Thermal sensitivity predicts the establishment success of nonnative species in a mesocosm warming experiment

Abstract

Abstract. While climate change is likely to modify biological interactions between species, it is not clear how altered biotic interactions will influence specific processes such as community assembly. We show that small increases in water temperature can alter the establishment success of the nonnative, tropical zooplankton species, Daphnia lumholtzi, and suggest a general framework for understanding species establishment in the context of climate change. We compared the establishment success of D. lumholtzi and the native congener D. pulex in a mesocosm experiment manipulating temperature, food conditions, and the identity of the resident vs. establishing species. To understand if our mesocosm results could have been predicted by thermal physiology, we characterized the thermal sensitivity of each species' population growth rate and estimated the temperatures at which each species would outperform the other. As predicted by the thermal sensitivities, invading D. lumholtzi were able to establish regardless of temperature and food resources, and established more rapidly in heated mesocosms. Invading D. pulex reached higher initial abundances in ambienttemperature mesocosms but failed to establish in any heated mesocosms. These findings suggest that thermal sensitivity may predict how altered interactions between species can influence community assembly, and that higher lake temperatures will likely aid the future establishment of nonnative D. lumholtzi in North America.

Predicting consequences of climate change for ecosystem functioning: variation across trophic levels, species and individuals

“…Such joint effects of temperature and competition have previously been shown to control species distributions in damselflies (Nilsson-€ Ortman et al, 2013) and Daphnia (Fey & Cottingham, 2012) and have been predicted for brown trout (Hein et al, 2013) and sessile marine invertebrates (Sorte & White, 2013). Such joint effects of temperature and competition have previously been shown to control species distributions in damselflies (Nilsson-€ Ortman et al, 2013) and Daphnia (Fey & Cottingham, 2012) and have been predicted for brown trout (Hein et al, 2013) and sessile marine invertebrates (Sorte & White, 2013).…”

The temperature independence of interaction strength in a sit‐and‐wait predator

“…3A), which would have generated error in our measurements of both the dynamic interaction strength and the functional response parameters (Table 1). Despite this noise, however, there is no suggestion of an increase in interaction strength with temperature in either interaction strength metric, even though measurements span 88C, which for other small crustaceans can cover almost the entire rising portion of a thermal performance curve (Fey and Cottingham 2012). In addition, R 2 values for the fits of Eq.…”

Temperature‐mediated biotic interactions influence enemy release of nonnative species in warming environments

“…The success of D. lumholtzi in North America had previously been attributed to either its morphological defenses reducing susceptibility to fish predation (Engel and Tollrian 2009) or its high thermal tolerance, which may allow it to outperform similar native Daphnia species during the warmest summer months (Lennon et al 2001, Havel et al 2002, Engel and Tollrian 2012, Fey and Cottingham 2012. The success of D. lumholtzi in North America had previously been attributed to either its morphological defenses reducing susceptibility to fish predation (Engel and Tollrian 2009) or its high thermal tolerance, which may allow it to outperform similar native Daphnia species during the warmest summer months (Lennon et al 2001, Havel et al 2002, Engel and Tollrian 2012, Fey and Cottingham 2012.…”

“…Few studies have tested the effects of changing temperatures on the long-term success of nonnative species in their new ecological communities (Hellmann et al 2008). While increases in temperature will likely affect the success of invasive species by altering patterns of dominance and competitive interactions between native and nonnative species (Tylianakis et al 2008, Wolkovich and Cleland 2011, Fey and Cottingham 2012, little is known about the interplay between temperature-dependent physiological processes and temperature-mediated biotic interactions. A mechanistic understanding of the link between climate warming and the success of invasive species might enhance predictions of the expected abundances of, and traits associated with, invasive species and the development of effective mitigation strategies aimed at their prevention and management.…”