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Differences in population dynamics and potential impacts of a freshwater invader driven by temporal habitat stability

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Abstract

Understanding population dynamics and population regulation of invasive species is critical for predicting their effects on native ecosystems as well as for control strategies. Many species of gastropod in the genus Pomacea are successful aquatic invaders that have caused economic and ecological impacts in Southeastern Asia where their large fecundity and broad reproductive window helps them to colonize and take advantages of ephemeral agricultural habitats. We followed the population dynamics of P. insularum in permanent, stable freshwater systems (ponds and streams), and in ephemeral agricultural habitats in the upper Texas Gulf Coast region, USA. We found that although P. insularum has a large reproductive potential, its density, biomass and size structure in stable permanent systems did not change significantly from March to November, and densities averaged <2 m−2. This same species, however, displayed very different population dynamics in ephemeral agricultural environments. We found high densities (>130 m−2), and no stable size structure through time. Differences in the stability and persistence of these two types of environments appear to drive these patterns. Stability and persistence of habitats can result in different predator communities and the risk of predation for snails. We suggest that such factors may cause the differences in population dynamics and structure observed. The ability of snails to escape population control and explode in ephemeral habitats could drive the types of impacts seen on agricultural crops.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grant number 414197 from US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Galveston Bay Estuary Program, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. We thank the managers and staff at the Chambers County Golf Course for facilitating monthly sampling of Pomacea insularum at their facility. We appreciate the help of Mark Kramer and Ann Brinly (Armand Bayou Nature Center), Jeff DallaRosa (Galveston Bay Estuary Program, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality), Ronny Dumesnil and Curt Mowery, Robert G. Howells, students from Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, Texas) Amanda Camp, Edgardo Avelar, Daniel Bennett and Olga Minich; Rodrigo Menezes (Conroe ISD Academy of Science and Technology, Woodlands, Texas); Pudge Willcox (Chambers-Liberty Counties Navigation District, Anahuac, Texas), and John K. Saichuk (Louisiana State University AgCenter). We thank Ronny Dumesnil, Michael J. Stout (Louisiana State University) and M. O. Way (Texas A&M University System AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Beaumont) for helpful suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript. LEB was supported by Research Foundation of SUNY and acknowledges a grant from Buffalo State College Research Council Incentive Funds (Award # 32918 to AYK and LEB). We are very thankful to the referees for their valuable comments that helped to improve the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. David N. Hollas

    Present address: Smith International, Inc., 16740 Hardy Street (77032), P. O. Box 60068, Houston, TX, 77205, USA

  2. Leah D. Cartwright

    Present address: URS Corporation, 9801 Westheimer, Suite 500, Houston, TX, 77042, USA

  3. Kevin D. Nichol

    Present address: University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Great Lakes Center, Buffalo State College, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY, 14222, USA

    Lyubov E. Burlakova & Alexander Y. Karatayev

  2. Buffalo State College, Office of Sponsored Programs, The Research Foundation of The State University of New York, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Bishop Hall B17, Buffalo, NY, 14222-1095, USA

    Lyubov E. Burlakova

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-5245, USA

    Dianna K. Padilla

  4. Division of Environmental Science, Stephen F. Austin State University, P. O. Box 13073, SFA Station, Nacogdoches, TX, 75962-3073, USA

    David N. Hollas, Leah D. Cartwright & Kevin D. Nichol

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  1. Lyubov E. Burlakova
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Correspondence to Lyubov E. Burlakova.

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Burlakova, L.E., Padilla, D.K., Karatayev, A.Y. et al. Differences in population dynamics and potential impacts of a freshwater invader driven by temporal habitat stability. Biol Invasions 12, 927–941 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-009-9513-5

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