Russian Journal of Biological Invasions

2010, issue № 3

CONTENTS

Elodea canadensis Michaux on the border of world watershed of Arctic and Pacific oceans - Bazarova B.B., Pronin N.M. - The paper generalizes the data about the vectors of moving of the Elodea canadensis in Russia and Baikal Siberia and also the data on its ecology on the basis of literary and home materials. The results of long-term observations over the dynamics of distribution and a biomass of the Elodea canadensis in Chivyrkui Bay of Baikal Lake are given.

Natural and anthropogenic factors of the appearance of non-native fishes in aquatic ecosystems of Vologda Region - Bolotova N.L., Konovalov A.F., Borisov M.Ya., Dumnich N.V. - The specificity of the territory of the Vologda Region creates favourable conditions for migration of organisms due to a dense hydrographical network, greater length of rivers, and also the location on the watershed of three seas (the White, Baltic, and Caspian), which are connected through the Volga-Baltic and Northern Dvina transport systems. Currently, the main factors of changing of ichthyofauna are different effects of human activities. Analysis of historical and contemporary reasons for the emergence of new species in the aquatic ecosystems of Vologda Region has revealed three categories of non-native fishes. There are species broadening their range thanks to natural expansion, and also deliberately or accidently introduced forms. The implications of the emergence of new fish species for aquatic communities of northern ecosystems are discussed.

Distribution of Leptestheria dahalacensis (Rüppel, 1837) (Crustacea, Spinicaudata) in Eastern Europe - Dobrynina T.I. - Leptestheria dahalacensis is an inhabitant of ephemeral and small permanent water bodies in Eurasia. In the first half of the 20^th century this species was considered a rare in Eastern Europe. There were known only 2 localities of L. dahalacensis – environs of the city of Saratov (Russia) and the city of Odessa (Ukraine). During the 1970–1980s the author investigated small permanent and ephemeral water bodies, fishery ponds and rice fields in the south and central parts of Russia and contiguous territories. The new localities of the species were discovered in Krasnodar Territory, Astrakhan, Rostov, Volgograd, Samara, Ryazan regions (Russia), Kherson Region (Ukraine), Dubosari District (Moldavia). Distribution of L. dahalacensis in Eastern Europe in the second half of the 20^th century was due to intensive fish-farming on the pond farms of this region, where the species was introduced together with fish larvae.

Invasion of ecosystem engineer – European beaver (Castor fiber L.) in the Tadenka River basin (Prioksko-Terrasnyi Nature Reserve) - Zavyalov N.A., Albov S.A., Petrosyan V.G., Khlyap L.A., Goryaynova Z.I. - The results of the analysis of population dynamics of European beaver (Castor fiber) in the Prioksko-Terrasnyi Nature Reserve and its settlements in the Tadenka River basin within the period of 1948–2009 are presented. It was demonstrated that after the reintroduction of two couples of beavers in the Tadenka basin in 1948 the number of settlements in 60 years had stabilized in the range from 9 to 12. It was revealed that the increase in the number of settlements in adverse environmental conditions at the time of beavers' reintroduction was due primarily to the increased capacity of the habitats as a result of construction activities and the remote use of forage resources in the absence of large predators. A complex analysis of the chorological distribution of settlements, the sizes of occupied sites, the number of dams in the settlements, peculiarities of foraging, stocks of fodder resources and also processing of time series data allowed to assert that the population of beavers of the Tadenka reached climax stage of development. It was concluded that further development of the beaver population would depend largely on functional factors (geomorphological characteristics of the terrain, the rate of feed recovery in abandoned habitats, the scale and speed of development of black alder (Alnus glutinosa) communities in abandoned beaver ponds influencing the dynamics of a beaver population in the reserve.

First finding of Ponto-Caspian invasive amphipod Chelicorophium curvispinum (G.O. Sars, 1895) (Amphipoda, Crustacea) in Ladoga - Kurashov E.A., Barbashova M.A., Panov V.E. - The invasive amphipod Chelicorophium curvispinum (G.O. Sars, 1895) (Amphipoda, Crustacea) was first recorded in Ladoga in the area of the Volkhov Bay in August 2009. The data on quantitative development of this species and two other species of alien invasive amphipods (Baikalian Gmelinoides fasciatus (Stebbing, 1899) and Ponto-Caspian Pontogammarus robustoides G.O. Sars, 1894) in three different biotopes in littoral zone of the lake are presented. As a result of recent invasions of these invasive amphipod species, serious transformations of the littoral zone communities of this largest European lake are possible.

Synanthropic and agrophilic rodents as invasive alien mammals - Khlyap L.A., Warshavskiy A.A. - Taxonomic diversity of synanthropic and agrophilic rodents of Russia is analysed. It is demonstrated that biological features of these mammals are similar. The history and pathways of their invasion, size of invaded area and role in ecosystems are characterised. It has been shown that synanthropic and agrophilic rodents are a part of a number of dangerous invasive alien mammals, but they take different places in the system of alien mammals. Synanthropic and agrophilic rodents are distinct from other alien species of mammals because their harm to natural ecosystems is not very noticeable, however they cause a serious damage to people in built-up areas and agrocoenosises.
Agrophyly and synanthropy of rodents developed as an entire process of agro-synantropic population formation at early stages. Urban expansion and extensive ploughing up led to formation of independent agrophylic and synanthropic populations of rodents. On Russian territory the house mice combines agrophyly and synanthropy at the greater extent. Expansion of synanthropic and agrophilic animals is connected with maximal transformation of nature by the man: town-planning and ploughing up. Global nature of these processes leads to erasure of zonal borders of biodiversity changing.

First records of the North american gastropod Physella acuta (Draparnaud, 1805) in the Kuybyshev Water Reservoir, Russia - Yakovleva A.V., Yakovlev V.A., Mezikova D.V. - The gastropod Physella acuta (Draparnaud, 1805) has been recorded for the first time on shallow shore areas in the Volga Reach of Kuybyshev Water Reservoir, Russia during a sampling in 1998, and for the second time in the same Volga Reach in 2009. The way of its invasion is still unknown. Possibly, this gastropod was introduced from aquariums, and less possibly migrated from the lower reaches of the Volga River.