Article
 

Density-Dependent Growth in Invasive Lionfish (Pterois volitans)

公开 Deposited

可下载的内容

下载PDF文件
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/2n49t300s

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • Direct demographic density dependence is necessary for population regulation and is a central concept in ecology, yet has not been studied in many invasive species, including any invasive marine fish. The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) is an invasive predatory marine fish that is undergoing exponential population growth throughout the tropical western Atlantic. Invasive lionfish threaten coral-reef ecosystems, but there is currently no evidence of any natural population control. Therefore, a manipulative field experiment was conducted to test for density dependence in lionfish. Juvenile lionfish densities were adjusted on small reefs and several demographic rates (growth, recruitment, immigration, and loss) were measured throughout an 8-week period. Invasive lionfish exhibited direct density dependence in individual growth rates, as lionfish grew slower at higher densities throughout the study. Individual growth in length declined linearly with increasing lionfish density, while growth in mass declined exponentially with increasing density. There was no evidence, however, for density dependence in recruitment, immigration, or loss (mortality plus emigration) of invasive lionfish. The observed density-dependent growth rates may have implications for which native species are susceptible to lionfish predation, as the size and type of prey that lionfish consume is directly related to their body size. The absence of density-dependent loss, however, contrasts with many native coral-reef fish species and suggests that for the foreseeable future manual removals may be the only effective local control of this invasion.
License
Resource Type
DOI
Date Available
Date Issued
Citation
Journal Title
Journal Volume
  • 8
Journal Issue/Number
  • 6
Academic Affiliation
权利声明
Funding Statement (additional comments about funding)
  • This work was funded by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship awarded to CEB and National Science Foundation research grants (08-51162 and 12-33027) awarded to M. Hixon. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher
Peer Reviewed
Language
Replaces

关联

Parents:

This work has no parents.

单件

缩略图 标题 上传日期 公开度 行动
file details BenkwittCassandraEZoologyDensityDependentGrowth.pdf 2017-07-17 公开 下载