Impacts of piscicide-induced fish removal on resource use and trophic diversity of lake invertebrates

Antti P Eloranta; Gaute Kjærstad; Michael Power; Hanna-Kaisa Lakka; Jo Vegar Arnekleiv; Anders G Finstad

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155364

Impacts of piscicide-induced fish removal on resource use and trophic diversity of lake invertebrates

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Aug 20:835:155364. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155364. Epub 2022 Apr 22.

Authors

Antti P Eloranta¹, Gaute Kjærstad², Michael Power³, Hanna-Kaisa Lakka⁴, Jo Vegar Arnekleiv², Anders G Finstad²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014, Finland; Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, P.O. Box 5685 Torgarden, NO-7485 Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: antti.p.eloranta@jyu.fi.
² Department of Natural History, NTNU University Museum, Erling Skakkes gate 47A, NO-7013 Trondheim, Norway.
³ Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014, Finland; Department of Natural History, NTNU University Museum, Erling Skakkes gate 47A, NO-7013 Trondheim, Norway.

PMID: 35469880
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155364

Abstract

Chemical eradication of non-native species has become a widely used method to mitigate the potential negative impacts of altered competitive or predatory dynamics on biodiversity and natural ecosystem processes. However, the responses of non-target species can vary from rapid full recovery to delayed or absent recolonization, and little is known about the potential shifts in resource use and trophic diversity of native species following chemical treatments. We used a before-after-control-impact approach to study the effects of rotenone piscicide treatment on abundance and trophic niche of benthic invertebrates in three untreated and three treated lakes in central Norway, the latter group hosting non-native roach (Rutilus rutilus) and pike (Esox lucius) prior to rotenone treatment. Based on community composition data, the relative abundance of invertebrate grazers and collectors decreased while that of predators increased following fish removal in the treated lakes. The stable isotope data indicated minor shifts in resource use of, and trophic diversity among, benthic invertebrate communities. While the predatory dragonfly larvae (Odonata) and grazer snails (Lymnaeidae) showed increased δ¹³C values indicating increased reliance on littoral benthic algae, the collector mayfly larvae (Leptophlebia) showed decreased δ¹³C values following fish removal in treated lakes. Grazer snails also showed a shift to a lower trophic position, while the predatory dragonflies and collector mayflies showed no changes in δ¹⁵N values following fish removal. The community-level isotopic niches of benthic invertebrates showed no consistent changes, although the sample-size corrected and Bayesian estimates of standard ellipse areas (SEA_C and SEA_B) slightly increased in two of the three treated lakes due to an increased range in δ¹⁵N. In conclusion, our study findings indicate some changes in species assemblages but minor shifts in the resource use and trophic diversity of benthic invertebrate communities following fish removal in rotenone treated lakes.

Keywords: Chemical eradication; Community dynamics; Food web; Rotenone; Species interactions; Stable isotope analysis.

MeSH terms

Animals
Bayes Theorem
Ecosystem
Ephemeroptera*
Esocidae
Fishes / physiology
Food Chain
Invertebrates / physiology
Lakes
Odonata*
Rotenone

Substances

Rotenone