There is growing evidence that the traits and impacts of species may diverge during the process of biological invasions; however, we still lack a general understanding of how the invasion process affects animal behavior. We used a biogeographic approach to compare foraging and antipredator behavior across a reciprocal invasion (an invasion in which each species was introduced to the native range of the other) of virile (Faxonius virilis) and rusty crayfish (F. rusticus). We hypothesized that the invasion process would select for bold, active individuals that allocate more time to foraging and less time to defense than their native counterparts. We used laboratory experiments to examine crayfish boldness, activity, and foraging voracity and mesocosm experiments to examine shelter use and predator avoidance behavior in response to a predatory fish.
Results/Conclusions
The intraspecific variation we observed was often greater in magnitude than interspecific variation, offering new evidence that ecologically important behaviors can vary substantially across the range of a species and may differ between native and non-native populations. Virile crayfish from native populations (Wisconsin, USA) were bolder, more active, and more voracious foragers than those from the species’ non-native range (Indiana, USA), and also displayed reduced antipredator behavior. Rusty crayfish from non-native populations (Wisconsin, USA) also displayed reduced antipredator behavior compared to their native counterparts (Indiana, USA). These results suggest that there is a tradeoff between foraging and predator avoidance in crayfish. Counter to our hypothesis, crayfish behavior did not consistently vary across species based on whether the population was native or non-native. Increased investment in foraging in Wisconsin could be an adaptation to the shorter growing season, and reduced boldness and activity in non-native virile crayfish could be an adaptation to avoid interactions with competitively superior rusty crayfish. Because foraging voracity and predator avoidance are ecologically important traits, the substantial divergence in behavior we observed across the geographic range of each species is likely to alter the ecological impacts of these crayfish on freshwater ecosystems.