Skip to main content
Log in

Introduced European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) affects food web and fish community in a large Norwegian lake

Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Invasive and introduced fishes can affect recipient ecosystems and native species via altered competitive and predatory interactions, potentially leading to top-down and bottom-up cascading impacts. Here, we describe a case from a large lake in southern Norway, Storsjøen, where the illegal introduction of a small, predominantly planktivorous fish species, European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus), has led to changes in the native fish community and lake food web. Survey fishing data collected before (2007) and after (2016) the introduction indicates that smelt has become the numerically dominant fish species both in benthic and pelagic habitats, with concurrent reductions in the relative abundance of native European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) and Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) populations. Stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) data indicate minor changes in the trophic niches of native whitefish and Arctic charr despite partly overlapping niches with the introduced smelt. In contrast, brown trout (Salmo trutta) showed an earlier shift to piscivory, a more pelagic niche and increased growth rate, likely because of the smelt induced increase in pelagic prey fish abundance. The main trophic pathway supporting top predators (i.e., large brown trout) in Storsjøen has, therefore, shifted from a littoral to a more pelagic base. Our study demonstrates that small-sized introduced fishes can alter lake food-web dynamics, with contrasting impacts on native fishes. This knowledge is vital for future evaluation and mitigation of potential impacts of smelt introductions on lake ecosystems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amundsen P-A, Siwertsson A, Primicerio R, Bøhn T (2008) Long-term responses of zooplankton to invasion by a planktivorous fish in a subarctic watercourse. Freshw Biol 54:24–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson MJ (2001) A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Austral Ecol 26:32–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Appelberg M, Berger HM, Hesthagen T, Kleiven E, Kurkilahti M, Raitaniemi J, Rask M (1995) Development and intercalibration of methods in Nordic freshwater fish monitoring. Water Air Soil Pollut 85:401–406

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bartoń K (2018) MuMIn: Multi-Model Inference. R package version 1.40.4. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=MuMIn

  • Bearhop S, Adams CE, Waldron S, Fuller RA, Macleod H (2004) Determining trophic niche width: a novel approach using stable isotope analysis. J Anim Ecol 73:1007–1012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beisner BE, Ives AR, Carpenter SR (2003) The effects of an exotic fish invasion on the prey communities of two lakes. J Anim Ecol 72:331–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhat S, Amundsen P-A, Knudsen R, Gjelland KØ, Fevolden S-E, Bernatchez L, Præbel K (2014) Speciation reversal in European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus (L.)) caused by competitor invasion. PLoS ONE 9:e91208

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Boecklen WJ, Yarnes CT, Cook BA, James AC (2011) On the use of stable isotopes in trophic ecology. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 42:411–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bøhn T, Amundsen P-A, Sparrow A (2008) Competitive exclusion after invasion? Biol Invasions 10:359–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cucherousset J, Bouletreau S, Martino A, Roussel J-L, Santoul F (2012) Using stable isotope analyses to determine the ecological effects on non-native fishes. Fish Manag Ecol 19:111–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dudgeon D, Arthington AH, Gessner MO, Kawabata Z-I, Knowler DJ, Lévêque C, Naiman RJ, Prieur-Richard AH, Soto D, Stiassny MLJ, Sullivan CA (2006) Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation challenges. Biol Rev 81:163–182

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Early R, Bradley BA, Dukes JS, Lawler JJ, Olden JD, Blumenthal DM, Gonzalez P, Grosholz ED, Ibañes I, Miller LP, Sorte CJB, Tatem AJ (2016) Global threats from invasive alien species in the twenty-first century and national response capacities. Nat Commun 7:12485

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Eloranta AP, Siwertsson A, Knudsen R, Amundsen P-A (2011) Dietary plasticity of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) facilitates coexistence with competitively superior European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus). Ecol Freshw Fish 20:558–568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eloranta AP, Knudsen R, Amundsen P-A (2013) Niche segregation of coexisting Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) constrains food web coupling in subarctic lakes. Freshw Biol 58:207–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eloranta AP, Kahilainen KK, Amundsen P-A, Knudsen R, Harrod C, Jones RI (2015) Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes. Ecol Evol 5:1664–1675

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Eloranta AP, Sánchez-Hernández J, Amundsen P-A, Skoglund S, Brush JM, Henriksen EH, Power M (2016) Water level regulation affects niche use of a lake top predator, Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus). Ecohydrology 10:e1766

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaeta JW, Hrabik TR, Sass GG, Roth BM, Gilbert SJ, Vander Zanden MJ (2015) A whole-lake experiment to control invasive rainbow smelt (Actinoperygii, Osmeridae) via overharvest and a food web manipulation. Hydrobiologia 746:433–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorman OT (2007) Changes in a population of exotic rainbow smelt in Lake Superior: boom to bust, 1974–2005. J Great Lakes Res 33:75–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham CT, Harrod C (2009) Implications of climate change for the fishes of the British Isles. J Fish Biol 74:1143–1205

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hagelund M, Østbye K, Langland K, Hassve M, Pettersen RA, Anderson E, Gregersen F, Præbel K (2015) Fauna crime: elucidating the potential source and introduction history of European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus L.) into Lake Storsjøen, Norway. Conserv Genet 16:1085–1098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammar J, Axenrot T, Degerman E, Asp A, Bergstrand E, Enderlein O (2018) Smelt (Osmerus eperlanus): glacial relict, planktivore, predator, competitor, and key prey for the endangered Arctic char in Lake Vättern, southern Sweden. J Great Lakes Res 44:126–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammer Ø, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontol Electronica 4:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison PM, Gutowsky LFG, Martins EG, Ward TD, Patterson DA, Cooke SJ, Power M (2017) Individual isotopic specialisations predict subsequent inter-individual variation in movement in a freshwater fish. Ecology 98:608–615

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • He X, LaBar GW (1994) Interactive effects of cannibalism, recruitment, and predation on rainbow smelt in Lake Champlain: a modelling synthesis. J Great Lakes Res 20:289–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch PE, Eloranta AP, Amundsen P-A, Brabrand Å, Charmasson J, Helland IP, Power M, Sánchez-Hernández J, Sandlund OT, Sauterleute JF, Skoglund S, Ugedal O, Yang H (2017) Effects of water level regulation in alpine hydropower reservoirs: an ecosystem perspective with a special emphasis on fish. Hydrobiologia 794:287–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hrabik TR, Magnuson JJ, McLain AS (1998) Predicting the effects of rainbow smelt on native fishes in small lakes: evidence from long-term research on two lakes. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55:1364–1371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen KW (1977) On the dynamics and exploitation of the population of brown trout, Salmo trutta, L., in Lake Øvre Heimdalsvatn, Southern Norway. Rep Inst Freshw Res Drottningholm 56:18–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeppesen E, Meerhoff M, Holmgren K, Gonzalez-Bergonzoni I, Teixeira-de Mello F, Declerck SAJ, De Meester L, Søndergaard M, Lauridsen T, Bjerring R, Conde-Porcuna JM, Mazzeo N, Iglesias C, Reizenstein M, Malmquist HJ, Liu Z, Balayla D, Lazzaro X (2010) Impacts of climate warming on lake fish community structure and potential effects on ecosystem function. Hydrobiologia 646:73–90

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnsen BM, Goettl JP (1999) Food web changes over fourteen years following introduction of rainbow smelt into a Colorado reservoir. N Am J Fish Manag 19:629–642

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones MS, Goettl JP, Flickinger SA (1994) Changes in walleye food habits and growth following a rainbow smelt introduction. N Am J Fish Manag 14:409–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keskinen T, Lilja J, Högmander P, Holmes JA, Karjalainen J, Marjomäki TJ (2012) Collapse and recovery of the European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) population in a small boreal lake—an early warning of the consequences of climate change. Boreal Environ Res 17:398–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Korlyakov KA, Mukhachev IS (2009) On the European smelt Osmerus eperlanus introduced to Bolshoi Kisegach Lake in the South Urals. J Ichthyol 49:668–673

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Layman CA, Araujo MS, Boucek R, Hammerschlag-Peyer CM, Harrison E, Jud ZR, Matich P, Rosenblatt AE, Vaudo JJ, Yeager LA, Post DM, Bearhop S (2012) Applying stable isotope to examine food-web structure: an overview of analytical tools. Biol Rev 87:532–545

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMeans BC, McCann KS, Tunney TD, Fisk AT, Muir AM, Lester N, Shuter B, Rooney N (2016) The adaptive capacity of lake food webs: from individuals to ecosystems. Ecol Monogr 86:4–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercado-Silva N, Olden JP, Maxted JT, Hrabik TR, Vander Zanden MJ (2006) Forecasting the spread of invasive rainbow smelt in the Laurentian Great Lakes region of North America. Conserv Biol 20:1740–1749

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mercado-Silva N, Sass GG, Roth BM, Gilbert S, Vander Zanden MJ (2007) Impact of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) invasion on walley (Sander vitreus) recruitment in Wisconsin lakes. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 64:1543–1550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyberg P, Bergstrand E, Degerman E, Enderlein O (2001) Recruitment of pelagic fish in an unstable climate: studies in Sweden’s four largest lakes. Ambio 30:559–564

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parnell A, Jackson A (2013) siar: Stable Isotope Analysis in R. R package version 4.2. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=siar

  • Parnell AC, Inger R, Bearhop S, Jackson AL (2010) Source partitioning using stable isotopes: coping with too much variation. PLoS ONE 5:e9672

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pejchar L, Mooney AH (2009) Invasive species, ecosystem services and human well-being. Trends Ecol Evol 24:497–504

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Post DM (2002) Using stable isotopes to estimate trophic position: models, methods, and assumptions. Ecology 83:703–718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2017) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahel FJ (2002) Homogenization of freshwater faunas. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 33:291–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rooney RC, Paterson MJ (2009) Ecosystem effects of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) invasions in inland lakes: a literature review. Can Tech Rep Fish Aquat Sci 2845: iv + 33p

  • Rush SA, Paterson G, Johnson TB, Drouillard KG, Haffner GD, Hebert CE, Arts MT, McGoldrick DJ, Backus SM, Lantry BF, Schaner T, Fisk AT (2012) Long-term impacts on invasive species on a native top predator in a large lake system. Freshw Biol 57:2342–2355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandlund OT, Næsje TF, Klyve L, Lindem T (1985a) The vertical distribution of fish species in Lake Mjøsa, Norway, as shown by gill net catches and echo sounder. Rep Inst Freshw Res Drottningholm 62:136–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandlund OT, Klyve L, Næsje TF (1985b) Growth, habitat and food of burbot Lota lota in Lake Mjøsa. Fauna 38:37–43 (in Norwegian with English summary)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandlund OT, Stang YG, Kjellberg G, Næsje TF, Hambo MU (2005) European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) eats all; eaten by all: is it a key species in lakes? Verh Internat Verein Limnol 29:432–436

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandlund OT, Museth J, Næsje TF, Rognerud S, Saksgård R, Hesthagen T, Borgstrøm R (2010) Habitat use and diet of sympatric Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) and whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) in five lakes in southern Norway: not only interspecific population dominance? Hydrobiologia 650:27–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandlund OT, Haugerud E, Rognerud S, Borgstrøm R (2013) Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) squeezed in a complex fish community dominated by perch (Perca fluviatilis). Fauna Norvegica 33:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandlund OT, Eloranta AP, Borgstrøm R, Hesthagen T, Johnsen SI, Museth J, Rognerud S (2016) The trophic niche of Arctic charr in large southern Scandinavian lakes is determined by fish community and lake morphometry. Hydrobiologia 783:117–130

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sandlund OT, Grøndahl FA, Kjellberg G, Næsje TF (2017) Variabel livshistorie hos krøkle (Osmerus eperlanus) i Mjøsa og Randsfjorden. Vann 1:81–92. In Norwegian with English summary

  • Schindler DE, Scheuerell MD (2002) Habitat coupling in lake ecosystems. Oikos 98:177–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shearer WM (1992) Atlantic salmon scale reading guidelines. ICES cooperative research report no. 188, International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Copenhagen, Denmark

  • Sterligova OP, Ilmast NV (2017) Population dynamics of invasive species of smelt Osmerus eperlanus in Lake Syamozero (South Karelia). J Ichthyol 57:730–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stetter SLP, Thomson JLS, Rudstam LG, Parrish DL, Sullivan PJ (2007) Importance and predictability of cannibalism in rainbow smelt. Trans Am Fish Soc 136:227–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer DL, D´Antonio CM, Essl F, Fowler MS, Geist J, Hilt S, Jarić I, Jöhnk K, Jones CG, Lambin X, Latzka AW, Pergl J, Pyšek P, Robertson P, von Schmalensee M, Stefansson RA, Wright J, Jeschke JM (2017) Boom-bust dynamics in biological invasions: towards an improved application of the concept. Ecol Lett 20:1337–1350

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Syväranta J, Hämäläinen H, Jones RI (2006) Within-lake variability in carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures. Freshw Biol 51:1090–1102

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vander Zanden MJ, Rasmussen JB (1996) A trophic position model of pelagic food webs: impact on contaminant bioaccumulation in lake trout. Ecol Monogr 66:451–477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vander Zanden MJ, Vadeboncoeur Y (2002) Fishes as integrators of benthic and pelagic food webs in lakes. Ecology 83:2152–2161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vander Zanden MJ, Casselman JM, Rasmussen JB (1999) Stable isotope evidence for the food web consequences of species invasions in lakes. Nature 401:464–467

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wootton KL (2017) Omnivory and stability in freshwater habitats: does theory match reality? Freshw Biol 62:821–832

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. We thank Ole Nashoug, Frode Næstad, Jon Magerøy, and John Gunnar Dokk for assistance in the field and laboratory. The study was supported by funding from the hydropower company Glommens og Laagens Brukseierforening (GLB), the municipality of Rendalen, the Storsjøen Fishery Association (Storsjøen Fiskeforening), and the Research Council of Norway (Grant#: 243910).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antti P. Eloranta.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 14 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (DOCX 381 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Eloranta, A.P., Johnsen, S.I., Power, M. et al. Introduced European smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) affects food web and fish community in a large Norwegian lake. Biol Invasions 21, 85–98 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-018-1806-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-018-1806-0

Keywords

Navigation