Seasonal Dynamics of Zooplankton in Columbia–Snake River Reservoirs, with Special Emphasis on the Invasive Copepod Pseudodiaptomus Forbesi
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Aquatic Invasions (2015) Volume 10, Issue 1: 25–40 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3391/ai.2015.10.1.03 Open Access © 2015 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2015 REABIC Research Article Seasonal dynamics of zooplankton in Columbia–Snake River reservoirs, with special emphasis on the invasive copepod Pseudodiaptomus forbesi Joshua E. Emerson1*, Stephen M. Bollens2 and Timothy D. Counihan3 1School of the Environment, Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington 98686, USA 2Western Fisheries Research Center, Columbia River Research Laboratory, United States Geological Survey, Cook, Washington 98605, USA E-mail: [email protected] (JEE), [email protected] (SMB), [email protected] (TDC) *Corresponding author Received: 4 April 2014 / Accepted: 9 July 2014 / Published online: 1 October 2014 Handling editor: Ian Duggan Abstract The Asian copepod Pseudodiaptomus forbesi has recently become established in the Columbia River. However, little is known about its ecology and effects on invaded ecosystems. We undertook a 2-year (July 2009 to June 2011) field study of the mesozooplankton in four reservoirs in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, with emphasis on the relation of the seasonal variation in distribution and abundance of P. forbesi to environmental variables. Pseudodiaptomus forbesi was abundant in three reservoirs; the zooplankton community of the fourth reservoir contained no known non-indigenous taxa. The composition and seasonal succession of zooplankton were similar in the three invaded reservoirs: a bloom of rotifers occurred in spring, native cyclopoid and cladoceran species peaked in abundance in summer, and P. forbesi was most abundant in late summer and autumn. In the uninvaded reservoir, total zooplankton abundance was very low year-round. Multivariate ordination indicated that temperature and dissolved oxygen were strongly associated with zooplankton community structure, with P. forbesi appearing to exhibit a single generation per year. The broad distribution and high abundance of P. forbesi in the Columbia– Snake River System could result in ecosystem level effects in areas intensively managed to improve conditions for salmon and other commercially and culturally important fish species. Key words: Columbia River, invasive copepods, seasonal dynamics, community structure, zooplankton, indicator species Bythotrephes longimanus (Leydig, 1860), which has Introduction greatly reduced zooplankton species richness and overall plankton abundance in the Great Lakes of Understanding the seasonal dynamics and ecological North America since its introduction from the Black effects of invasive zooplankton will help managers Sea (Yan et al. 2001; Boudreau and Yan 2003; understand how non-native species are affecting Strecker and Arnott 2005; Strecker et al. 2006; important ecosystem services such as water quality, Strecker and Arnott 2008). Both of these invasions fisheries and biodiversity. Many studies have occurred in the 1980s, likely as a result of ballast addressed the ecological effects of non-native water exchange. species (Simberloff and Von Holle 1999; Mack Several non-native zooplankton species have et al. 2000; Mooney and Cleland 2001; Sakai et been introduced to multiple estuaries of the al. 2001), but far fewer have focused on zooplankton northeast Pacific Ocean, apparently as a result of (Bollens et al. 2002). Some invasive zooplankters ballast water discharge (although other vectors have been shown to affect ecosystem function may be possible too, e.g., Lodge (1993), Temnykh and structure. For example, the invasive zooplankter and Nishida (2012), Suárez-Morales and Arroyo- Mnemiopsis leidyi (Agassiz, 1865), a ctenophore Bustos (2012), Rothlisberger and Lodge (2013)). native to the western Atlantic coasts, has had For instance, in the San Francisco Estuary (SFE), significant trophic effects on food webs in the comprising both the San Francisco Bay and the Black, Caspian, and North Seas (Shiganova et al. Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, no less than nine 2004; Finenko et al. 2006; Oguz et al. 2008; Roohi et invasive copepod species have been documented al. 2008; Roohi et al. 2010; Riisgård et al. 2012). as having successfully established populations Another example is the predatory cladoceran (Kimmerer et al. 1994; Bollens et al. 2002; Hooff 25 J.E. Emerson et al. and Bollens 2004; Cordell et al. 2007; Bollens et River Basin has also resulted in an increase in al. 2011; Bollens et al. 2014). More specifically, global shipping traffic, a possible vector for invasive the invasive copepods Oithona davisae (Ferrari and species. Orsi, 1984), Limnoithona tetraspina (Zhang and Li, The distribution and abundance of Columbia– 1976), and Pseudodiaptomus marinus (Sato, 1913) Snake River zooplankton–either native or invasive– make up a significant percentage of the zooplankton have been little studied in the past. Scarola (1968) community in summer and autumn in the lower briefly summarized the zooplankton species present SFE (Bollens et al. 2011; Bollens et al. 2014). A in the McNary Dam reservoir over one year, with fourth introduced carnivorous copepod, Tortanus weekly sampling in the summer and irregular dextrilobatus (Chen and Zhang, 1965), also sampling in other seasons. Harris (1979) described reaches peak abundances in the SFE during the zooplankton of several lakes and reservoirs autumn (Hooff and Bollens 2004). These invasive in the Lower Snake River drainage; however this zooplankton species are suspected of first study only listed the dominant crustacean species colonizing the SFE, and then making their way present in summer, winter, and spring. Neitzel et into nearby Northeast Pacific estuaries, including al. (1983) carried out weekly surveys of zooplankton the Columbia River Estuary (CRE) (Cordell et over the course of a year in the Hanford reach of al. 2008; Bollens et al. 2012). The genus the Columbia River, and described how their Pseudodiaptomus is a well-known estuarine relative abundances varied seasonally. invader worldwide, particularly P. marinus The arrival and subsequent establishment of (Fleminger and Kramer 1988; Barry and Levings P. forbesi has potential implications for the 2002; Jiménez-Pérez and Castro-Longoria 2006; native zooplankton community of the Columbia– Medeiros et al. 2006; Brylinski et al. 2012). A Snake River system, as well as for fishes, notably congener of P. marinus, Pseudodiaptomus inopinus the endangered and threatened salmonid species (Burckhardt, 1913), has become established in the that are native and endemic to this river system. Chehalis River Estuary in Washington State, Columbia–Snake River zooplankton species have where it peaks in abundance in the summer and been described in reference to the diets of migrating autumn, and is a large part of the diet of salmonids, e.g., in the Lower Columbia River invertebrate predators (Bollens et al. 2002; Cordell Estuary (Craddock et al. 1976; Kirn et al. 1986), et al. 2007). A second congener, Pseudodiaptomus the Middle Columbia River (Dauble et al. 1980; forbesi (Poppe and Richard, 1890), was discovered in Muir and Emmett 1988; Rondorf et al. 1990; the SFE in 1987 and in the CRE in 2002, and is Muir and Coley 1996), and the Lower Snake River thought to have arrived at both locations via (Rondorf et al. 1990; Muir and Coley 1996). However, ballast water exchange (Orsi and Walter 1991; these studies rarely included detailed (species- Cordell et al. 2008). The seasonal dynamics of specific) analyses of zooplankton. Haskell et al. P. forbesi near the mouth and the freshwater (2006) examined American shad (Alosa sapidissima reach of the CRE has recently been considered by Wilson, 1811) diet and physical and environmental Bollens et al. (2012) and Dexter et al. (unpubl. forcing of zooplankton from 1994 to 1996, but only data), respectively, but the dynamics of this species from August to November. While these studies farther upstream in the Columbia-Snake River took place in and around the downstream reservoirs complex remains unknown. of the mainstem Columbia–Snake River reservoirs, The Columbia River is vital to both the ecology there are no previous studies that include multi- and economy of the Pacific Northwest of the year, monthly surveys of zooplankton communities United States. The Columbia River has been in multiple reservoirs within the system. Specifically highly modified by man, often to the detriment in regard to P. forbesi, previous studies have been of important ecological and economic resources. limited to matters of distribution (Bollens et al. Pacific salmon (Oncorhyncus spp.) were once 2002; Cordell et al. 2008; Bollens et al. 2012; abundant in the Columbia River system but now Breckenridge et al. 2014), diet (Ger et al. 2009; Ger many populations are listed as threatened or et al. 2010; Bowen et al. unpubl. data) or predation endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. (Adams et al. unpubl. data). Hydroelectric development and the concomitant Thus this study had three objectives. The first was effects of the impoundment of the Columbia and to quantify and describe the seasonal and interannual Snake Rivers are commonly thought to be major abundance and distribution of zooplankton in four factors in the decline of Pacific salmon. Pacific Columbia–Snake River reservoirs, including three salmon are also a culturally significant species to reservoirs with and one reservoir without the indigenous tribes. The development of the Columbia invasive copepod P. forbesi. The second was to 26 Columbia River