Protistology • 15 (4): 206–219 (2021) |
The impact of nuisance planktonic invaders on pelagic communities: a review of the Baltic Sea case studies |
Irena V. Telesh1 and Elena N. Naumenko2
1 Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
| Submitted September 3, 2021 | Accepted September 29, 2021 | Summary The article focuses on the effects of planktonic nonindigenous species on pelagic communities in the Baltic Sea that can be assessed using the basic principles of invasion biology, ecological physiology, trophic dynamics in food chains, and production hydrobiology. The ecosystem effects of nuisance unicellular species (the potentially toxic bloom-forming dinoflagellates Prorocentrum cordatum) and multicellular invaders (the carnivorous fishhook water flea Cercopagis pengoi) are reviewed and illustrated by the data from the Baltic estuaries and coastal lagoons. The putative effects of trophic interactions in plankton on the possible new protistan alien species introductions and the magnitude of harmful dinoflagellate blooms are suggested to occur in the future Baltic Sea due to the ongoing desalinization process under the changing climate.
Key words: biological invasions, Cercopagis pengoi, harmful algal bloom, Impact index, Prorocentrum cordatum, protists
Address for correspondence: Irena V. Telesh. Zoological Institute RAS, Universitetskaya Emb. 1, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia; e-mail: Irena.Telesh@zin.ru |
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