Changes in survivorship,behavior, and morphology in native soft‐shell clams induced by invasive green crab predators

Many studies on invasive species show reduced native densities, but few studies measure trait‐mediated effects as mechanisms for changes in native growth rates and population dynamics. Where native prey face invasive predators, mechanisms for phenotypic change include selective predation, or induced behavioral or morphological plasticity. Invasive green crabs, Carcinus maenas, have contributed to declines in native soft‐shell clams, Mya arenaria, in coastal New England, USA. We tested the hypothesis that clam ability to detect chemical cues from predators or damaged conspecifics would induce greater burrowing depth as a refuge from invasive crabs, and greater burrowing would require increased siphon growth. To determine how crab predation affected clam survivorship and phenotypic traits in the field, clams in exclosure, open, and crab enclosure plots were compared. Crab predation reduced clam density, and surviving clams were deeper and larger, with longer siphons. To determine whether the mechanism for these results was selective predation or induced plasticity, phenotypes were compared between clams exposed to chemical cues from crab predation and clams exposed to seawater in laboratory and field experiments. In response to crab predation cues, clams burrowed deeper, with longer siphons and greater siphon mass. Overall, crab predation removed clams with shorter siphons at shallow depths, and crab predation cues induced greater burrowing depths and longer siphons. Longer siphons and greater siphon mass of deeper clams suggests clams may allocate energy to siphon growth in response to crabs. By determining native behavior and morphological changes in response to an invasive predator, this study adds to our understanding of mechanisms for invasive impacts and illustrates the utility of measuring trait‐mediated effects to investigate predator–prey dynamics.     

Seasonal variation of the soil seed bank of grasses in central Argentina as related to grazing and shrub cover

The objectives of this research were to (a) study seasonal variation of the seed bank of grasses in two areas with different grazing history, (b) analyse the effect of the presence of shrubs on the seed bank and (c) study seed viability and dormancy in buried seeds of Piptochaetium napostaense and Stipa tenuis. The seed density of grasses was in general low and showed seasonal variation. Most of the grasses showed maximum seed density in December when seed dispersal occurs. Shrub cover did not show a marked influence in seed accumulation. The relatively high number of damaged seeds suggests that predation may be an important factor in seed bank dynamics in the Caldenal. Seeds of dominant perennial forage grasses showed dormancy that could explain, at least in part, persistence of these species in spite of periodical disturbance.     

Seasonal use of coastal resources by otters: Comparing sandy and rocky stretches

Seasonal patterns of use of coastal resources by otters have been studied, simultaneously performing diet analyses and spraint counts (expressed as marking intensity, MI). In spite of the small size of the study area, two different sectors could be clearly identified, a sandy and a rocky one. The origin (freshwater or coastal) of most prey types could also be determined. Surveys were performed bimonthly and classified as autumn–winter (A–W) or spring–summer (S–S).In the sandy sector, eels, flatfish and grey mullets were more frequently consumed in A–W, while crayfish was more frequently consumed in S–S. None of the identified prey types in the rocky sectors showed different frequency of occurrence values between the two periods. In this sector otter fed mainly on coastal prey throughout the year, while in the sandy one there was a clear shift from coastal prey to freshwater ones in S–S. The decrease of coastal prey consumption in S–S in the sandy sector coincided with the lowest MI values, showing that in this period otters use coastal areas less intensely. Though shifts in otter diet and use of space in the sandy sector are probably influenced by the population dynamics of estuarine fish species and crayfish, the increased tourist disturbance during spring and summer in the sandy sector could be an important determinant of the observed patterns. Finally, the results show that MI can be used as a reliable measure of habitat use by otters, at least in small areas.     

All washed up: spatial and temporal variation in the wash-up and fate of chondrichthyan egg cases along a section of the Garden Route,South Africa

Washed-up chondrichthyan egg cases were collected along three different sandy beaches around Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, between April 2016 and March 2017. GPS location was recorded upon collection, and, after being soaked in fresh water for 12 hours, egg cases were identified to species level. Additionally, boreholes, damage, biofouling and state of the hatchling slit were recorded. The hatching success of each egg case was inferred from these factors. Over the year, 6 996 egg cases of nine species were collected. Egg cases of the tiger catshark Halaelurus natalensis had the highest hatching rate at 70%. Egg cases of the leopard catshark Poroderma pantherinum had the highest predation rate at 57%. Season had no significant effect either on overall egg-case counts or on per-species counts. Location, however, significantly affected the overall egg-case counts, as well as per-species counts, with the exceptions of H. natalensis and the St Joseph Callorhinchus capensis. The results of this study provide insight into chondrichthyan species occurrence and spatial variation along a section of the Garden Route in the Western Cape Province and can act as a baseline for future research.     

Overlooked small and juvenile piscivores dominate shallow-water estuarine “refuges” in tropical Australia

A model was developed to estimate the relative impacts of different functional groups of piscivores on the shallow-water estuarine nursery assemblage of tropical north-eastern Australia. Data on variability in the occurrence, number and type of fish in the diet of different piscivores was combined with estimates of the abundance of each group. The model predicts that previously overlooked small and occasional or ‘minor’ piscivores, such as sillaginids, ambassids, sparids and small juvenile carangids, inflict mortality on new recruits to shallow-water nursery habitats that is orders of magnitude greater than that imparted by more conspicuous larger piscivores. Because of their high abundance, a shift in the diet of minor piscivores to prey on new recruits results in a massive increase in the consumption of fish prey by the piscivore assemblage as a whole. Even if the evidence that minor piscivores switch to target new recruits was rejected, the model shows that the highly abundant minor piscivores must still exert a significant proportion of predation mortality experienced by recruiting fishes. As a broad functional group, minor piscivores occur in most aquatic systems around the globe and are likely to play an important but largely overlooked role as predators that shape communities through predation on critical early life stages of other fishes.