期刊
OECOLOGIA
卷 202, 期 4, 页码 757-767出版社
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05434-6
关键词
Amphibian decline; Biotic interactions; Environmental DNA; Invasive species; Predator-prey interactions
类别
Invasive predatory species can have significant impacts on population dynamics and ecosystems. This study demonstrates the use of environmental DNA analysis to assess predator-prey interactions and confirms the role of invasive fishes in declining amphibian populations.
Invasive predatory species may alter population dynamic processes of their prey and impact biological communities and ecosystem processes. Revealing biotic interactions, however, including the relationship between predator and prey, is a difficult task, in particular for species that are hard to monitor. Here, we present a case study that documents the utility of environmental DNA analysis (eDNA) to assess predator-prey interactions between two invasive fishes (Lepomis gibbosus, Pseudorasbora parva) and two potential amphibian prey species, (Triturus cristatus, Pelobates fuscus). We used species-specific TaqMan assays for quantitative assessment of eDNA concentrations from water samples collected from 89 sites across 31 ponds during three consecutive months from a local amphibian hotspot in Germany. We found a negative relationship between eDNA concentrations of the predators (fishes) and prey (amphibians) using Monte-Carlo tests. Our study highlights the potential of eDNA application to reveal predator-prey interactions and confirms the hypothesis that the observed local declines of amphibian species may be at least partly caused by recently introduced invasive fishes. Our findings have important consequences for local conservation management and highlight the usefulness of eDNA approaches to assess ecological interactions and guide targeted conservation action.
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