Non-native Ecosystem Engineer Alters Estuarine Communities

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Many ecosystems are created by the presence of ecosystem engineers that play an important role in determining species' abundance and species composition. Additionally, a mosaic environment of engineered and non-engineered habitats has been shown to increase biodiversity. Non-native ecosystem engineers can be introduced into environments that do not contain or have lost species that form biogenic habitat, resulting in dramatic impacts upon native communities. Yet, little is known about how non-native ecosystem engineers interact with natives and other non-natives already present in the environment, specifically whether non-native ecosystem engineers facilitate other non-natives, and whether they increase habitat heterogeneity and alter the diversity, abundance, and distribution of benthic species. Through sampling and experimental removal of reefs, we examine the effects of a non-native reef-building tubeworm, Ficopomatus enigmaticus, on community composition in the central Californian estuary, Elkhorn Slough. Tubeworm reefs host significantly greater abundances of many non-native polychaetes and amphipods, particularly the amphipods Monocorophium insidiosum and Melita nitida, compared to nearby mudflats. Infaunal assemblages under F. enigmaticus reefs and around reef's edges show very low abundance and taxonomic diversity. Once reefs are removed, the newly exposed mudflat is colonized by opportunistic non-native species, such as M. insidiosum and the polychaete Streblospio benedicti, making removal of reefs a questionable strategy for control. These results show that provision of habitat by a non-native ecosystem engineer may be a mechanism for invasional meltdown in Elkhorn Slough, and that reefs increase spatial heterogeneity in the abundance and composition of benthic communities.