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Abiotic factors, competition or predation: what determines the distribution of young crayfish in a watershed?

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Abstract

In the headwaters of the New River in western North Carolina, the dominant crayfish species changes with increasing stream size. One transition occurs between third- and fourth-order streams. Cambarus chasmodactylus is the dominant species in third-order tributaries. Orconectes cristavarius is the dominant species in the fourth-order South Fork of the New River. While adult C. chasmodactylus are present in the South Fork, the young-of-the-year (YOY) of this species are absent despite evidence of reproduction. In this study we evaluated the factors that may be responsible for the absence of C. chasmodactylus YOY from the South Fork. A field experiment was used to evaluate the role of abiotic factors and competition with YOY O. cristavarius. There was no significant effect of either of these factors on mortality or growth of C. chasmodactylus YOY. The growth rate of O. cristavarius was 3× faster than that of C. chasmodactylus in this experiment. Since neither abiotic factors nor competition appeared responsible for the exclusion of C. chasmodactylus YOY from the South Fork we evaluated the potential importance of selective predation by rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), a fish species that is common in the South Fork but virtually absent in the tributaries. In a laboratory experiment, C. chasmodactylus YOY experienced significantly higher mortality than O. cristavarius YOY in the presence of rock bass. Field observations and a laboratory experiment suggest that the two crayfish species differ in their anti-predator behaviors. Cambarus chasmodactylus was less likely to swim when initially disturbed and swam shorter distances than O. cristavarius. The differences in escape behavior and growth rate may contribute to the differences in the vulnerability of the two species to rock bass predation. Our results suggest that intense predation pressure exerted by the rock bass may contribute to the virtual exclusion of C. chasmodactylus YOY from the fourth-order South Fork.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the Theodore Roosevelt fund of the American Museum of Natural History and the Graduate School at Appalachian State University. We would like to thank Brian Helms, Bryan Brown, Nate Bickford, Todd Ewing, Beth Hudson, Claire Bird, Ben Hooker, Travis Howe, Karen Geissenger, Lee Echols and Kristen Helms for their ideas and assistance. We are indebted to Todd Ewing, Kin Hodges, Tim Lemon, Shay Dumas, and a number of Appalachian State University students for their assistance with the electroshocking. We would like to thank Matt Rowe and Ray Williams for their comments and suggestions throughout this project. Jim Gilliam, Steve Kohler, Andy Sheldon, Alexia Kelley, and two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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  1. Kenneth Fortino

    Present address: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, USA

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  1. Department of Biology, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, 28608, USA

    Kenneth Fortino & Robert P. Creed Jr.

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Correspondence to Kenneth Fortino.

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Fortino, K., Creed, R.P. Abiotic factors, competition or predation: what determines the distribution of young crayfish in a watershed?. Hydrobiologia 575, 301–314 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-006-0378-7

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