| In 2010, I investigated the relationship between elevated thermal regimes and the interspecific interactions between the non-native pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus and the native Eurasian perch Perca fluviatilis in the U.K. I used heated and ambient temperature experimental ponds, stalked with pumpkinseed and Eurasian perch in allopatric and sympatric assemblages, to examine the effects of competition and temperature on the growth and diet of the two species. I found in both species growth was faster in heated than in ambient temperature ponds. Growth did not differ significantly between sympatric and allopatric conditions for either species, except for perch in Set 2, where growth was reduced in sympatry under heated conditions. Through diet analysis, I showed that increased resource partitioning occurred between the two species in sympatry, and this segregation of prey resources was greater under elevated thermal regimes. The results of my experiments, specifically the diet analysis, indicate that these species are competing for resources in the littoral zone. A literature review of interacting impacts of a changing environment on Eurasian perch and pumpkinseed suggests that pumpkinseed will likely have a competitive advantage under the environmental conditions predicted with climate change.;Keywords: Lepomis gibbosus, Perca fluviatilis, pumpkinseed, Eurasian perch, climate change, temperature, growth, diet, competition, interspecific interaction. |
