Range extensions of aquatic Ponto-Caspian macroinvertebrate species in Europe have mainly been facilitated by the interconnection of river basins through man-made canals and intentional introductio...

/pdf/geographical-patterns-in-range-extension-of-ponto-caspian-46yrwjfyfc.pdf

Geographical patterns in range extension of Ponto-Caspian macroinvertebrate species in Europe

The North American Great Lakes have been invaded and dramatically altered by more than 145 alien species. Many invasions have occurred during the past few decades because of the release of Eurasian ballast water from transoceanic ships. Current regulations require ships to exchange foreign ballast with highly saline water before entering the Great Lakes; this procedure should prevent colonization by strictly freshwater species, but species with broad salinity tolerance might survive transport in exchanged water. A recent series of invasions by euryhaline organisms from the Black and Caspian Seas region signals a new phase in the transformation of the Great Lakes - one that supports the concept of an 'invasional meltdown'.

https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/pdf/S0169-5347(99)01745-0.pdf

Recent mass invasion of the North American Great Lakes by Ponto-Caspian species.

The identification and risk assessment of potential biological invaders would provide valuable criteria for the allocation of resources toward the detection and control of invasion threats. Yet, fr...

/pdf/predicting-the-identity-and-impact-of-future-biological-24eeew85rs.pdf

Predicting the identity and impact of future biological invaders: a priority for aquatic resource management

Stelios Katsanevakis*, Inger Wallentinus, Argyro Zenetos, Erkki Leppakoski, Melih Ertan Cinar, Bayram Ozturk, Michal Grabowski, Daniel Golani and Ana Cristina Cardoso European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES), Ispra, Italy Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Ag. Kosmas, Greece Department of Biosciences, Environmental and Marine Biology, Abo Akademi University, Turku, Finland Ege University, Faculty of Fisheries, Department of Hydrobiology, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey Faculty of Fisheries, Marine Biology Laboratory, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey Department of Invertebrate Zoology & Hydrobiology, University of Lodz, Poland Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior and the National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

/pdf/impacts-of-invasive-alien-marine-species-on-ecosystem-2h02ykurnj.pdf

Impacts of invasive alien marine species on ecosystem services and biodiversity: a pan-European review.

The extensive construction of reservoirs over the past century has radically altered the environmental landscape on a global scale. Construction of dams on most large rivers has interrupted the connectivity of water flow and greatly increased the abundance of standing freshwater habitats. Reservoirs act as stepping-stones for the dispersal of exotic species across landscapes. A variety of passively dispersing species have invaded reservoirs, spread through interconnected waterways, and been transported to nearby disconnected habitats. We hypothesize that reservoirs are more readily invaded than natural lakes, because of their physiochemical properties, greater connectivity, and higher levels of disturbance. Here we summarize properties of reservoirs that would make them prone to invasions and discuss cases in which reservoirs have facilitated rapid range expansion. Our overview illustrates linkages between two important forms of global environmental change: the widespread manipulation of river fl...

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[0518:DRFIIL]2.0.CO;2

Do Reservoirs Facilitate Invasions into Landscapes

Amphipods are brooding peracaridan crustaceans whose young undergo direct development, with no independent larval dispersal stage. Most species are epibenthic, benthic, or subterranean. There are some 1,870 amphipod species and subspecies recognized from fresh or inland waters worldwide at the end of 2005. This accounts for 20% of the total known amphipod diversity. The actual diversity may still be several-fold. Amphipods are most abundant in cool and temperate environments; they are particularly diversified in subterranean environments and in running waters (fragmented habitats), and in temperate ancient lakes, but are notably rare in the tropics. Of the described freshwater taxa 70% are Palearctic, 13% Nearctic, 7% Neotropical, 6% Australasian and 3% Afrotropical. Approximately 45% of the taxa are subterranean; subterranean diversity is highest in the karst landscapes of Central and Southern Europe (e.g., Niphargidae), North America (Crangonyctidae), and Australia (Paramelitidae). The majority of Palearctic epigean amphipods are in the superfamily Gammaroidea, whereas talitroid amphipods (Hyalella) account for all Neotropic and much of the Nearctic epigean fauna. Major concentrations of endemic species diversity occur in Southern Europe, Lake Baikal, the Ponto-Caspian basin, Southern Australia (including Tasmania), and the south-eastern USA. Endemic family diversity is similarly centered in the Western Palearctic and Lake Baikal. Freshwater amphipods are greatly polyphyletic, continental invasions have taken place repeatedly in different time frames and regions of the world. In the recent decades, human mediated invasions of Ponto-Caspian amphipods have had great impacts on European fluvial ecosystems.

/pdf/global-diversity-of-amphipods-amphipoda-crustacea-in-4ertgf772y.pdf

Global diversity of amphipods (Amphipoda; Crustacea) in freshwater

Range extensions of some gammaridean species in European inland waters caused by human activity

During the last decade of 20th century, the nonindigenous gammarid species Gammarus tigrinus, Dikerogammarus haemobaphes, Pontogammarus robustoides and Obesogammarus crassus invaded the lower Vistula River and its deltaic, partly brackish regions. G. tigrinus, an oligohaline North-American species, was introduced to western Europe in the 1950s; the remaining three species are oligohaline/freshwater Ponto-Caspian species. All these species are now invading central and western Europe using the network of man-made canals connecting different European river systems. In the Vistula River, the native European freshwater gammarid species Gammarus pulex and G. varsoviensis were replaced in the 1920s by the Ponto-Caspian Chaetogammarus ischnus (syn. Echinogammarus ischnus), which in turn has been outnumbered by the more recent invasions of D. haemobaphes and P. robustoides. In brackish waters, the native Atlantic-boreal species Gammarus zaddachi and Gammarus duebeni are replaced or at least outnumbered by G. tigrinus, P. robustoides and O. crassus. Possible invasion routes are discussed.

/pdf/recent-drastic-changes-in-the-gammarid-fauna-crustacea-1p6s4g3e1z.pdf

Recent drastic changes in the gammarid fauna (Crustacea, Amphipoda) of the Vistula River deltaic system in Poland caused by alien invaders

The paper discusses recent drastic changes in the composition of Polish gammarid fauna, that occurred at the end of 20th century. This change was caused by the invasion of five alien species – four of Ponto-Caspian origin (Dikerogammarus haemobaphes, D. villosus, Obesogammarus crassus and Pontogammarus robustoides) and one of American origin (Gammarus tigrinus). Probable invasion routes are presented.

/pdf/four-ponto-caspian-and-one-american-gammarid-species-5ei8almpyp.pdf

Krzysztof Jażdżewski

Papers

Global diversity of amphipods (Amphipoda; Crustacea) in freshwater

Range extensions of some gammaridean species in European inland waters caused by human activity

Recent drastic changes in the gammarid fauna (Crustacea, Amphipoda) of the Vistula River deltaic system in Poland caused by alien invaders

Four Ponto-Caspian and one American gammarid species (Crustacea, Amphipoda) recently invading Polish waters

Contribution to the marine biodiversity inventory: a checklist of the Amphipoda (Crustacea) of the Southern Ocean