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Haubrock PJ, Soto I, Tarkan AS, Macêdo RL, Kouba A, Cuthbert RN, Briski E, Everts T, Kurtul I. Socioeconomic prerequisites determine national long-term biomonitoring efforts. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 370:122431. [PMID: 39243635 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2024] [Revised: 08/18/2024] [Accepted: 09/04/2024] [Indexed: 09/09/2024]
Abstract
In the current anthropogenic era characterised by human-induced environmental changes, long-term biomonitoring has become a crucial component for understanding ecological patterns and detecting shifts in biodiversity. However, spatiotemporal inconsistencies in biomonitoring efforts hinder transboundary progress in understanding and mitigating global environmental change effectively. The International Long-Term Ecosystem Research (ILTER) network is one of the largest standardised biomonitoring initiatives worldwide, encompassing 44 countries globally, including 26 European countries that are part of the European Long-Term Ecosystem Research network (eLTER). To better understand the establishment and development of such long-term biomonitoring efforts, we analysed spatial and temporal trends within the eLTER network. Additionally, we evaluated the environmental, social, and economic factors influencing engagement in biomonitoring activities within this European network. Our findings reveal a spatial imbalance, with biomonitoring efforts concentrated in Central and Western European countries, where monitoring initiatives have typically been established for a longer duration. Furthermore, our analyses underscore the complex interplay of economic, geographic, and cultural factors in the development of long-term ecological research infrastructures. Countries with greater geographic connectivity, slower economic growth, and higher research activity are more likely to be involved in the eLTER network. The intensity of biomonitoring significantly increased with greater research investments, economic growth, and elevated levels of tourism. In contrast, it decreased in countries that are more inward-facing and exhibit a belief in their ability to control environmental outcomes independently. Addressing spatial gaps in monitoring necessitates enhanced support and funding to ensure comprehensive ecological monitoring over extended time periods. This is essential for achieving transboundary sustainability and effective biodiversity conservation in the face of global change drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip J Haubrock
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, 389 25, Vodňany, Czech Republic; Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, 63571, Gelnhausen, Germany; CAMB, Center for Applied Mathematics and Bioinformatics, Gulf University for Science and Technology, 73F2+GV4, Kuwait.
| | - Ismael Soto
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, 389 25, Vodňany, Czech Republic
| | - Ali Serhan Tarkan
- Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland; Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Fisheries, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, 48000, Muğla, Türkiye
| | - Rafael L Macêdo
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), 12587, Berlin, Germany; Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Antonín Kouba
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, 389 25, Vodňany, Czech Republic
| | - Ross N Cuthbert
- Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, BT9 5DL, Belfast, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeta Briski
- GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel, 24148, Kiel, Germany
| | - Teun Everts
- Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Genetic Diversity, 9500, Geraardsbergen, Belgium; KU Leuven, Department of Biology, Plant Conservation and Population Biology, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Irmak Kurtul
- Marine and Inland Waters Sciences and Technology Department, Faculty of Fisheries, Ege University, 35050, Bornova, İzmir, Türkiye; Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, BH12 5BB, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom.
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Toutain M, Belouard N, Renault D, Haubrock PJ, Kurtul I, Aksu S, Emiroğlu Ö, Kouba A, Tarkan AS, Balzani P. Assessing the role of non-native species and artificial water bodies on the trophic and functional niche of Mediterranean freshwater fish communities. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 938:173520. [PMID: 38810734 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Habitat alterations and the introduction of non-native species have many ecological impacts, including the loss of biodiversity and a deterioration of ecosystem functioning. The effects of these combined stressors on the community trophic web and functional niche are, however, not completely clear. Here, we investigated how artificial ecosystems (i.e. reservoirs) and non-native species may influence the trophic and functional niche space of freshwater fish communities. To do so, we used carbon and nitrogen stable isotope and abundance data to compute a set of isotopic, trait, and functional metrics for 13 fish communities sampled from 12 distinct ecosystems in Türkiye. We show that in reservoirs, fish were more similar in their trophic niche compared to lakes, where the trophic niche was more variable, due to higher habitat complexity. However, there were no differences in the trait and functional metrics between the two ecosystem types, suggesting a higher prey diversity than assumed in reservoirs. We also found that the number of non-native species did not affect the trophic niche space, nor the trait or functional space occupied by the fish community. This indicates that non-native species tended to overlap their trophic niche with native species, while occupying empty functional niches in the recipient community functional space. Similarly, the proportion of non-native species did not affect any trophic, trait, or functional metric, suggesting that changes in community composition were not reflected in changes in the community niche space. Moreover, we found that trait richness, but not functional richness, was positively related to the isotopic niche width and diversity, indicating that a wider occupied trait niche space corresponded with a wider occupied trophic niche and lesser interspecific similarity. Our findings underscore the complexity of ecological relationships within freshwater ecosystems and highlight the need for comprehensive management strategies to mitigate the impacts of human activities and biological invasions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Toutain
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic; Université de Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO [(Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)], 35000 Rennes, France.
| | - Nadège Belouard
- Université de Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO [(Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)], 35000 Rennes, France
| | - David Renault
- Université de Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO [(Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)], 35000 Rennes, France
| | - Phillip J Haubrock
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic; Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, 63571 Gelnhausen, Germany; CAMB, Center for Applied Mathematics and Bioinformatics, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait
| | - Irmak Kurtul
- Faculty of Fisheries, Ege University, Bornova 35100, İzmir, Türkiye; Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom
| | - Sadi Aksu
- Vocational School of Health Services, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Eskişehir, Türkiye
| | - Özgür Emiroğlu
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Eskişehir, Türkiye
| | - Antonín Kouba
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic
| | - Ali Serhan Tarkan
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom; Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland; Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Fisheries, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Muğla, Türkiye
| | - Paride Balzani
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic.
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Szydłowska NZ, Franta P, Let M, Mikšovská V, Buřič M, Drozd B. Risk Perception: Chemical Stimuli in Predator Detection and Feeding Behaviour of the Invasive Round Goby Neogobius melanostomus. BIOLOGY 2024; 13:406. [PMID: 38927286 PMCID: PMC11200450 DOI: 10.3390/biology13060406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2024] [Revised: 05/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
The round goby Neogobius melanostomus is a notoriously invasive fish originating from the Ponto-Caspian region that in recent decades has successfully spread across the globe. One of its primary impacts is direct predation; in addition, when entering new ecosystems, the round goby is likely to become a food resource for many higher native predators. However, little is known either about the indirect effects of predators on the round goby as prey or its feeding behaviour and activity. The non-consumptive effect of the presence of higher native predators presumably plays an important role in mitigating the impact of non-native round gobies as mesopredators on benthic invertebrate communities, especially when both higher- and mesopredators occupy the same habitat. We tested the food consumption probability and gut evacuation rates in round gobies in response to chemical signals from a higher predator, the European eel Anguilla anguilla. Gobies were placed individually in experimental arenas equipped with shelters and exposed to water from a tank in which (a) the higher predator had actively preyed on a heterospecific prey, earthworms Lumbricus sp. (the heterospecific treatment; HS); (b) the higher predator had fed on round gobies (the conspecific treatment; CS); or (c) the water was provided as a control treatment (C). To ensure exposure to the chemical stimuli, this study incorporated the application of skin extracts containing damaged-released alarm cues from the CS treatment; distilled water was used for the remaining treatments. No significant differences were observed in either the food consumption probability or gut evacuation rate in the tested treatments. Despite the lack of reaction to the chemical stimuli, round gobies did exhibit high evacuation rates (R = 0.2323 ± 0.011 h-1; mean ± SE) in which complete gut clearance occurred within 16 h regardless of the applied treatment. This rapid food processing suggests high efficiency and great pressure on resources regardless of the presence or not of a higher predator. These findings hint at the boldness of round gobies, which did not exhibit any pronounced threat sensitivity. This would seem to suggest great efficiency in food processing and a potential competitive advantage over local native species when colonising new ecosystems, irrespective of the presence of native predators. Our study did not detect any non-consumptive effect attributable to the higher predator, given that the feeding activity of the invasive round goby was not altered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Z. Szydłowska
- South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic; (P.F.); (M.L.); (V.M.); (M.B.); (B.D.)
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Henry M, Leung B, Cuthbert RN, Bodey TW, Ahmed DA, Angulo E, Balzani P, Briski E, Courchamp F, Hulme PE, Kouba A, Kourantidou M, Liu C, Macêdo RL, Oficialdegui FJ, Renault D, Soto I, Tarkan AS, Turbelin AJ, Bradshaw CJA, Haubrock PJ. Unveiling the hidden economic toll of biological invasions in the European Union. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES EUROPE 2023; 35:43. [PMID: 37325080 PMCID: PMC10249565 DOI: 10.1186/s12302-023-00750-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Background Biological invasions threaten the functioning of ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being by degrading ecosystem services and eliciting massive economic costs. The European Union has historically been a hub for cultural development and global trade, and thus, has extensive opportunities for the introduction and spread of alien species. While reported costs of biological invasions to some member states have been recently assessed, ongoing knowledge gaps in taxonomic and spatio-temporal data suggest that these costs were considerably underestimated. Results We used the latest available cost data in InvaCost (v4.1)-the most comprehensive database on the costs of biological invasions-to assess the magnitude of this underestimation within the European Union via projections of current and future invasion costs. We used macroeconomic scaling and temporal modelling approaches to project available cost information over gaps in taxa, space, and time, thereby producing a more complete estimate for the European Union economy. We identified that only 259 out of 13,331 (~ 1%) known invasive alien species have reported costs in the European Union. Using a conservative subset of highly reliable, observed, country-level cost entries from 49 species (totalling US$4.7 billion; 2017 value), combined with the establishment data of alien species within European Union member states, we projected unreported cost data for all member states. Conclusions Our corrected estimate of observed costs was potentially 501% higher (US$28.0 billion) than currently recorded. Using future projections of current estimates, we also identified a substantial increase in costs and costly species (US$148.2 billion) by 2040. We urge that cost reporting be improved to clarify the economic impacts of greatest concern, concomitant with coordinated international action to prevent and mitigate the impacts of invasive alien species in the European Union and globally. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12302-023-00750-3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgane Henry
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, QC Canada
| | - Brian Leung
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, QC Canada
| | - Ross N. Cuthbert
- Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, BT9 5DL UK
| | - Thomas W. Bodey
- School of Biological Sciences, King’s College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX UK
| | - Danish A. Ahmed
- Center for Applied Mathematics and Bioinformatics, Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Hawally, Kuwait
| | - Elena Angulo
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Avda. Americo Vespucio 26, 41092 Seville, Spain
| | - Paride Balzani
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Centre of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic
| | - Elizabeta Briski
- GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Franck Courchamp
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Gif sur Yvette, France
| | - Philip E. Hulme
- Bioprotection Aotearoa, Lincoln University, Lincoln Canterbury, 7647 New Zealand
| | - Antonín Kouba
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Centre of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic
| | - Melina Kourantidou
- Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics, University of Southern Denmark, Degnevej 14, 6705 Esbjerg Ø, Denmark
- UMR 6308, AMURE, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, IUEM, rue Dumont d’Urville, 29280 Plouzané, France
- Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA
| | - Chunlong Liu
- College of Fisheries, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072 China
| | - Rafael L. Macêdo
- Graduate Program in Conservation and Ecotourism, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro State, Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil
- Neotropical Limnology Group (NEL), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro State, Av. Pasteur, 458, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 22290-240 Brazil
| | - Francisco J. Oficialdegui
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Centre of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic
| | - David Renault
- University of Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO (Ecosystèmes, Biodiversité, Evolution), UMR, 6553 Rennes, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, 1 rue Descartes, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Ismael Soto
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Centre of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic
| | - Ali Serhan Tarkan
- Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Fisheries, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, 48000 Muğla, Turkey
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset UK
| | - Anna J. Turbelin
- Bioprotection Aotearoa, Lincoln University, Lincoln Canterbury, 7647 New Zealand
| | - Corey J. A. Bradshaw
- Global Ecology | Partuyarta Ngadluku Wardli Kuu, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5001 Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (EpicAustralia.org.au), Wollongong, NSW Australia
| | - Phillip J. Haubrock
- Center for Applied Mathematics and Bioinformatics, Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Hawally, Kuwait
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Centre of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany
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