Abstract

The introduction of exotic species can often cause problems in the structure and function of ecosystems. The case of Procambarus clarkii is a good example. The amount of impact that crayfish have on ecosystems is strongly influenced by the environmental conditions of the habitat they occupy. The crayfish population structure is also affected by these conditions owing to the high adaptive plasticity of the species. The size structure of a population is useful in predicting its ecological success and therefore its impact on the ecosystem. The objective of this study was to comparatively analyse six populations of P. clarkii from different ecosystem types in the Doñana National Park (DNP) in Spain. In order to evaluate possible differences related to adaptation processes, comparisons based on several phenotypic and population dynamic traits were made. Environmental physicochemical parameters and water regime were recorded monthly. From our results, we could infer that although P. clarkii populations in the DNP did not differ phenotypically, they greatly differ physiologically, resulting in different growth rates, and structure and dynamic of the populations. This fact helps us to explain why the ecological impact of P. clarkii is very different from one ecosystem to another, and hopefully, to gain insight concerning the role of P. clarkii on the ecosystems. Differences were due to water regime and temperature, so recruitment and reproduction seasons were longer in the places flooded in spring and in early autumn. Population parameters appear more appropriate for predicting future selection trends in P. clarkii population growth rate and possible maximum length in DNP than morphometric analyses. Furthermore, the present paper has illustrated the crayfish’s great adaptability to different ecosystems, which is the basis of its great ecological success.

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