Presentation Type
Poster
Keywords
Crayfish, Aggression, Drought
Department
Biology
Major
Biology
Abstract
Crayfish are a very prevalent invasive species that affect many different environments all over the world. Crayfish, specifically Procambarus clarkii, are an invasive species that have currently taken a foothold in the Santa Monica mountains and are threatening native stream species. There is currently a severe drought occurring in the Santa Monica mountains. The drought has been reshaping many aquatic environments by limiting space and resources such as food and shelter. Crayfish are a very aggressive species and adversely affect the habitat they inhabit by rapidly colonizing, burrowing, and their voracious diets. Due to the adverse effects crayfish can have on the environment it is important to understand how these behaviors will change with the drought .We expect that crayfish aggression levels will increase as water levels decrease as a result of lack of space. We tested this hypothesis by exposing crayfish pairs to different water levels and measuring their aggressive activity. We did this by using 3 different water levels based on crayfish size: half covered, covered, and double covered. To measure aggression we tallied the number of aggressive interactions that occurred within a five minute trial period. We found no significant difference in aggression between water level treatments. This indicates that decreased water levels caused by the drought will not change aggressive behavior between crayfish in a population.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Kats
Funding Source or Research Program
Cross Disciplinary-Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research
Location
Waves Cafeteria
Start Date
24-3-2017 2:00 PM
End Date
24-3-2017 3:00 PM
Included in
The Effect of Water Levels on Crayfish Aggression
Waves Cafeteria
Crayfish are a very prevalent invasive species that affect many different environments all over the world. Crayfish, specifically Procambarus clarkii, are an invasive species that have currently taken a foothold in the Santa Monica mountains and are threatening native stream species. There is currently a severe drought occurring in the Santa Monica mountains. The drought has been reshaping many aquatic environments by limiting space and resources such as food and shelter. Crayfish are a very aggressive species and adversely affect the habitat they inhabit by rapidly colonizing, burrowing, and their voracious diets. Due to the adverse effects crayfish can have on the environment it is important to understand how these behaviors will change with the drought .We expect that crayfish aggression levels will increase as water levels decrease as a result of lack of space. We tested this hypothesis by exposing crayfish pairs to different water levels and measuring their aggressive activity. We did this by using 3 different water levels based on crayfish size: half covered, covered, and double covered. To measure aggression we tallied the number of aggressive interactions that occurred within a five minute trial period. We found no significant difference in aggression between water level treatments. This indicates that decreased water levels caused by the drought will not change aggressive behavior between crayfish in a population.