Sarah Fick
Effects of a Marine Invasion across the Gulf of Maine
Advisor: Lindsay Whitlow
Recent research suggests that the threat of predation by invasive species can lead to changes in behavior and growth of native species. In Maine, green crab predation has been found to induce native soft-shell clams, Mya arenaria, to burrow deeper into the sediment (Whitlow, 2003). Greater burrowing depth potentially causes the clams to expend more energy burrowing than growing. Thus, the result of burrowing deeper is a shorter thicker shell. Ms. Fick will examine trends in clam responses to predation along the coast of the Gulf of Maine. Six sites will be utilized from the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve in Wells, Maine, to Bowdoin's Kent Island Biological Station in New Brunswick, Canada. Since this study is looking at a spatial scale as large as the Maine coast, a high diversity of abiotic and biotic conditions will be encompassed. These conditions determine the viable habitat for any organism and must be taken into account for possible interactions with the effects of the invasive crab.
Sources
Whitlow, W.L., N.A. Rice, and C. Sweeney (2003) Native species vulnerablility to introduced predators: testing an inducible defense and a refuge from predation. Biological Invasions. (in press)