State Water Resources Research Institute Program


Project ID: 2012MT274B
Title: Student Research Fellowship: Food web effects of stream invasion by Potamopyrgus antipodarum and interactions with eutrophication
Project Type: Research
Start Date: 3/01/2012
End Date: 2/28/2013
Congressional District: MT at large
Focus Categories: Conservation, Ecology
Keywords: aquatic nuisance species
Principal Investigator: Richins, Eric
Federal Funds: $ 750
Non-Federal Matching Funds: $ 315
Abstract: To better understand the risks New Zealand Mud Snail (NZMS) poses for Montana aquatic systems the investigator proposes to examine several hypothesized, but inadequately tested, consequences of NZMS invasion, their long term effect on benthic food webs; the interacting role of existing gradients in stream productivity; and the effects of eutrophication for the success of NZMS invasions:

  1. Available primary production limits invasion success; densities, growth rates (and associated demographic traits) will increase as a consequence of eutrophication.
  2. NZMS reduce availability of periphyton food sources as well as shifting algal community composition towards less edible forms.
  3. Successful NZMS invasion reduces the abundance and diversity of native aquatic invertebrates over the long term.

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