Stable isotope evidence for dietary overlap between alien and native gastropods in coastal lakes of northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tarebia granifera (Lamarck, 1822) is originally from South-East Asia, but has been introduced and become invasive in many tropical and subtropical parts of the world. In South Africa, T. granifera is rapidly invading an increasing number of coastal lakes and estuaries, often reaching very high population densities and dominating shallow water benthic invertebrate assemblages. An assessment of the feeding dynamics of T. granifera has raised questions about potential ecological impacts, specifically in terms of its dietary overlap with native gastropods.

Methodology/principal findings

A stable isotope mixing model was used together with gut content analysis to estimate the diet of T. granifera and native gastropod populations in three different coastal lakes. Popula

SUBMITTER: Miranda NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3283693 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature