The spatiotemporal dynamics of invasive three-spined sticklebacks in a large, deep lake and possible options for stock reduction

Gugele, Sarah Maria; Baer, Jan; Brinker, Alexander

doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2020.105746

Cited by 18 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…There is indirect evidence from growth and recruitment point data that strong competition exists between sticklebacks and native whitefish, Coregonus spp. (Roch et al, 2018;Rösch et al, 2018;Gugele et al, 2020). The clear food niche overlap identified in this study points at an additional competition between stickleback and perch, potentially contributing to the creation of a novel food web structure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…Schulze et al, 2012;Semeniuk et al, 2015), relatively little is known about the detailed dietary composition of pelagic 0 + perch in Upper Lake Constance before the appearance of stickleback in the same waters. Nevertheless, given the high numbers of sticklebacks now present in pelagic waters (Eckmann and Enggeser, 2019;Gugele et al, 2020), effects on the performance of perch are to be expected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since 2012/13 however, the species has appeared in very large numbers in the pelagic zone of Upper Lake Constance (Rösch et al, 2018;Eckmann and Engesser, 2019), and in 2014 it comprised more than 95% of pelagic fish abundance and made up about 28% of total fish biomass (Alexander et al, 2016). During recent years, highest abundances of sticklebacks were found in late summer, when densities exceeded 10,000 individuals per hectare (Gugele et al, 2020). To clarify the situation in Upper Lake Constance and the impact of the stickleback mass occurrence on cooccurring species and the pelagic food web, it is important to understand the species' feeding ecology in relation to other species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Feeding Ecology of Invasive Three-Spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in Relation to Native Juvenile Eurasian Perch (Perca fluviatilis) in the Pelagic Zone of Upper Lake Constance

Bretzel

Geist

Gugele

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The fish community of Lake Constance, a large, deep, oligotrophic lake has undergone drastic changes in recent years, with the sudden rise to dominance of invasive three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in the pelagic zone, a rather atypical habitat for this species in Central Europe. The core objective of this study was to compare the feeding ecology of stickleback and young Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) in this unique situation to identify reasons for this unexpected dominance, a possible food niche and feeding time overlap, and to discuss consequences for the reshaped pelagic fish community. The diel feeding patterns and prey compositions of pelagic sticklebacks and juvenile (0+) perch sampled in October 2018 and March 2019 were studied analyzing stomach contents. The diets of both species mostly comprised zooplankton, with copepods appearing in the greatest numbers. Benthic and airborne insects were consumed occasionally, mostly by sticklebacks. Both species exhibited peaks of feeding activity early in the morning, afternoon and dusk, and in both species, stomachs were fullest at dusk. Stickleback stomachs contained about 20% more prey at night than perch, and mean estimated nocturnal stomach fullness values were almost 50% greater. Night feeding in sticklebacks was confirmed by digestive states, pointing to a possible competitive advantage over perch. Dietary composition varied over a 24-h cycle and the pattern of consumption of different prey varied between the species. Perch consumed more comparatively small cladocerans (Bosmina spp.), while larger Daphnia appeared more often in stickleback stomachs. In both species, seasonal variation in diet mirrored food availability, indicating some degree of opportunism. A Morisita-Horn index value of 0.95 confirmed dietary niche overlap between species, suggesting the large population of sticklebacks may exert a competitive effect on juvenile perch when resources are limited. Both the longer feeding periods and greater intake of nutritive high quality prey like daphnids can contribute to the rapid success of stickleback in dominating the pelagic zone of Lake Constance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Feeding Ecology of Invasive Three-Spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in Relation to Native Juvenile Eurasian Perch (Perca fluviatilis) in the Pelagic Zone of Upper Lake Constance

Bretzel

Geist

Gugele

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Hydroacoustic surveys conducted twice yearly in the pelagic zone from 2009 to 2018 showed an exponentially increasing population of small fish (presumably sticklebacks) starting in 2012 and plateauing after 2014 with fluctuations between 1 280 and 7 990 individuals/ha [ 2 ]. Recent trawling surveys found that stickleback density in the pelagic zone was highest in late summer (exceeding 10 000 individuals per hectare), when post-spawning and newly hatched juveniles exit the littoral zone [ 3 ]. A second peak, with densities of up to 2 000 individuals per hectare, also occurred in winter during the spawning season of the endemic and economically important pelagic whitefish Coregonus wartmanni (hereafter referred to as whitefish), [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

All day-long: Sticklebacks effectively forage on whitefish eggs during all light conditions

Baer¹,

Gugele

Bretzel³

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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The three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus invaded Lake Contance in the 1940s and expanded in large numbers from an exclusively shoreline habitat into the pelagic zone in 2012. Stickleback abundance is very high in the pelagic zone in winter near the spawning time of pelagic whitefish Coregonus wartmanni, and it is hypothesized that this is triggered by the opportunity to consume whitefish eggs. Field sampling has qualitatively confirmed predation of whitefish eggs by stickleback, but quantification has proven difficult due to stormy conditions that limit sampling. One fundamental unknown is if freshwater stickleback, known as visual feeders, can successfully find and eat whitefish eggs during twilight and night when whitefish spawn. It is also unknown how long eggs can be identified in stomachs following ingestion, which could limit efforts to quantify egg predation through stomach content analysis. To answer these questions, 144 individuals were given the opportunity to feed on whitefish roe under daylight, twilight, and darkness in controlled conditions. The results showed that stickleback can ingest as many as 100 whitefish eggs under any light conditions, and some individuals even consumed maximum numbers in complete darkness. Furthermore, eggs could be unambiguously identified in the stomach 24 hours after consumption. Whitefish eggs have 28% more energy content than the main diet of sticklebacks (zooplankton) based on bomb-calorimetric measurements, underlining the potential benefits of consuming eggs. Based on experimental results and estimates of stickleback abundance and total egg production, stickleback could potentially consume substantial proportions of the total eggs produced even if relatively few sticklebacks consume eggs. Given the evidence that stickleback can feed on eggs during nighttime spawning and may thereby hamper recruitment, future studies aimed at quantifying actual egg predation and resulting effects on the whitefish population are urgently needed.

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“…Throughout their evolutionary history, marine sticklebacks have repeatedly colonized freshwater environments, rapidly adapted to them and diversified (Stuart et al). Sticklebacks can also spread and have dramatic impacts on freshwater communities (Eklöf et al 2020;Gugele et al 2020). Work on this system has primarily focused on a suite of morphological and physiological traits that repeatedly evolves when marine sticklebacks invade freshwater habitats (Bell et al 2004;Colosimo et al 2005), with evidence that haplotypes containing a set of coadapted alleles are maintained at low frequency in the ocean and are repeatedly tapped during adaptation to freshwater (Bassham et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A behavioral syndrome linking boldness and flexibility facilitates invasion success in sticklebacks

2021

Preprint

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Understanding the factors that allow a species to expand its range and adapt to changing habitats is essential for mitigating anthropogenic change. We evaluated how behavior and cognition facilitate colonization of new environments and evolve post establishment during natural biological invasions. Marine threespined sticklebacks are expert colonists with a penchant for invading freshwater environments and rapidly adapting to them. However, the role of behavior in facilitating rapid adaptation in this system has received little attention. By rearing replicate populations of sticklebacks under common garden conditions in the lab, we tested the hypothesis that boldness is favored in dispersers and that neophilia and flexibility are favored in recently-arrived immigrants. We found that dispersing populations comprised bold individuals, while sticklebacks from the invaded region were flexible in their behavior. Moreover, boldness and flexibility were negatively correlated with each another at the individual, family and population levels. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that there is a heritable component to boldness and flexibility, therefore their divergence is likely to be evolutionary in origin. If boldness is favored in invaders during the initial dispersal stage, while flexibility is favored in recent immigrants during the establishment stage, then the link between boldness and flexibility could generate positive correlations between successes during both the dispersal and establishment stages, and therefore play a key role in facilitating colonization success in this important model organism.

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The spatiotemporal dynamics of invasive three-spined sticklebacks in a large, deep lake and possible options for stock reduction

Cited by 18 publications

References 30 publications

Feeding Ecology of Invasive Three-Spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in Relation to Native Juvenile Eurasian Perch (Perca fluviatilis) in the Pelagic Zone of Upper Lake Constance

Feeding Ecology of Invasive Three-Spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in Relation to Native Juvenile Eurasian Perch (Perca fluviatilis) in the Pelagic Zone of Upper Lake Constance

All day-long: Sticklebacks effectively forage on whitefish eggs during all light conditions

A behavioral syndrome linking boldness and flexibility facilitates invasion success in sticklebacks

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