Factors affecting the establishment of the invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Crustacea, Decapoda) in the Mediterranean rivers of the northeastern Iberian Peninsula

MacEda-veiga, Alberto, Sostoa, A. and Sánchez-Espada, S. 2012. Factors affecting the establishment of the invasive crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Crustacea, Decapoda) in the Mediterranean rivers of the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. Hydrobiologia 703 (1) , pp. 33-45. 10.1007/s10750-012-1335-2

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Abstract

It is essential to find the combination of factors associated with ecosystem invasibility, as this forms part of basic knowledge on biological invasions and provides important information to guide management and conservation decisions. We surveyed 325 sampling sites in Catalonia to investigate relationships between crayfish presence and a series of biotic and abiotic factors, including fish abundance and species richness, geographical features, and water mineralization and eutrophication. Abiotic data provided by 29 environmental variables were studied by principal-components analysis. We then used a combination of three statistical approaches (comparison of average scores, general linear mixed models, and hierarchical partitioning analysis) to determine the potential relationship between crayfish occurrence and predictors. Our findings seem to indicate that the presence of crayfish was associated with geographical features, water mineralization and eutrophication, and the introduction of non-indigenous fish species to Catalonia. Our results also suggest that re-establishment of the natural hydrology of Mediterranean streams could hinder the spread of Procambarus clarkii. This, combined with preservation of headwater streams and attempts at local extirpation of P. clarkii, would favour native species and, potentially, enable the successful reintroduction of the native white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes species complex).

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences
Publisher:	SpringerLink
ISSN:	0018-8158
Last Modified:	19 Mar 2016 23:44
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/63248

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