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Trophic Position Stability of Benthic Organisms in a Changing Food Web of an Arctic Fjord Under the Pressure of an Invasive Predatory Snow Crab, Chionoecetes opilio

A. K. Zalota,P. Dgebuadze,Alexander D Kiselev,M. V. Chikina,Alexey Udalov,D. Kondar,A. Mishin,S. Tsurikov

Published 2024 in Biology

ABSTRACT

Simple Summary Impacts caused by alien species are often obscured due to other biotic and abiotic stressors impacting ecosystems worldwide. The introduction of a new predator into a previously undisturbed ecosystem is a rare opportunity to observe such impacts in its pure form. The invasion of the snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio, in Blagopoluchiya Bay of the Kara Sea is a rare natural experiment. The crab settled in the bay in 2014 in high numbers, and up to the present day, this one cohort lives and grows in the bay, causing changes in the taxonomic structure, abundance, and biomass of local benthic communities. The results of stable isotope analysis revealed the stability of the trophic positions and sources of organic material for the most common benthic species as the invasion progressed. As the macrobenthic community of the bay changed, any changes in the prey items of the consumers were within the same trophic level. The food web structure changed, where secondary consumers became more numerous, and the proportion of deposit and suspension feeders decreased. The remaining benthic organisms are less available as food items for the snow crab, which may result in starvation and further decline of the invasive crab population.

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