Download Overview of impacts of alien invasive plankton species

Overview of impacts of alien
invasive plankton species
Anastasija Zaiko,
Irina Olenina and Sergej Olenin
[email protected]
Types of plankton
(Greek ‘planktos’ – errant, wanderer, drifter)
• Phytoplankton
• Zooplankton
• Ichtyoplankton
• Bacterioplankton
• Mikoplankton (fungi)
• Virioplankton
Images from: http://aquamarinediscovery.blogspot.com; www.fishingcy.com; www.ngsprints.co.uk; www.mbari.org; Mann 2005
What is invasive plankton?
• An alien species, whose complete life cycle
or part of it lies within the plankton,
spreading and having impacts on
environment and/or economy and human
health
Based on Clinton 1999
Traits of the invasive plankton
• Size:
from 2 µm (nanoplankton) to >20 mm (megaplankton)
• Pathway:
the main pathway of introduction is ballast water, but
also can be present and transported in bait buckets, in tanks
holding aquarium or research animals, etc.
• Origin:
the identification of plankton species origin in difficult
and in most cases is impossible
There are also some other uncertainties….
Inconsistency between species inventories
Validity of categorizing the non-indigenous dinoflagellates and diatoms
in European Seas (Gomez, 2008)
Species
Regions
Comments
Gessnerium mochimaensis Halim ex Halim (valid
name: Alexandrium monilatum (Howell) Balech)
Bl
Synonym, doubtful record
Alexandrium minutum Halim
Alexandrium tamarense (Lebour) Balech
At
At,B,M,N
Marginal dispersal
Alexandrium andersoni Balech
A. catenella (Whedon et Kofoid) Balech
Thalassiosira tealata Takano
M
M
N
Difficult identification,
overlooked
Alexandrium monilatum (Howell) Balech
Bl
Doubtful record
Gymnodinium catenatum Graham
At,B,M,N
Cryptogenic species
Thalassiosira punctigera (Castracane) Hasle
B,N
Cosmopolitan
Pleurosira leavis f. polymorpha (Grunow in Van
Heurck) Compére
B
Native species
Ar = Arctic; At = Atlantic; B = Baltic; Bl = Black; M = Mediterranean; N = North
Number of plankton species recorded in an area is
constantly growing!
Examples from the Baltic Sea and from the Curonian Lagoon, SE Baltic
•875 spp
(Olenina, 2003)
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
•610 spp
(Olenina, 1997)
251
1988
•244 spp
(Schmidt-Ries, 1940);
Cumulative number of genus found
1987
Species inventory in
the Curonian lagoon:
875
Cumulative number of species found
1986
• ~2000 species
(Hallfors, 2004)
Total number of species per year
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1985
• ~ 700 species
(Edler et al, 1984);
Cumulative number of phytoplankton species and
genera recorded in the Curonian Lagoon
1984
Phytoplankton checklist
of the Baltic Sea:
During 20 years period of studies, some 10 to 70 species new
for the Lagoon have been found every year (Olenina, 2003)
Types of invasive plankton impacts
Changes in native
phytoplankton
community
Eutrophication
Phytoplankton
Harmful (toxic) algae
blooms
Changes in water
quality: hydrochemistry,
transparency, nutrients,
etc.
Types of invasive plankton impacts
Competition with
native species for food
and space
Changes in native
zooplankton
community
Zooplankton
Transfer of parasites
and diseases
Predation on native
species
14-24 µm
Examples: dinoflagellate P. minimum
in the Baltic Sea
90
Electron
microscope photo:
S. Haidu
% of total biomass
80
70
60
In some years the
relative biomass of the
P.minimum have
reached >80% of the
total phytoplankton
community
50
40
30
20
10
0
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
Maximum relative biomass of P. minimum in the
Lithuanian coastal waters of the SE Baltic, 1995 - 1999
Impacts on native phytoplankton communities
caused by the dinoflagellate P. minimum
Determined according to the level of
overall dominance of the species within
all of phytoplankton biomass
•
During outbreaks
> 60 % of the phytoplankton biomass.
•
Situations where an invasive alien
species dominates over native species
in terms of biomass, yet former native
dominant species still present = strong
impact (C3); 24% of case studies.
•
Impact on communities
Number of cases
•
A
25
20
15
10
5
0
C0
C1
C2
A massive impact (C4) was noted only
once when the species was found at
every sampling locality and its relative
biomass comprised up to 98%.
Olenina et al. (submitted)
C3
C4
Impacts on pelagic habitat
caused by the dinoflagellate P. minimum
Impact on habitats
Notable changes in water
color (ranging from light
brown to brown)
declines in water
transparency in most areas
where blooms have been
recorded.
Number of cases
•
B
25
20
15
10
5
0
H0
H1
H2
H3
H4
9,2
Increase in pH of 8.28 to
9.02 (in Lithuanian waters)
once an abundance of P.
minimum exceeded 0,5 mln
cells/L
9,0
8,8
8,6
8,4
pH
•
8,2
8,0
7,8
7,6
7,4
<1.000
1.00010.000
10.000100.000
100.000500.000
500.0001.000.000
1.000.0003.000.000
Abundance (cells/L)
Olenina et al. (submitted)
>3.000.000
Impacts on ecosystem functioning
caused by the dinoflagellate P. minimum
•
Using only monitoring data the impact on ecosystem functioning could
only be deduced at a low level of confidence.
•
There are no studies showing the role of P. minimum in the alteration
of the Baltic Sea food webs.
•
However, because P. minimum is mixotrophic (Stoecker et al., 1997),
it is likely that there are shifts among the dominant functional groups,
such as autotrophic phytoplankton species (cyanobacteria, diatoms)
dominant in the summer-autumn community in the Baltic Sea.
•
Shifts in the abundance of the functional groups during blooms of P.
minimum would be expected, even should there be other (native)
mixotrophic species in the system.
Olenina et al. (submitted)
Examples: copepod A.tonsa in the
Baltic Sea
The species abundance is
moderate in many localities or
high in several localities within the
assessment unit
Biopollution Assessment System
http://www.corpi.ku.lt/~biopollution
Impacts on native zooplankton communities
caused by the copepod A. tonsa
Seasonally dominates
the native copepod
community
Olenin, Zaiko (in prep.)
Impacts on native habitats
caused by the copepod A. tonsa
No data from the Baltic
Sea is available
Olenin, Zaiko (in prep.)
Impacts on ecosystem functioning
caused by the copepod A. tonsa
Contributes to the
trophic interactions as a
prey for some species
Olenin, Zaiko (in prep.)
Parameterization of invasive plankton impacts
• Compilation of data on invasive plankton impacts
• Classification of impacts
Impacts of phytoplankton IS
Impacts of zooplankton IS
Impacts on Communities
Impacts on Habitats
Impacts on Ecosystem
• Application of BPL and/or other (quantitative)
parameters
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!