IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0120248.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Experimental Tests of Priority Effects and Light Availability on Relative Performance of Myriophyllum spicatum and Elodea nuttallii Propagules in Artificial Stream Channels

Author

Listed:
  • Emily P Zefferman

Abstract

Submersed macrophytes have important ecological functions in many streams, but fostering growth of beneficial native species while suppressing weedy invasives may be challenging. Two approaches commonly used in management of terrestrial plant communities may be useful in this context: (1) altering resource availability and (2) establishing desirable species before weeds can invade (priority effects). However, these approaches are rarely used in aquatic systems, despite widespread need for sustainable solutions to aquatic weed problems. In artificial stream channels in California, USA, I conducted experiments with asexual propagules of non-native invasive Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian watermilfoil) and native Elodea nuttallii (western waterweed) to address the questions: (1) How does light availability affect relative performance of the two species?; (2) Does planting the native earlier than the invasive decrease survival or growth rate of the invasive?; and (3) Do light level and priority effects interact? The relative performance between E. nuttallii and M. spicatum had an interesting and unexpected pattern: M. spicatum had higher growth rates than E. nuttallii in the zero and medium shade levels, but had similar performance in the low and high shade levels. This pattern is most likely the result of E. nutallii’s sensitivity to both very low and very high light, and M. spicatum’s sensitivity to very low light only. Native priority did not significantly affect growth rate or survival of M. spicatum, possibly because of unexpectedly poor growth of the E. nuttallii planted early. This study suggests that altering light levels could be effective in reducing growth of an invasive macrophyte, and for changing the competitive balance between a native and a non-native species in the establishment phase. Further investigations into the use of priority effects and resource alteration for submersed macrophyte management are warranted, given their mixed results in other (limited) studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Emily P Zefferman, 2015. "Experimental Tests of Priority Effects and Light Availability on Relative Performance of Myriophyllum spicatum and Elodea nuttallii Propagules in Artificial Stream Channels," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0120248
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120248
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120248
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120248&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0120248?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jennifer L. Funk & Peter M. Vitousek, 2007. "Resource-use efficiency and plant invasion in low-resource systems," Nature, Nature, vol. 446(7139), pages 1079-1081, April.
    2. Pimentel, David & Zuniga, Rodolfo & Morrison, Doug, 2005. "Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 273-288, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ceddia, M.G. & Bardsley, N.O. & Goodwin, R. & Holloway, G.J. & Nocella, G. & Stasi, A., 2013. "A complex system perspective on the emergence and spread of infectious diseases: Integrating economic and ecological aspects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 124-131.
    2. Blackwood, Julie & Hastings, Alan & Costello, Christopher, 2010. "Cost-effective management of invasive species using linear-quadratic control," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 519-527, January.
    3. Don Driscoll & Adam Felton & Philip Gibbons & Annika Felton & Nicola Munro & David Lindenmayer, 2012. "Priorities in policy and management when existing biodiversity stressors interact with climate-change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 533-557, April.
    4. Sinden, John Alfred & Griffith, Garry, 2007. "Combining economic and ecological arguments to value the environmental gains from control of 35 weeds in Australia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 396-408, March.
    5. Cook, David C., 2008. "Benefit cost analysis of an import access request," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 277-285, June.
    6. Holmberg, Robert J. & Tlusty, Michael F. & Futoma, Elizabeth & Kaufman, Les & Morris, James A. & Rhyne, Andrew L., 2015. "The 800-Pound Grouper in the Room: Asymptotic Body Size and Invasiveness of Marine Aquarium Fishes," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 7-12.
    7. Rai, Rajesh Kumar & Scarborough, Helen, 2012. "Estimating the public benefits of mitigating damages caused by invasive plant species in a subsistence economy," 2012 Conference (56th), February 7-10, 2012, Fremantle, Australia 124421, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    8. Charles Perrings, 2016. "Options for managing the infectious animal and plant disease risks of international trade," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 27-35, February.
    9. Aldrich, Preston R. & El-Zabet, Jermeen & Hassan, Seerat & Briguglio, Joseph & Aliaj, Enela & Radcliffe, Maria & Mirza, Taha & Comar, Timothy & Nadolski, Jeremy & Huebner, Cynthia D., 2015. "Monte Carlo tests of small-world architecture for coarse-grained networks of the United States railroad and highway transportation systems," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 438(C), pages 32-39.
    10. Elofsson, Katarina & Bengtsson, Goran & Gren, Ing-Marie, 2011. "Optimal Management of Invasive Species with Different Reproduction and Survival Strategies," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114343, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. M-Mahdi Naddaf-Sh & Harley Myler & Hassan Zargarzadeh, 2018. "Design and Implementation of an Assistive Real-Time Red Lionfish Detection System for AUV/ROVs," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-10, November.
    12. Costello, Christopher & Springborn, Michael & McAusland, Carol & Solow, Andrew, 2007. "Unintended biological invasions: Does risk vary by trading partner?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 262-276, November.
    13. Antonín Kouba & Francisco J Oficialdegui & Ross N Cuthbert & Melina Kourantidou & Josie South & Elena Tricarico & Rodolphe E Gozlan & Franck Courchamp & Phillip J Haubrock, 2022. "Identifying economic costs and knowledge gaps of invasive aquatic crustaceans," Post-Print hal-03860579, HAL.
    14. İ. Esra Büyüktahtakın & Robert G. Haight, 2018. "A review of operations research models in invasive species management: state of the art, challenges, and future directions," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 271(2), pages 357-403, December.
    15. Horsch, Eric J. & Lewis, David J., 2008. "The Effects of Aquatic Invasive Species on Property Values: Evidence from a Quasi-Random Experiment," Staff Papers 92216, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    16. Alexander H DeGolia & Elizabeth H T Hiroyasu & Sarah E Anderson, 2019. "Economic losses or environmental gains? Framing effects on public support for environmental management," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, July.
    17. Silva, Daniel P. & Gonzalez, Victor H. & Melo, Gabriel A.R. & Lucia, Mariano & Alvarez, Leopoldo J. & De Marco, Paulo, 2014. "Seeking the flowers for the bees: Integrating biotic interactions into niche models to assess the distribution of the exotic bee species Lithurgus huberi in South America," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 273(C), pages 200-209.
    18. Zhang, Congwen & Boyle, Kevin J., 2010. "The effect of an aquatic invasive species (Eurasian watermilfoil) on lakefront property values," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 394-404, December.
    19. Corrado Zoppi, 2018. "Integration of Conservation Measures Concerning Natura 2000 Sites into Marine Protected Areas Regulations: A Study Related to Sardinia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-18, September.
    20. Thomas W Bodey & Zachary T Carter & Phillip J Haubrock & Ross N Cuthbert & Melissa J Welsh & Christophe Diagne & Franck Courchamp, 2022. "Building a synthesis of economic costs of biological invasions in New Zealand," Post-Print hal-03860523, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0120248. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.