Invasive species have come to dominate 3% of the Earth’s ice-free surface, constituting one of the most serious ecological and economic threats of the new millennium, and freshwater systems are particularly vulnerable. This book examines the identity, distribution, and impact of freshwater non-indigenous species and the dynamics of their invasion. It focuses on old and new invaders and provides a starting point for further research.
Biological invasions by alien (non-native) species are widely recognized as a significant component of human-caused global environmental change and the second most important cause of biodiversity decline. Alien species threaten many European ecosystems and have serious environmental, economic and health impacts. The DAISIE (Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe) project has now brought together all available information on alien species in Europe (terrestrial, aquatic and marine) and from all taxa (fungi, plants, animals). Thus for the first time, an overview and assessment of biological invasions in the Pan-European region is finally possible. The Handbook of Alien Species in Europe summarises the major findings of this groundbreaking research and addresses the invasion trends, pathways, and both economic as well as ecological impact for eight major taxonomic groups. Approximately 11.000 alien species recorded in Europe are listed, and fact sheets for 100 of the most invasive alien species are included, each with a distribution map and colour illustration. The book is complemented by a regularly updated internet database providing free additional information. With its highly interdisciplinary approach, DAISIE and its Handbook will be the basis for future scientific investigations as well as management and control of alien invasive species in Europe.
Integrating research into freshwater biodiversity and the role of keystone species, this fascinating book presents freshwater crayfish as representatives of human-exacerbated threats to biodiversity and conservation. It uses examples from these and other large decapod invertebrates to explore how communities function and are controlled, alongside the implications of human demands and conflicts over limited resources, notably the severe impacts on biodiversity. The discussion is structured around three key topics – the present situation of crayfish in world freshwater ecosystems, the applications of science to conservation management and knowledge transfer for successful crayfish management. It outlines the historic exploitation of crayfish, addressing the problems caused by invasive alien forms and explaining the importance of correct identification when dealing with conservation issues. Offering a global perspective on freshwater systems, the book ultimately highlights how the conservation of such large and long-lived species will help protect ecosystem quality in the future.
For their great commercial importance as a human food delicacy, crayfish are now becoming of wider interest to molecular biologists, and also to conservationists due to the fact that in some countries many of the native crayfish species are under threat from human activity, disease, and competition from other introduced crayfish species. Helmed by
This is the first comprehensive science-based textbook on the biology and ecology of the Baltic Sea, one of the world’s largest brackish water bodies. The aim of this book is to provide students and other readers with knowledge about the conditions for life in brackish water, the functioning of the Baltic Sea ecosystem and its environmental problems and management. It highlights biological variation along the unique environmental gradients of the brackish Baltic Sea Area (the Baltic Sea, Belt Sea and Kattegat), especially those in salinity and climate. pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#262626">The first part of the book presents the challenges for life processes and ecosystem dynamics that result from the Baltic Sea’s highly variable recent geological history and geographical isolation. The second part explains interactions between organisms and their environment, including biogeochemical cycles, patterns of biodiversity, genetic diversity and evolution, biological invasions and physiological adaptations. In the third part, the subsystems of the Baltic Sea ecosystem – the pelagic zone, the sea ice, the deep soft sea beds, the phytobenthic zone, the sandy coasts, and estuaries and coastal lagoons – are treated in detail with respect to the structure and function of communities and habitats and consequences of natural and anthropogenic constraints, such as climate change, discharges of nutrients and hazardous substances. Finally, the fourth part of the book discusses monitoring and ecosystem-based management to deal with contemporary and emerging threats to the ecosystem’s health.
This is the eighth volume of a ten-volume series on The Natural History of the Crustacea. The volume examines Evolution and Biogeography, and the first part of this volume is entirely dedicated to the explanation of the origins and successful establishment of the Crustacea in the oceans. In the second part of the book, the biogeography of the Crustacea is explored in order to infer how they conquered different biomes globally while adapting to a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial conditions. The final section examines more general patterns and processes, and the chapters offer useful insight into the future of crustaceans.
As in the terrestrial environment, most data collection from freshwater habitats to date falls into the survey, surveillance or research categories. The critical difference between these exercises and a monitoring project is that a monitoring project will clearly identify when we need to make a management response. A Model for Conservation Management and Monitoring Monitoring (as defined by Hellawell) is essentially a tool of practical conservation management, and Fig. 1.1 shows a simple, but effective, model for nature conser- tion management and monitoring. The need for clear decision-making is implicit in this model. First we must decide what would represent a favourable state for the key habitat or species, and then we must decide when to intervene if the state is (or becomes) unfavourable. A third, often overlooked, but equally important, decision concerns when we would consider the habitat or species to have recovered; this is unlikely to be the same point that we became concerned about it. This decision not only has resource imp- cations, it can also have major implications for other habitats and species (prey species are an obvious example). All of these decisions are essential to the devel- ment of an efficient and effective monitoring project.
In The Wrong Place: Alien Marine Crustaceans - Distribution, Biology And Impacts provides a unique view into the remarkable story of how shrimps, crabs, and lobsters – and their many relatives – have been distributed around the world by human activity, and the profound implications of this global reorganization of biodiversity for marine conservation biology. Many crustaceans form the base of marine food chains, and are often prominent predators and competitors acting as ecological engineers in marine ecosystems. Commencing in the 1800s global commerce began to move hundreds – perhaps thousands – of species of marine crustaceans across oceans and between continents, both intentionally and unintentionally. This book tells the story of these invasions from Arctic waters to tropical shores, highlighting not only the importance and impact of all prominent crustacean invasions in the world's oceans, but also the commercial exploitation of invasive crabs and shrimps. Topics explored for the first time in one volume include the historical roots of man's impact on crustacean biogeography, the global dispersal of crabs, barnacle invasions, insights into the potential scale of tropical invasions, the history of the world's most widely cultured shrimp, the invasive history and management of red king crabs in Norway, Chinese mitten crabs in England, and American blue crabs in Europe, the evolutionary ecology of green crabs, and many other subjects as well, touching upon all ocean shores.
