Propagule pressure of an invasive crab overwhelms native biotic resistance

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 342:191-196 (2007) - doi:10.3354/meps342191 Propagule pressure of an invasive crab overwhelms native biotic resistance A. L. Hollebone, M. E. Hay* School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0230, USA *Corresponding author. Email: mark.hay@biology.gatech.edu ABSTRACT: Over the last decade, the porcelain crab Petrolisthes armatus invaded oyster reefs of Georgia, USA, at mean densities of up to 11000 adults m–2. Interactions affecting the invasion are undocumented. We tested the effects of native species richness and composition on invasibility by constructing isolated reef communities with 0, 2, or 4 of the most common native species, by seeding adult P. armatus into a subset of the 4 native species communities and by constructing communities with and without native, predatory mud crabs. At 4 wk, recruitment of P. armatus juveniles to oyster shells lacking native species was 2.75 times greater than to the 2 native species treatment and 3.75 times greater than to the 4 native species treatment. The biotic resistance produced by 2 species of native filter feeders may have occurred due to competition with, or predation on, the settling juveniles of the filter feeding invasive crab. Adding adult porcelain crabs to communities with 4 native species enhanced recruitment by a significant 3-fold, and countered the effects of native biotic resistance. Differences in recruitment at Week 4 were lost by Weeks 8 and 12, when densities of recent recruits reached ~17000 to 34000 crabs m–2 across all treatments. Thus, native species richness slows initial invasion, but early colonists stimulate settlement by later ones and produce tremendous propagule pressure that overwhelms the effects of biotic resistance. KEY WORDS: Exotic crab · Invasive species · Marine bioinvasion · Oyster reef · Recruitment · South Atlantic Bight Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 342. Online publication date: July 24, 2007 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2007 Inter-Research.