Invasive Apple Snail Diets in Native vs. Non-Native Habitats Defined by SIAR (Stable Isotope Analysis in R)
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Department of Environmental Science, University of Arizona, (Shantz Building Rm. 429) 1177 East 4th St., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
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Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, 4210 Silver Hill Rd., Suitland, MD 20746, USA
3
Department of Biology, Howard University, (Ernest Everett Just Hall) 415 College St., NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Gabriel-Ionut Plavan and Octavian Pacioglu
Sustainability 2022, 14(12), 7108; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127108
Received: 25 March 2022
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Revised: 25 May 2022
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Accepted: 1 June 2022
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Published: 10 June 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecology of Aquatic Communities)
Invasive apple snails adversely impact the ecological function of non-native habitats, resulting in eutrophication as well as reduced biodiversity, which diminishes ecosystem goods and services, thereby [negatively] impacting human well-being. The onus here is to define the diet of an invasive apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata) in native (Maldonado, Uruguay) versus non-native habitats (Hangzhou, China, and Oahu, HI, USA). Diets for apple snails, in five sites, within both native and non-native habitats were defined via SIAR (Stable Isotope Analysis in R) with δ13C and δ15N stable isotope data collected therein. SIAR models indicate P. canaliculata shift diet from generalist (where myriad plant species comprise relatively small proportions of overall diet) to a specialist diet (where plants species constitute much larger proportions of said diet). What may be more telling is that in (anthropogenically disturbed) portions of the native habitat, and progressively more so in non-native habitats, invasive apple snail diets are increasingly composed of aquatic plants. The inherent and pronounced dietary differences amongst pristine and anthropogenically disturbed native habitats, as well as non-native habitats, provide a mechanism that may elucidate the variable ecological impacts of invasive apple snails within native and non-native habitats.
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Keywords:
invasive species; Pomacea canaliculata; aquatic ecology; trophic ecology; SIAR; aquatic biodiversity; aquatic ecosystems; freshwater food webs
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MDPI and ACS Style
Scriber, K.E.; France, C.A.M.; Jackson, F.L.C. Invasive Apple Snail Diets in Native vs. Non-Native Habitats Defined by SIAR (Stable Isotope Analysis in R). Sustainability 2022, 14, 7108. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127108
AMA Style
Scriber KE, France CAM, Jackson FLC. Invasive Apple Snail Diets in Native vs. Non-Native Habitats Defined by SIAR (Stable Isotope Analysis in R). Sustainability. 2022; 14(12):7108. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127108
Chicago/Turabian StyleScriber, Kevin E., Christine A. M. France, and Fatimah L. C. Jackson. 2022. "Invasive Apple Snail Diets in Native vs. Non-Native Habitats Defined by SIAR (Stable Isotope Analysis in R)" Sustainability 14, no. 12: 7108. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127108
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