Journal
ESTUARIES AND COASTS
Volume 32, Issue 2, Pages 319-332Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s12237-008-9117-9
Keywords
Amphipods; Fractal dimension; Gammarus; Gulf of Mexico; Heteranthera; Myriophyllum; Gulf of Mexico; Plant morphology; Vallisneria
Funding
- Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
- Alabama's Center for Estuarine Studies
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This study, conducted in 1997, reports the first estimates of the impacts of the proliferation of an exotic submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) species (Myriophyllum spicatum) on macroinvertebrate production via comparisons with two co-occurring native SAV species (Heteranthera dubia and Vallisneria americana) in the tide-influenced Mobile-Tensaw Delta (located in the north-central Gulf of Mexico, 30A degrees 40' N, 87A degrees 55' W). Production of macroinvertebrates was greatest on M. spicatum and H. dubia and least on V. americana. The key determinant of these differences was a greater abundance of amphipods (Gammarus mucronatus) found on the leaves of M. spicatum and H. dubia. Macroinvertebrate production on M. spicatum was three times greater (> 1 kg m(-2) year(-1)) than on either of the native SAV species. No-choice palatability tests showed that these differences could not be attributed to differences in invertebrate grazing on these plants. Instead, it is probable that the high production within the structurally complex M. spicatum and H. dubia was the result of reduced predator foraging efficiency. If true, then the presence of this exotic species probably renders this elevated production inaccessible to most high-order predators.
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