Benthic non-indigenous species among indigenous species and their habitat preferences in Puck Bay (southern Baltic Sea)

Trophic Interactions and Impacts of Non-indigenous Species in Baltic Sea Coastal Ecosystems

Distribution of 137Cs in benthic plants along depth profiles in the outer Puck Bay (Baltic Sea)

A study was conducted on three macroalgae species: Polysiphonia fucoides and Furcellaria lumbricalis, the species of the red algae division, and Cladophora glomerata, representing the green algae division, as well as Zostera marina, representing vascular plants. The main aim of the study was to recognize the level of 137Cs concentrations in the plants, which could be used as a measurement of bi...

Differences in stress tolerance and brood size between a non-indigenous and an indigenous gammarid in the northern Baltic Sea

Differences in stress tolerance and reproductive traits may drive the competitive hierarchy between nonindigenous and indigenous species and turn the former ones into successful invaders. In the northern Baltic Sea, the non-indigenous Gammarus tigrinus is a recent invader of littoral ecosystems and now occupies comparable ecological niches as the indigenous G. zaddachi. In laboratory experiment...

Seagrass vegetation and meiofauna enhance the bacterial abundance in the Baltic Sea sediments (Puck Bay)

This study presents the first report on bacterial communities in the sediments of eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows in the shallow southern Baltic Sea (Puck Bay). Total bacterial cell numbers (TBNs) and bacteria biomass (BBM) assessed with the use of epifluorescence microscope and Norland's formula were compared between bare and vegetated sediments at two localities and in two sampling summer m...

Indications of competition between non-indigenous round goby and native flounder in the Baltic Sea

The Ponto-Caspian round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) was introduced to the Gulf of Gdańsk, southern Baltic Sea, in the late 1980s, and it has now become the dominant demersal fish species in shallow water. This study aimed to assess diet preferences and the degree of diet overlap between the round goby and the native flounder (Platichthys flesus). Results from time-series of stomach contents a...