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Invasive décor: an association between a native decorator worm and a non-native seaweed can be mutualistic

2016; Inter-Research; Volume: 545; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/meps11602

1616-1599

NM Kollars, James E. Byers, EE Sotka,

Crustacean biology and ecology

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 545:135-145 (2016) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11602 Invasive décor: an association between a native decorator worm and a non-native seaweed can be mutualistic Nicole M. Kollars1,2,4,*, James E. Byers3, Erik E. Sotka1,2 1Grice Marine Laboratory and the 2Department of Biology, College of Charleston, 205 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412, USA 3Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, 140 East Green Street, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA 4Present address: Center for Population Biology, University of California Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA *Corresponding author: nmkollars@gmail.com ABSTRACT: The likelihood of invasion success increases when non-native species engage in mutualisms with a native or non-native species. Mutualisms formed between native and non-native species have been termed 'novel mutualisms', and research in terrestrial systems has advanced our understanding of the ecological processes involved in their formation and persistence. However, documentation of novel mutualisms in marine systems is rare. In Atlantic estuaries of the southeastern USA, the native polychaete worm Diopatra cuprea actively decorates its tube with the non-native red seaweed Gracilaria vermiculophylla. We used field and laboratory experiments to test whether the Diopatra-Gracilaria interaction is mutualistic. We found that Diopatra facilitates Gracilaria by securing the seaweed onto the soft-sediment benthos within a favorable tidal elevation for growth and where hard substrata for attachment are otherwise rare. A combination of laboratory and field experiments also suggests that Gracilaria can enhance the growth of Diopatra by increasing access to epifaunal crustacean prey. However, field removal experiments showed that the benefits of Gracilaria to Diopatra only occurred in some sites and years. We found no evidence that this invader has a significant negative effect on Diopatra, and it appears in some instances to even benefit the worms, which suggests that Gracilaria (and its associated impacts on ecosystems) are likely to remain an important component of southeastern USA estuaries for the foreseeable future. KEY WORDS: Biological invasion · Decoration association · Novel mutualism · Diopatra cuprea · Gracilaria vermiculophylla Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Kollars NM, Byers JE, Sotka EE (2016) Invasive décor: an association between a native decorator worm and a non-native seaweed can be mutualistic. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 545:135-145. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11602 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 545. Online publication date: March 08, 2016 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2016 Inter-Research.