We tested the accuracy of an invasive aquatic plant risk assessment system in the United States that we modified from a system originally developed by New Zealand's Biosecurity Program. The US system is comprised of 38 questions that address biological, historical, and environmental tolerance traits. Values associated with each response are summed to produce a total score for each species that ...

Using the field sampling data obtained in November 2012, the aquatic ecosystem health of river network in Hangzhou Bay New District in Ningbo was assessed with Plankton Index of Biology Integrity (P-IBI). In these samples, 125 species of phytoplankton and 19 species of zooplankton were identified and the dominant phytoplankton species of each sampling sites were almost pollution indicator speci...

Conflict between native amphibians and aquatic weed management in the Pacific Northwest is rarely recognized because most native stillwater-breeding amphibian species move upland during summer, when herbicide application to control weeds in aquatic habitats typically occurs. However, aquatic weed management may pose a risk for aquatic species present in wetlands through the summer, such as the ...

b a ckground:   eco-faunistic  studies  are  inevitable  step  in  environmental  researches.  aquatic  organisms  like caddisflies are known as biological indicators for water quality assessment and water resource management. they have special role for energy flow in the freshwater habitats as food web and food chain among aquatic creatures. methods: in addition to an extensive literature revi...

Aquatic hyphomycetes occur worldwide on a wide range of plant substrates decomposing in freshwaters, and are known to play a key role in organic matter turnover. The presumed worldwide distribution of many aquatic hyphomycete species has been based on morphology-based taxonomy and identification, which may overlook cryptic species, and mask global-scale biogeographical patterns. This might be c...

aims: a very common species of leeches has been named as hirudo medicinalis. regarding to the application of leeches in medicine and their fast extinction, this study was performed in aquatic habitats of kashan aimed to determine the distribution of leeches and to provide information about their regional and habitat characteristics. materials & methods: this descriptive study was conducted duri...

We update the Ecopath with Ecosim software for aquatic ecosystem modeling to allow users to represent intensification of inter-specific competition through shared use of space–time restricted foraging arenas, as well as predation occurring in periodic short feeding bouts rather than continuously over time. Our study indicates that assuming shared use of foraging arenas can have pathological imp...

There is debate about whether results from mesocosm studies should be extrapolated to natural ecosystems. Critics argue that the abiotic and biotic characteristics of mesocosms do not represent the in situ conditions of the habitats in which they are designed to mimic. We addressed this idea by deploying mesocosms in two lakes of varying trophic status (mesotrophic and eutrophic). Water chemist...

Low productivity in aquatic ecosystems is associated with reduced individual growth of fish and increased concentrations of methylmercury (MeHg) in fish and their prey. However, many stream-dwelling fish species can use terrestrially-derived food resources, potentially subsidizing growth at low-productivity sites, and, because terrestrial resources have lower MeHg concentrations than aquatic re...