Anthropogenic salinisation of inland waters worldwide causes diverse social, economic and ecological impacts, including shifts in the composition of biological communities. I used published data on occurrence of aquatic invertebrate taxa in relation to salinity to develop a novel Invertebrate-Based Salinity Index (IBSI) suitable for purposes such as indicating the ecological...
Freshwater planarians of the genus Girardia have been introduced all over the world, but little is known about the species involved and their possible impact on autochthonous ecosystems. Using molecular phylogenetics and niche modelling under different climatic scenarios we examine the human-induced spread of alien Girardia species from their original areas of distribution in the...
Climate change is affecting the global hydrological cycle, causing drastic changes in precipitation patterns. Extreme climatic events are becoming more frequent and intense than in the past, leading to water-level fluctuations and affecting aquatic ecosystems. Semiarid regions are very susceptible to changing climate. We analyzed a 10 years dataset from a tropical semiarid...
Sea level rise is expected to continue apace, with a concomitant rise in temperature on the globe's surface. Natural populations genetic pool compromised by increased salinity would contribute to decrease resilience under future temperature changes. Therefore, this work aimed to understand the long-term effects of salinization on the genetic diversity of a cladoceran-simulated...
Freshwater zooplankter Brachionus plicatilis is able to inhabit different habitats and locally adapt to their environmental conditions. It also shows a high degree of population structuring in small geographical regions. Here we try to shed light on the evolution of reproductive isolation in populations of B. plicatilis with presumptive gene flow among locally adapted populations...
Estimates of secondary production depend on the efficiency of sampling methods in capturing abundances and body lengths of the entire macroinvertebrate community. The efficiency of common sampling methods in fulfilling these criteria is poorly understood. We compared the effects of a Surber sampler (250 µm mesh size) and a Freeze corer in capturing abundance, biomass, and...
Salinisation has direct and detrimental physiological effects on freshwater organisms, yet little is known about its indirect effects. Here, we present a study that investigated the primary and secondary effects of salinisation on aquatic macroinvertebrates. We analysed macroinvertebrate samples from nine sites in river Wipper, Germany against nine stressor variables (water...
Diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) are sexually dimorphic generalist turtles that inhabit salt marshes and estuaries along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. On October 29th, 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, USA, directly impacting terrapin populations inhabiting central and southern Barnegat Bay. To examine potential food web mediated...
Atlantic salmon Salmo salar are experiencing widespread population declines, and reductions in growth and survival in the marine environment are contributing factors. Our aims were to estimate marine food consumption of adult salmon and to determine how energetics would be directly affected by the increased ocean temperatures associated with climate change. We tagged previous...
Both natural and anthropogenic processes can lead to the increasing salinity of surface waters. The knowledge about the ecological consequences of salinization on the biota is limited especially in case of microbiota, like diatoms. We collected the existing knowledge about the relationship between salinity and diatoms in fresh and saline waters. Based on the available papers...
Ecological succession within lakes generally proceeds as eutrophication and shallowing occur and the aquatic biota of the lakes is altered. The eutrophication rate depends on the lake size and the area and fertility of the watershed. If the watershed fertility of several different lakes is equivalent and the lakes’ formation time and initial environment are similar, the trophic...
Mediterranean endorheic wetlands are strongly affected by local meteorological events, so they undergo frequent unpredictable disturbances, such as episodes of high salinity or desiccation. In this context, salinity and temperature may be crucial for determining the structure of zooplankton communities and regional biodiversity, since they may trigger the hatching of egg bank in...
The coral reef crisis has influenced research for over two decades, during which time the capacity of corals to withstand and respond to environmental stress has been documented from the cellular to ecosystem level. Over the past decade, research is increasingly working towards uncovering the extent of coral–bacterial interactions, finding that diverse and stable microbial...
The abundance of pike, a keystone top-predator, have declined dramatically in the Baltic Sea since the 1990s likely owing to recruitment failure. It has been proposed that wetland restoration can aid the recovery of the pike stock by increasing the number of recruits produced by anadromous populations. Yet, no previous studies have addressed whether wetland restorations are...
A number of studies evidenced the impact of human activities on aquatic environments worldwide. The availability of nutrients in lakes is strongly influenced by watershed land use patterns depending on the share of forestry, agriculture and urbanization level. Nearly all the previous studies, which examined the relationships between the phytoplankton community and the land use...
Lumpfish are a commercially significant marine fish that are harvested in roe fisheries and used as cleaner fish in salmon farming, however, little is known of the environmental factors shaping the ecological niche of the species at global scale. As captive reared lumpfish are sensitive to warm water, the geographic distribution of wild populations may change as sea temperatures...
Apalachicola Bay, a river-fed estuary in the northeast Gulf of Mexico is experiencing impacts from anthropogenic and climate-induced changes in freshwater inputs and sea level rise. These synergistic pressures have resulted in a historic oyster fishery collapse and the expansion of mangroves, which are displacing native salt marsh. Understanding how these natural and man-made...
Temperature is one of the most important drivers to affect marine ectotherms in the context of anthropogenic climate change modifying seasonal cycles in temperate regions. To reliably predict the impact of climate variability on marine ectotherms, their capacity to adapt to rapid change needs to be understood. Due to fast transmission between generations, transgenerational...
Understanding the dynamics of phytoplankton assemblages in various and variable aquatic ecosystems is of paramount importance, given the strategic supporting services offered by these organisms. Such knowledge is implicitly based on the analysis of the realized niche of the different populations, i.e. of the sets of conditions within which populations show a positive growth. The...
This work aims to present an historical review of the ecosystem services provided by anadromous fish (i.e., species that migrate from the sea to the river to spawn) throughout Human time, as well as of the main related threats, focusing on the Iberian Peninsula region. Anadromous fish provide important provision, cultural, regulatory and supporting ecosystem services across their...
Currently, 50% of Irish rivers do not meet water quality standards, with many declining due to numerous pressures, including peatland degradation. This study examines stream water quality in the Irish midlands, a region where raised bogs have been all historically disturbed to various extent and the majority drained for industrial or domestic peat extraction. For the first time...
Chemical preservatives can alter stable isotope ratios in animal tissues. The effects of preservation on δ13C and δ15N values have been investigated in a variety of species, but not on δ2H values or on the freshwater pearl mussel (FPM, Margaritifera margaritifera) tissues. We evaluated the effect of ethanol preservation (unpreserved vs preserved tissues) over 6 months on the δ13C...