Introduced invertebrates are important prey for a generalist predator

Concern over biological invasions has drawn increased attention to the impacts of introduced predators or competitors, but not to the importance of introduced prey. North American forests are rich in introduced invertebrates, including species that represent relatively novel taxonomic or trophic guilds and show biased distributions among forest types. We analysed the diets of red‐backed salamanders, Plethodon cinereus , from three upland and three lowland forests to determine whether introduced prey are important contributors to geographical or temporal variation in salamander food resources. We found several introduced species were volumetrically important salamander prey, and were responsible for resource differences between forest types and much of the seasonal fluctuation in food resources in both forest types. In lowland forests, rain had a stronger effect on salamander predation on non‐native earthworms than native taxa, creating more dynamic resource fluctuations in resource levels than was observed in upland forests where earthworms were absent. With one exception, predation on non‐native species was positively associated with predation on native species, suggesting non‐native prey have added to salamander resources rather than replaced salamander predation on native taxa. We hypothesize that the novel resource gradients created by non‐native prey introductions are contributing to patterns of geographical and temporal phenotypic variation among salamander populations.