Ecological Impacts of Invasive Crayfish in a Naïve Riparian System
Channel: Conservation and Adaptation Resources Toolbox
Date: 2023-04-04

We investigated the role of an oft-cited threat to stream communities in the lower Colorado River Basin: the non-native northern crayfish (Faxonius virilis). Our goals were to: assess population structure and reproductive phenology; identify crayfish food web connections; quantify the magnitudes of crayfish interactions; and to understand landscape-wide effects of crayfish. We contributed to methodologies in PIT-tag use and length-weight relationships in crayfish to aid future research, described crayfish role in the food web, and found evidence that low densities of crayfish do not appear detrimental to the aquatic community – a key finding that perhaps provides a ray of hope for management.

Presented by Gregor Hamilton, University of New Mexico
April 4, 2023