Competitive replacement of invasive congeners may relax impact on native species: interactions among zebra, quagga, and native unionid mussels.

ABSTRACT: Determining when and where the ecological impacts of invasive species will be most detrimental and whether the effects of multiple invaders will be superadditive, or subadditive, is critical for developing global management priorities to protect native species in advance of future invasions. Over the past century, the decline of freshwater bivalves of the family Unionidae has been greatly accelerated by the invasion of Dreissena. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current infestation rates of unionids by zebra (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga (D. rostriformis bugensis) mussels in the lower Great Lakes region 25 years after they nearly extirpated native unionids. In 2011-2012, we collected infestation data for over 4000 unionids from 26 species at 198 nearshore sites in lakes Er

SUBMITTER: Burlakova LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4260940 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature