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How invasive oysters can affect parasite infection patterns in native mussels on a large spatial scale

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Abstract

There are surprisingly few field studies on the role of invasive species on parasite infection patterns in native hosts. We investigated the role of invasive Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas) in determining parasite infection levels in native blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) in relation to other environmental and biotic factors. Using hierarchical field sampling covering three spatial scales along a large intertidal ecosystem (European Wadden Sea), we found strong spatial differences in infection levels of five parasite species associated with mussels and oysters. We applied mixed models to analyse the associations between parasite prevalence and abundance in mussels and oysters, and 12 biological and environmental factors. For each parasite–host relationship, an optimal model (either a null, one-factor or two-factor model) was selected based on AIC scores. We found that the density of invasive oysters contributed to three of the 12 models. Other biological factors such as host size (six models), and the density of target or alternative host species (five models) contributed more frequently to the best models. Furthermore, for parasite species infecting both mussels and oysters, parasite population densities were higher in native mussels, attributed to the higher densities of mussels. Our results indicate that invasive species can affect parasite infection patterns in native species in the field, but that their relative contribution may be further mediated by other biological and environmental parameters. These results stress the usefulness of large-scale field studies for detailed assessments of the mechanisms underlying the impacts of invasive species on native host communities.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to B.D.H.K. Eriksson of the University of Groningen (The Netherlands) for the provision of lab space during our field sampling campaign. We also thank the volunteers who assisted us with transport, field and lab work: Ewout Adriaans, Christian Einer, Jarco Havermans, Jonas Martin, Fokje Schaafsma, and Samira Theis. For the permission to use bird data from the Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Programme (TMAP) carried out in the Wadden Sea by The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, we thank SOVON (in particular Erik van Winden), Rijkswaterstaat, Wageningen Marine Research (WMR), Staatliche Vogelschutzwarte (Lower Saxony Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation Agency NLWKN), National Park Authority for the Wadden Sea Lower Saxony Norbert Kempf, Schleswig–Holstein Agency for Coastal Defence, National Park and Marine Conservation-National Park Authority (LKN SH), Danish Centre for Environment and Energy (DCE) and Aarhus University. This study was financially supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) (NWO-ZKO Project 839.11.002).

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Authors and Affiliations

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Contributions

MAG, DWT and JVDM conceived and designed the study. MAG, RN, MM, CB and KMW conducted fieldwork. MAG, RN and MM performed parasite dissections. PCL conducted the molecular identification. EOF and AMW compiled data on biotic and environmental variables. MAG conducted the statistical analyses with input from JVDM. MAG and DWT wrote the manuscript with significant contributions of all other authors.

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Correspondence to M. Anouk Goedknegt.

Additional information

Communicated by Peter S. Petraitis.

M. Anouk Goedknegt: currently working in the Universite de Bordeaux, UMR 5805 EPOC, Station Marine d’Arcachon, 2, Rue du Professeur Jolyet, 33120 Arcachon, France.

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Goedknegt, M.A., Nauta, R., Markovic, M. et al. How invasive oysters can affect parasite infection patterns in native mussels on a large spatial scale. Oecologia 190, 99–113 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04408-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04408-x

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