sedimentary records can help identify systemic changes in these lakes and their catchments. This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of the major phytoplankton groups in high mountain lakes across environmental gradients and identify tipping points in relative dominance. The phytoplankton groups were estimated using pigment‐based chemotaxonomy in 79 lakes in the Pyrenees selected to cover the bedrock and elevation gradients. Fifty‐four environment variables were considered, including in‐lake and catchment descriptors. Redundancy analyses showed that in‐lake descriptors override the explicative capacity of landscape variables. Generalized additive models and multivariate regression trees showed that water hardness, trophic state and food‐web descriptors were, in this order, the most influential factors determining phytoplankton group dominance. Calcium concentration of about 200 μeq L−1 defined the threshold between soft waters—with chrysophytes and chlorophytes showing a higher affinity for them—and harder waters that favour diatoms and cyanobacteria. Across the trophic gradient, there was a threshold at ~5 μg L−1 of total phosphorus (TP), chrysophytes being dominant below that TP value and cryptophytes above. The dominance of chlorophytes and cryptophytes increased with the density of macrozooplankton. Chrysophytes were significantly lower and diatoms higher in lakes with fish. Synthesis. The relative abundance of phytoplankton groups in temperate high mountain lakes responds in a nonlinear way to the hardness of the water in the range 20–1195 Ca2+ μeq L−1 and the trophic state in the range 0.94–19 TP μg L −1. The thresholds across water hardness and trophic state gradients coincide with studies based on other organisms, pointing to a robust typology for mountain lakes that should be considered when selecting global change sentinel lakes and anticipating abrupt transitions across these thresholds.

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“…It is worth noting that the presence of minnows in the littoral of the lake that likely relates to the intensification of fishing practices since the 1980s could have also contributed to alter the abundances littoral invertebrates (Osorio et al. 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 2014 ; Osorio et al. 2022 ). Their impacts mostly rely on direct predation of conspicuous benthic invertebrates as well as large zooplankton (e.g., Daphnia sp.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intense touristic activities exceed climate change to shape aquatic communities in a mountain lake

et al. 2023

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Mountain lakes are especially vulnerable to climate change, but are also increasingly exposed to local anthropogenic development through winter and summer tourism. In this study, we aimed to tease apart the influence of tourism from that of climate in a mountain lake located within one of the largest French ski resorts, by combining paleolimnological and present ecological data. The reconstructed long-term ecological dynamics highlighted an increase in lake biological production from the end of the Little Ice Age up to the 1950s, suggesting a historical dominance of climate control. Afterward, a major drop in pelagic production occurred at the same time as the watershed erosion increased and peaked in the 1990s, concomitant with massive digging for the ski resort expansion. The benthic invertebrates collapsed in the 1980s, concomitantly with the onset of massive salmonid stocking and recent warming. Stable isotope analyses identified benthic invertebrates as the major salmonid diet resource and suggested a possible direct impact of salmonid stocking on benthic invertebrates. However, habitat use may differ among salmonid species as suggested by the way fish DNA was preserved in surficial sediment. The high abundances of macrozooplankton further confirmed the limited reliance of salmonids on pelagic resources. The variable thermal tolerance of benthic invertebrates suggested that the recent warming may mostly affect littoral habitats. Our results indicate that winter and summer tourism may differently affect the biodiversity of mountain lakes and could collectively interfere with the ecological impacts of recent warming, making local management of primary importance to preserve their ecological integrity. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00027-023-00968-6.

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Non-native minnows cause much larger negative effects than trout on littoral macroinvertebrates of high mountain lakes

Cited by 5 publications

References 43 publications

Changes in vertical and horizontal diversities mediated by the size structure of introduced fish collectively shape food‐web stability

Changes in vertical and horizontal diversities mediated by the size structure of introduced fish collectively shape food‐web stability

Nonlinearities in phytoplankton groups across temperate high mountain lakes

Intense touristic activities exceed climate change to shape aquatic communities in a mountain lake

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