Pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) invasions facilitated by introductions and nature management strongly reduce macroinvertebrate abundance in isolated water bodies

By H. Kleef, Æ. G. V. D. Velde, Rob S. E. W. Leuven, H. Esselink. Biological Invasions, 2008

85 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The pumpkinseed sunfish, Lepomis gibbosus, originates from Eastern North America and was introduced to the Netherlands in 1902 as an aquarium and garden pond fish. At present the pumpkinseed is widely spread throughout the Netherlands and occurs in a variety of aquatic habitats. It is especially abundant in moorland pools, fishing ponds and urban waters. Strong population development of the pumpkinseed appears to be facilitated by nature management practices in existing ponds (the removal of accumulated organic matter and macrophytes) and by creating new ponds. These measures enhance suitable breeding habitats that are free of competitors and predators. Isolated waters harbouring pumpkinseed were more often situated close to human habitation and infrastructure than could be expected based on the distribution of randomly selected isolated waters, identifying introductions as an important dispersal mechanism. In order to minimize the chances of introductions, planning of nature management practices should be done at distances over 250 m from human habitation and 100 m from infrastructure. Macroinvertebrate abundance in pools populated by pumpkinseed was eighty three percent lower than in pools without pumpkinseed, probably due to opportunistic feeding and high pumpkinseed abundances. Currently there is little experience with pumpkinseed control. However, options to be explored include: decreasing depth of colonized waters by filling them with soil allowing them to occasionally dry up, introducing native competitors and predators and the use of biodegradable piscicides. In addition, limitation of the sale of pumpkinseed is required as well as public education on the consequences of introducing exotic species.

Subfields: Aquatic Science, Ecology, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f3e5295881bf899daf83a2b10f8a23feed4d8a3b

How researchers see this paper

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In Aquatic Science

1. M. Fox
2. J. Cucherousset
3. G. Copp
4. Julian D. Olden
5. B. Oertli
6. Kirsten M. Parris

In Ecology

1. J. Cucherousset
2. M. Fox
3. Julian D. Olden
4. B. Oertli
5. Kirsten M. Parris
6. G. Copp
7. G. Grenouillet
8. S. Brosse

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

1. J. Cucherousset
2. M. Fox
3. Kirsten M. Parris
4. G. Copp
5. Julian D. Olden
6. B. Oertli
7. S. Brosse
8. G. Grenouillet

Citations in the corpus

• Ecological Impacts of Nonnative Freshwater Fishes (2011, background): “…between the two native species G McDonald et al. (2008) Centrarchidae Lepomis gibbosus Eight invertebrates taxa The Netherlands Decreased abundance P van Kleef et al. (2008) Lepomis macrochirus Archoplites interruptus United States Increased use of closed canopy and decreased growth I Marchetti…”
• Life-history traits and potential invasiveness of introduced pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus populations in northwestern Europe (2009, background): “However, the increased attention to northwestern populations has revealed pumpkinseed to be more widely distributed within countries of northwestern Europe than was previously believed (e.g. Verreycken et al. 2007; Van Kleef et al. 2008), despite the fact that the pumpkinseed is considered a warmwat”
• Review: Toward management of urban ponds for freshwater biodiversity (2019, background): “In the Netherlands, urban ponds populated by this fish supported much lower macroinvertebrate abundance than ponds without (van Kleef et al. 2008).”