River bank burrowing is innate in native and invasive signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) and is driven by biotic and abiotic cues
The behavior of animals can change when they become invasive. Whilst many species demonstrate exaggerations of existing behaviors, signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) display a novel burrowing activity in some invaded rivers. Understanding if burrowing is learned or innate is important for modelling the geomorphological effects of invasion into new territories. Mesocosm experiments were undertaken with signal crayfish to investigate the effects of population density, shelter availability, and population provenance on their likelihood to burrow. Crayfish were collected within their native range in the USA; a recently invaded site in the USA; and two well-established invasive populations in the UK – one where burrowing in the field was present, and one population where burrowing in the field was absent. Crayfish from all populations constructed burrows in laboratory experiments. Population density and shelter availability were significant drivers of burrowing. There was no difference in burrowing betweenthe invasive UK populations and the US native population, suggesting that burrowing is an innate, rather than learned. Therefore, crayfish have the capacity to affect geomorphic processes in any river that they invade, regardless of the source population. However, crayfish from the recently invaded USA river excavated more sediment than crayfish from their native range. These results demonstrate high plasticity of signal crayfish activities and show that innate behavioral strategies not seen in the native range can be activated at invaded sites.
Funding
Loughborough University
British Society for Geomorphology (Postgraduate Research Award)
Royal Geographical Society (Dudley Stamp Memorial Award)
Santander (Santander Mobility Award)
Montana State University
History
School
- Social Sciences and Humanities
Department
- Geography and Environment
Published in
Biological InvasionsVolume
25Issue
11Pages
3425-3442Publisher
Springer (part of Springer Nature)Version
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AGPublisher statement
This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03115-2Acceptance date
2023-06-16Publication date
2023-06-28Copyright date
2023ISSN
1387-3547eISSN
1573-1464Publisher version
Language
- en