Non-native Fish Occurrence and Biomass in 1943 Western Palearctic Lakes and Reservoirs and their Abiotic and Biotic Correlates


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Trochine C., Brucet S., Argillier C., Arranz I., BEKLİOĞLU M., Benejam L., ...More

ECOSYSTEMS, vol.21, no.3, pp.395-409, 2018 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 21 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2018
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s10021-017-0156-6
  • Journal Name: ECOSYSTEMS
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.395-409
  • Keywords: invasion biology, lake fish communities, translocated species, exotic species, invasion meltdown, trophic similarity, SPECIES-RICHNESS, BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS, COMMUNITIES, HOMOGENIZATION, ASSEMBLAGE, DIVERSITY, PATTERNS, IMPACT, EUTROPHICATION, ESTABLISHMENT
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Invasion of non-native species is considered a major threat to global biodiversity. Here we present a comprehensive overview of the occurrence, richness and biomass contribution of non-native fish species in 1943 standing water bodies from 14 countries of the Western Palearctic, based on standardised fish catches by multi-mesh gillnetting. We expected strong geographical gradients to emerge in the occurrence of non-natives. We further hypothesised that the contribution by non-natives to the local fish community biomass was correlated with local richness and the trophic level of native and non-native species. Non-native fish species occurred in 304 of 1943 water bodies (16%). If the average number of occupied water bodies per country was weighted by number of water bodies per country, the grand mean occurrence of non-natives in Western Palearctic water bodies was 10%. Exotic (non-native to the Palearctic) and translocated (non-native only to parts of the Palearctic) species were found in 164 (8.4%) or 235 (12.1%) of the water bodies, respectively. The occurrence and local richness of non-native fish species increased with temperature, precipitation and lake area and were substantially higher in reservoirs than in natural lakes. High local biomass contributions of non-native species were strongly correlated with low richness of native species and high richness of non-native species, whereas the trophic level of the fish species had only a weak effect. Single non-native species rarely dominated community biomass, but high biomass contributions and thus strong community and ecosystem impacts can be expected if several non-native species accumulate in a water body.