Russian Journal of Biological Invasions

2014, issue № 2

CONTENTS

Freshwater fish fauna of Solovetsky islands (White Sea): natural colonization and recent introductions - Alekseeva Ja.A., Andreeva A.P., Gruzdeva M.A., Dvoryankin G.A., Kuzishchin K.V., Makhrov A.A., Novoselov A.P., Popov I.Yu. - Solovetsky islands are located in the central part of the White Sea (Arctic Ocean). The modern status of freshwater fish fauna (species composition and distribution) in various watersheds of two biggest islands of the Solovetsky Archipelago, Bolshoy Solovetsky and Anzer ones, was studied. The research was conducted in the period from 1989 to 2012, altogether 40 lakes were studied. On the basis of data analysis including historic sources, two main groups of species were defined: 1) aborigine and 2) introduced. rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), yellow perch (Perca fluviatilis), pike (Esox lucius), roach (Rutilus rutilus), burbot (Lota lota), crucian carp (Carassius сarassius), sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus, Pungitius pungitius), ruff (Gymnocephalus cernuus) are aborigine while starlet (Acipenser ruthenus), brown trout (Salmo trutta), European cisco (Coregonus albula), tench (Tinca tinca), Prussian silver carp (Carassius auratus) are introduced. The origin of whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) and ide (Leuciscus idus) is unknown. The present day distribution of all species is mosaic and vary dramatically between lakes, the origin of particular species should be found out individually for each lake.

Impact assesment of beaver reintroduction on amphibians of small rivers - Bashinskiy I.V. - Study of impact assessment of beaver reintroduction in valleys of small rivers on amphibians was carried out. The work took place on the territories of the state nature reserves: Rdeyskiy, Prioksko-Terrasny and Privolzhskaya Lesostep. Small rivers of the area under study have been inhabited by beavers in different years, so degree of beavers’ impact on valley ecosystems differed. This fact allowed us to study amphibians in different conditions. The main factors of beavers’ impact on amphibians were modifications of lighting and water regimes. Loss of trees due to beaver activities had increased lighting that made water heating more intense in spring. Because of damming a lot of standing water bodies appeared and diversity of habitats increased. Those facts were beneficial to spawning and metamorphosis of widespread species of amphibians – Rana spp., Bufo bufo. After a long-term influence of beaver activities in river valleys, the vast majority of suitable habitats for amphibians became associated with beavers, so species diversity within river valleys was increased, for example Pelophylax spp. appeared in beaver ponds. If beaver populations were young or unstable, reintroduction of beavers had small influence on amphibians, and in some cases their impact was negative. Factor of water regime had importance only in large beaver ponds, where beaver dams maintained stable water level. When beavers left ponds, especially in spring – a mass death of eggs and larvae was observed.

Allelopathic activity of invasive arboreal species - Yeryomenko Yu.A. - The paper shows the study results of allelopathic activity of invasive in the south-east of Ukraine species Ailanthus аltissima (Mill.) Swingle и Acer negundo L. The data obtained evidence that physiologically active substances, contained in the soil under the crowns of arboreal plants under study, act mainly as growth inhibitors. Insignificant amount of species under their crowns can be explained not only by the lack of light, but also the allalopathic influence.

Distribution of Stone Moroco (Pseudorasbora parva) in the Upper Don basin - Ivancheva E.Yu., Ivanchev V.P., Sarychev V.S. - Distribution of Stone Moroco (Pseudorasbora parva) in the basin of the Upper Don is discussed in the paper. It is suggested that the fish can settle in two ways: from piscines through the Sosna River and from the lower reaches of the Don. There are pessimal living conditions for the Stone Moroco in the study area that is proved by extremely low fertility of the species, a low share in fish population of the rivers and absence of its movement into the next waterways. At present the northern border of invasive range of the Stone Moroco goes across the Lipetsk Region along the basin of the Sosna River.

Monitoring and control of alien species in marine and insular specially protected areas by the example of the Far East Marine State Natural biosphere reserve - Ivin V.V., Zvyagintsev A.Yu., Kashin I.A. - Alien species pose a continuously growing problem around the world. Marine protected areas (MPA) are believed to shield marine ecosystems from the human interference. Nevertheless, no physical barriers in the marine environment can prevent alien species from intrusion. Russian MPAs do not have an effective system to bar inflow of new and monitor already existing alien species in their territories and waters. Currently, the necessity of development of a program for the control over alien species in MPA has become especially urgent. The Far East Marine Biosphere Reserve, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is chosen as a model object for the study. Among 19 Russian biosphere reserves with marine waters, the biological diversity of marine and insular biota in this one has been studied most thoroughly. As a result of long-term investigations, more than 5100 species of terrestrial and marine species have been registered here. The issue of presence of alien species and probable ways of their inflow in a MPA is analyzed by the example of the Marine Biosphere Reserve. The conducted studies have shown that the reserve, being a standard of natural ecosystems in Peter the Great Bay, the Sea of Japan, nevertheless is exposed to invasion of alien species. A total of 499 new taxa have been found in the Marine Biosphere Reserve and adjacent territories and waters; 131 of them were identified to species. The largest number of newly recorded species is observed among planktonic microalgae (63) and diatom algae of periphyton (53). Much less alien species have been registered both in the biofouling of hydrotechnical structures and in the benthos (7). Insects are represented by 5 species; the ichthyofauna and meroplankton number 2 and 1 species, respectively.

In order to establish the probability of invader status (ISP), the scale of presence/absence of species’ character was developed. By using this method, a total of 194 alien species have been revealed within the reserve and in adjacent waters. Almost a half of the studied invasive species here have the lowest ISP, 30%; those 80 species with the ISP value of 100% can be regarded as naturalized ones. The major portion of naturalized species, 72, is vascular plants. On the basis of obtained results the need for monitoring and control of alien species in all sea preserves of Russia becomes obvious.

Ecology of four eyed fir bark beetle Polygraphus proximus Blandford (Coleoptera; Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in the West-Siberian region of invasion - Kerchev I.A. - The results of the study on ecology of P. proximus in the West - Siberian invasion region are presented. The basic habitats of four eyed fir bark beetle, its biology and demographic characteristics in the area under study are established. In outbreak foci, the new trophic links for invader with Siberian spruce, Siberian stone pine and Scots pine are revealed. The list of P. proximus natural enemies in the Western Siberia is shown.

The morphological characteristic and feeding of nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius Linnaeus 1758) in the basin of Cheboksary Reservoir - Loginov V.V., Klevakin A.A., Moreva O.A. Tarbeyev M.L., Bayanov N.G., Darsia N.A. - At present, the Cheboksary Reservoir ichthyofauna and the water bodies of its basin count 21 invasive species. Nine-spined stickleback, Pungitius pungitius (L., 1758), is one of naturalized species, which now is settling the territory of the middle and Upper Volga. In our opinion, the nine-spined stickleback is an undesirable invader. In connection with this morphological characteristics and intraspecific phenotypic variability of the species Pungitius pungitius in the basin of the Cheboksary Reservoir are of interest from the point of view of population ecology. P. pungitius was successfully naturalized in the Ushakovka River of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. During 2011–2012, the stickleback was found by us in the watercourses of the Sundir´ and the Malaya Yunga of the Republic of Mari El. We made measurements of 33 signs in sexually mature and immature individuals for the stickleback morphometry study. The feeding of sticklebacks was also studied. We carried out a comparative analysis of the complex of morphological features (30) of P. pungitius from the local populations of the Cheboksary Reservoir basin (Ushakovka River, Malaya Yunga River, Sundyr River) and the "native" one (lakes Sarannoe and Gavanskoe of the Bering Island (the Commander Islands)).

Genetic methods for the control of alien species - Makhrov A.A., Karabanov D.P., Koduhova Yu.V. - The control of alien species populations is a complex but important task in the strategy for the conservation of biodiversity in natural ecosystems, since invaders may cause considerable economic and ecological damage. This study describes the methods for preventing the formation of alien species populations in nature (sterilization and induction of development of unisexual groups and conditionally sterile mutants), as well as control of existing populations of these species (Trojan genes, hybridization with genetically different forms, and changes in the host gene pool for controlling the pathogens). It is concluded that, although genetic methods of the control of alien species are promising, their development is hampered by insufficient attention of the scientific community, economic organizations, and governmental agencies.

Black-list of flora of the Bryansk Region - Panasenko N.N. - The «black-list» of the Bryansk Region flora, including 100 alien plants, is compiled. The «black list» plants are divided into four groups, according to the classification recommended for keeping Black books.

Materials to the Black book of the Voronezh Region - Starodubtseva E.A., Morozova O.V., Grigorjevskaja A.Ja. - «Black lists» establishment is one of the attempts to focus on the issue of alien species biological invasions that have the most significant threat for regional biodiversity. Black lists contain biological, environmental characteristics and the information on invasive species distribution. In Russia, regional black lists of invasive species are often based on expert opinions or various criteria. For the standardization of alien species information we propose 1) to use a quantitative assessment of the invasive species participation in regional floras and plant communities, that gives the opportunity to evaluate objectively invasive status of species and degree of its impact; 2) to include all invasive species of the region into the regional «Black books»; 3) to present potentially invasive species as separate lists. We offer 65 invasive alien plant species for including in the regional «Black book» of the Voronezh Region: 9 species are transformers, 20 – actively inhabit and naturalize in disturbed semi-natural and natural habitats, 32 are spreading in disturbed habitats. The status of 4 species is still not defined. Twenty two species are potentially invasive, because they do not have large spread in the area, but showed themselves as invasive in adjacent regions (in deciduous forests and forest steppe zones).

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in tissues of the gibel carp Carassius gibelio: example of Marmara Lake, Turkey - Murat Yabanli, Aykut Yozukmaz, Fatma Sel - Within the scope of this study, heavy metals presence (Al, Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Cd, Hg, Pb) in water samples and liver, gills and muscle tissue of gibel carp Carassius gibelio caught in Marmara Lake was analyzed seasonally. It was determined that there was not any difference seasonally with regard to heavy metals studied in lake waters (p>0.05). Mineralization of fish tissues was made by microwave-wet decomposition. To evaluate heavy metal concentrations in water and tissue samples, method of inductively coupled plasma – mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) was applied. TORT 2 lobster hepatopancreas was used as certified reference matter in this study. According to obtained results, bioaccumulation rates for gills were found as Cu>Cd>Ni>Pb>Cr>Al>As>Hg, for liver and muscle tissues they were found as Cu>Cd>Ni>Cr>Pb>Al>As>Hg. It was proved that the most bioaccumulated heavy metal was Cu and the least bioaccumulated was Hg for all of the studied tissues.