Reconstructing the build-up of a pelagic stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) population using hydroacoustics

Eckmann, Reiner; Engesser, Brigitte

doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2018.08.002

Cited by 19 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…There were historically no larval predators in the pelagic zone. Since the end of 2012 however, a massive invasion by three‐spined stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) of the pelagic zone of the lake (Eckmann and Engesser ) has created very significant predation pressure on whitefish (Rösch et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti‐predator mechanisms in evolutionarily predator‐naïve vs. adapted fish larvae

et al. 2019

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It is a fundamental feature of evolution that natural selection acts on individuals to adapt to predation pressure via the development of anti‐predator mechanisms. As such mechanisms are costly in terms of energy and time, species living in habitats where predators are rare or absent were expected to show reduced predator responses. Such a reduction was expected for larvae of the native whitefish (Coregonus wartmanni) in Upper Lake Constance, as these pass their initial stage in a historically predator‐free pelagic habitat and only start to encounter predators in a later ontogenetic stage during which they shift to littoral habitat. However, a recent invader of the pelagic waters of the lake, the three‐spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), is implicated in a severe decline in whitefish recruitment through larval predation. The predator‐naivety effect and its consequences on predation were experimentally tested by comparing predator defenses of different age classes of whitefish with those of roach (Rutilus rutilus) and perch (Perca fluviatilis), two species whose larvae grow up in a predator‐holding habitat. As predator, the three‐spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) was selected. Sticklebacks actively hunted all prey species but predation was high on whitefish only. The addition of zooplankton (Daphnia) as alternative prey for sticklebacks in the experimental setup did not reduce predation on the whitefish larvae, indicating a clear preference for whitefish in this invasive predator. The escape responses of roach and perch were found to be clearly more complex and diverse to those of the predator‐naïve whitefish larvae. Particularly striking was that whitefish often did not show any apparent behavioral response to the approaching predator. Only large whitefish larvae (Table 1: length = 40.8 ± 0.6 mm) appeared capable of escaping predation, and this was correlated with a change in complexity of predator escape responses. Thus, differences in predation pressure for the different larvae species were highly related to the observed interspecific differences in predator defenses, and with the ontogenetic intraspecific change in whitefish from poor and inefficient predator escape responses to complex and more efficient predator escape responses. The evolutionary consequences of stickleback as an invasive predator on whitefish larvae behavior are discussed.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti‐predator mechanisms in evolutionarily predator‐naïve vs. adapted fish larvae

et al. 2019

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“…A later study (Rey and Becker, 2017) documented an increase in the proportion of cormorant stomachs containing stickleback in comparison to the previous survey, with 39% of individuals hunted in the spring of 2016 containing G. aculeatus. Thus, it is possible that these abundant prey items in the pelagic zone (Eckmann and Engesser, 2018) are particularly beneficial when other species of dietary importance, such as Perca fluviatilis, move to deeper water to overwinter (Wang and Eckmann, 1994;Eckmann and Imbrock, 1996). Many other avian species in the region such as grebes, herons, mergansers, kingfishers, gulls, and terns are known to consume threespine stickleback (Foster and Bell, 1994;Werner et al, 2018), so we may observe an increase in their abundance, or changes in migration patterns as well in response to increased pelagic stickleback densities in the future.…”

Section: Examining the Lake Constance Stickleback Population From A Gmentioning

confidence: 99%

Threespine Stickleback in Lake Constance: The Ecology and Genomic Substrate of a Recent Invasion

et al. 2021

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Invasive species can be powerful models for studying contemporary evolution in natural environments. As invading organisms often encounter new habitats during colonization, they will experience novel selection pressures. Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus complex) have recently colonized large parts of Switzerland and are invasive in Lake Constance. Introduced to several watersheds roughly 150 years ago, they spread across the Swiss Plateau (400–800 m a.s.l.), bringing three divergent hitherto allopatric lineages into secondary contact. As stickleback have colonized a variety of different habitat types during this recent range expansion, the Swiss system is a useful model for studying contemporary evolution with and without secondary contact. For example, in the Lake Constance region there has been rapid phenotypic and genetic divergence between a lake population and some stream populations. There is considerable phenotypic variation within the lake population, with individuals foraging in and occupying littoral, offshore pelagic, and profundal waters, the latter of which is a very unusual habitat for stickleback. Furthermore, adults from the lake population can reach up to three times the size of adults from the surrounding stream populations, and are large by comparison to populations globally. Here, we review the historical origins of the threespine stickleback in Switzerland, and the ecomorphological variation and genomic basis of its invasion in Lake Constance. We also outline the potential ecological impacts of this invasion, and highlight the interest for contemporary evolution studies.

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“…30 species, of which three are common in the pelagic zone: the native lake char (Salvelinus umbla), the whitefish and the stickleback. The latter is an invasive, non-native species that has been occurring at high densities in the pelagic zone of Upper Lake Constance since 2012 -2013 (Rösch et al 2018;Eckmann & Engesser 2019), and in 2014 represented 96 % of the total abundance and 28 % of the biomass of pelagic fish (Alexander & Vonlanthen 2016).…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large daphniids are keystone species that link fish predation and phytoplankton in trophic cascades

Ogorelec¹,

Wunsch²,

Kunzmann³

et al. 2021

fal

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Daphniids act as keystone species in lake ecosystems by controlling phytoplankton biomass and experiencingintense fish predation. However, the importance of single daphniid species as trophic links betweenphytoplankton and fish remains unclear, especially compared with other zooplankton taxa. To disentangle the roleof individual zooplankton taxa in the food web of a large lake, we performed an in-situ mesocosm experiment withnatural phytoplankton and zooplankton communities in three treatments with native, invasive or no fish predators,respectively. A large daphniid, Daphnia longispina, was the zooplankter most strongly predated by both fish species,and also had the highest top-down effects on phytoplankton. All other zooplankton taxa, including a smalldaphniid species, had minor roles in terms of both predation by fish and grazing on phytoplankton. We suggest thatdaphniid species with large body sizes can strongly link higher and lower trophic

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Reconstructing the build-up of a pelagic stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) population using hydroacoustics

Cited by 19 publications

References 3 publications

Anti‐predator mechanisms in evolutionarily predator‐naïve vs. adapted fish larvae

Anti‐predator mechanisms in evolutionarily predator‐naïve vs. adapted fish larvae

Threespine Stickleback in Lake Constance: The Ecology and Genomic Substrate of a Recent Invasion

Large daphniids are keystone species that link fish predation and phytoplankton in trophic cascades

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