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The Effects of Invasive Primary Producers on Native Primary Consumers

Author(s): Dylan Kayser1, Christina Lobuglio2

1. Phillips Academy Andover 2. Auburn University Shellfish Lab

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Summary:
In this experiment, the effect of the invasive primary producer, Carpobrotus edulis on the native primary consumer, Acheta domesticus, was studied. The purpose of this experiment was to identify the effects of a native primary producer on both the…

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In this experiment, the effect of the invasive primary producer, Carpobrotus edulis on the native primary consumer, Acheta domesticus, was studied. The purpose of this experiment was to identify the effects of a native primary producer on both the health of the soil and the health of the primary consumers. Six microcosms were created and split into two equal groups. Three microcosms contained invasive Carpobrotus edulis and three microcosms contained native Jaumea carnosa. Every microcosm contained five Acheta domesticus, and there was a cricket for every 200 cm2 of microcosm. The experiment ran for six weeks. On average, crickets in microcosms with native Jaumea carnosa gained 0.27g whereas crickets in microcosms with invasive Carpobrotus edulis lost 0.37g. Of the 15 crickets with Carpobrotus edulis, 15 crickets died, and of the 15 crickets with Jaumea carnosa, 7 crickets died. Of the 6 microcosms only two achieved a final soil nutrition value of 9 or higher, indicating adequate levels of soil nutrition, both of which were microcosms with native Jaumea carnosa. From these results it was concluded that, the survival rate of Acheta domesticus....

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Version 1.0 - published on 09 May 2023 doi:10.25334/D7SX-NQ49 - cite this