Abstract
AB Aquatic Biology Contact the journal Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections AB 28:127-136 (2019) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00718 Aggressive interactions between the invasive anemone Anemonia alicemartinae and the native anemone Phymactis papillosa Antonio Brante1,2,*, Rodrigo Riera1, Pamela Riquelme1 1Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (UCSC), Concepción, Chile 2Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Ambientes Sustentables (CIBAS), UCSC, Concepción, Chile *Corresponding author: abrante@ucsc.cl ABSTRACT: The distribution range expansion of species mediated by natural or anthropic mechanisms is one of the main causes of changes in biodiversity patterns. Anemonia alicemartinae is a cryptogenic species found along the coasts of the Southeast Pacific Ocean. This species has expanded its range by >1900 km along the Chilean coast throughout the last 50 yr. A. alicemartinae cohabits with the native anemone Phymactis papillosa in the low intertidal zone, and given the limited mobility of both species, limited space could encourage aggressive behavior between them. P. papillosa shows different color phenotypes, and, as in other anemone species, color is associated with its level of aggressiveness. Here, we evaluated the aggressive behavior of A. alicemartinae on 2 color morphotypes of P. papillosa. Also, intraspecific agonistic interactions were considered in individuals of A. alicemartinae from 2 localities. Four experiments were conducted: (1) individual vs. individual, (2) individual vs. group forming a frontal line, (3) individual vs. group surrounding the individual and (4) group vs. group. Results showed A. alicemartinae to be a weak competitor against P. papillosa. The cryptogenic species lost more contests with green P. papillosa than with the red phenotype. Few aggressive interactions between conspecifics of A. alicemartinae were found. Results suggest that the expansion success of A. alicemartinae could be explained by alternative strategies, such as escape behavior, asexual reproduction and high dispersal potential. KEY WORDS: Intraspecific competition · Interspecific competition · Agonistic behavior · Invasion · Chilean coast Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Brante A, Riera R, Riquelme P (2019) Aggressive interactions between the invasive anemone Anemonia alicemartinae and the native anemone Phymactis papillosa. Aquat Biol 28:127-136. https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00718 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AB Vol. 28. Online publication date: October 17, 2019 Print ISSN: 1864-7782; Online ISSN: 1864-7790 Copyright © 2019 Inter-Research.
Highlights
Changes in the spatial distribution of species have become more common in the last century in the context of climate change and increased human activity (e.g. Lima et al 2007, Lenoir et al 2008)
We addressed the following hypotheses focused on A. alicemartinae: (1) this species demonstrates aggressive behavior against the 2 P. papillosa phenotypes; (2) A. alicemartinae shows greater competitive ability when found in aggregations relative to single individuals; (3) A. alicemartinae shows a higher frequency of intraspecific aggressive behavior towards individuals from other locations compared to individuals from the same locality
A. alicemartinae interacted with single individuals of red P. papillosa
Summary
Changes in the spatial distribution of species have become more common in the last century in the context of climate change and increased human activity (e.g. Lima et al 2007, Lenoir et al 2008). Given the increasing importance of this issue, several hypotheses have been suggested to explain the establishment success of species, driven by theoreti-. It has been suggested that the geographical range of a species is determined by a series of biological and ecological factors Competitive ability could be one of the main factors determining the establishment success of a species in a recipient community (Pimentel et al 2000, Brown et al 2002, Svenning et al 2014). Most studies evaluating this trait consider invasive species. In an extensively studied group such as terrestrial plants, a Publisher: Inter-Research · www.int-res.com
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