Responses of resident marsh fishes to stages ofPhragmites australis invasion in three mid Atlantic estuaries |
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| Authors: | Karen L Hunter Dewayne A Fox Lori M Brown Kenneth W Able |
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| Institution: | (1) Institute for Sustainability Studies, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA;(2) Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Oceanview Boulevard, Pacific Grove, CA, USA;(3) NOAA Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 74 Magruder Road, Highlands, NJ 07732, USA |
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| Abstract: | Modification of brackish marshes by nonindigenousPhragmites australis has occurred across a broad geographical area in eastern North America. Among its effects on marsh processes,Phragmites may be increasingly unfavorable to marsh surface fishes as its invasion progresses within an estuary. We assessed the effect
of thePhragmites invasion on resident marsh surface fishes by examining the population response ofFundulus heteroclitus (mummichog, 5–48 mm TL) andF. luciae (spotfin killifish, 5–41 mm TL) to four distinct invasion stages in three estuaries of the U.S. mid Atlantic region (New
Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland). We documented precipitous declines in mean catch per unit effort ofF. heteroclitus in pit traps from natural marsh (51.6), through initial (33.8), early (12.3), and late invasion stages (2.4) across all sites.
A similar pattern was documented forF. luciae, with mean catch per unit effort in pit traps declining from natural marsh (48.9), through initial (39.1), early (9.3), and
late invasion stages (2.7). Population structure of both species also changed somewhat across invasion stages such that we
collected a narrower size range of individuals of both species from late invasion stages. Patterns suggest that as thePhragmites invasion progresses, there is a decline in habitat function for larval and juvenileF. heteroclitus and an increased risk of extirpation ofF. luciae from brackish marshes along the east coast of the U.S. |
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