- Title
- Invasive alien aquatic plant species management drives aquatic ecosystem community recovery: An exploration using stable isotope analysis
- Creator
- Motitsoe, Samuel N, Hill, Jaclyn M, Coetzee, Julie A, Hill, Martin P
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2022
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/423527
- Identifier
- vital:72069
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2022.104995"
- Description
- The socio-economic and ecological impacts of invasive alien aquatic plant (IAAP) species have been well studied globally. However less is known about ecosystem recovery following the management of IAAP species. This study employed a before-after study design to investigate ecological recovery following the management of Salvinia molesta D.S. Mitchell, at four field sites in South Africa. We hypothesized that the presence of S. molesta would have a negative impact on the ecosystem food web structure, and that following S. molesta control, the systems would show positive ecosystem recovery. Aquatic macroinvertebrate and macrophyte samples collected before and after mechanical or biological control of S. molesta, were analysed for δ13C and δ15N stable isotopes. Salvinia molesta infestations negatively impacted the food web structure, indicated by reduced food chain length, trophic diversity and basal resources. This represented an altered aquatic food web structure, that in some cases, led to the collapse of the aquatic community. In contrast, after either mechanical or biological control, there were increases in food chain length, trophic diversity and abundance of energy resources accessed by consumers, indicating improved food web structure. Although the study showed positive ecosystem recovery following control, we noted that each control method followed a different recovery trajectory. We conclude that S. molesta invasions reduce aquatic biodiversity and alter ecosystem trophic dynamics and related ecosystem processes, necessitating control.
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (12 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Biological Control, Motitsoe, S.N., Hill, J.M., Coetzee, J.A. and Hill, M.P., 2022. Invasive alien aquatic plant species management drives aquatic ecosystem community recovery: An exploration using stable isotope analysis. Biological Control, 173, p.104995, Biological Control volume 173 p. 104995 2022 1090-2112
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Elsevier Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.elsevier.com/legal/elsevier-website-terms-and-conditions)
- Rights
- Closed Access
- Hits: 343
- Visitors: 346
- Downloads: 8
Collections
Motitsoe, Samuel (Mr)
Coetzee, Julie A (Prof)
Hill, Martin Patrick (Distinguished Professor)
RU DST/NRF SARChI for Insects in Sustainable Agricultural Ecosystems
RU Department of Botany
SDG 14. Life Below Water
SDG 15. Life On Land
RU Department of Zoology and Entomology
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Invasive alien aquatic plant species management drives aquatic ecosystem community recovery.pdf | 834 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |