TY - JOUR
T1 - Temperature rise and parasitic infection interact to increase the impact of an invasive species
AU - Laverty, Ciaran
AU - Brenner, David
AU - McIlwaine, Christopher
AU - Lennon, Jack J.
AU - Dick, Jaimie T.A.
AU - Lucy, Frances E.
AU - Christian, Keith A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Australian Society for Parasitology
PY - 2017/4/1
Y1 - 2017/4/1
N2 - Invasive species often detrimentally impact native biota, e.g. through predation, but predicting such impacts is difficult due to multiple and perhaps interacting abiotic and biotic context dependencies. Higher mean and peak temperatures, together with parasites, might influence the impact of predatory invasive host species additively, synergistically or antagonistically. Here, we apply the comparative functional response methodology (relationship between resource consumption rate and resource supply) in one experiment and conduct a second scaled-up mesocosm experiment to assess any differential predatory impacts of the freshwater invasive amphipod Gammarus pulex, when uninfected and infected with the acanthocephalan Echinorhynchus truttae, at three temperatures representative of current and future climate. Individual G. pulex showed Type II predatory functional responses. In both experiments, infection was associated with higher maximum feeding rates, which also increased with increasing temperatures. Additionally, infection interacted with higher temperatures to synergistically elevate functional responses and feeding rates. Parasitic infection also generally increased Q10 values. We thus suggest that the differential metabolic responses of the host and parasite to increasing temperatures drives the synergy between infection and temperature, elevating feeding rates and thus enhancing the ecological impact of the invader.
AB - Invasive species often detrimentally impact native biota, e.g. through predation, but predicting such impacts is difficult due to multiple and perhaps interacting abiotic and biotic context dependencies. Higher mean and peak temperatures, together with parasites, might influence the impact of predatory invasive host species additively, synergistically or antagonistically. Here, we apply the comparative functional response methodology (relationship between resource consumption rate and resource supply) in one experiment and conduct a second scaled-up mesocosm experiment to assess any differential predatory impacts of the freshwater invasive amphipod Gammarus pulex, when uninfected and infected with the acanthocephalan Echinorhynchus truttae, at three temperatures representative of current and future climate. Individual G. pulex showed Type II predatory functional responses. In both experiments, infection was associated with higher maximum feeding rates, which also increased with increasing temperatures. Additionally, infection interacted with higher temperatures to synergistically elevate functional responses and feeding rates. Parasitic infection also generally increased Q10 values. We thus suggest that the differential metabolic responses of the host and parasite to increasing temperatures drives the synergy between infection and temperature, elevating feeding rates and thus enhancing the ecological impact of the invader.
KW - Climate change
KW - Ecological impact
KW - Invasive species
KW - Parasitic infection
KW - Temperature
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013862173&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.12.004
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.12.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 28214510
AN - SCOPUS:85013862173
SN - 0020-7519
VL - 47
SP - 291
EP - 296
JO - International Journal for Parasitology
JF - International Journal for Parasitology
IS - 5
ER -