Plastic debris composition and concentration in the Arctic Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

Neuston samples were collected with a Manta trawl in the rim of the Arctic Ocean, in the Northern Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea at eleven coastal and open-sea locations. All samples contained plastics identified by FTIR microscopy. Altogether, 110 microplastics pieces were classified according to size, shape, and polymer type.

The importance of study duration and spatial scale in pathogen detection-evidence from a tick-infested island.

Ticks (Acari: Ixodoidea) are among the most common vectors of zoonotic pathogens worldwide. While research on tick-borne pathogens is abundant, few studies have thoroughly investigated small-scale spatial differences in their occurrence. Here, we used long-term cloth-dragging data of Ixodes ricinus and its associated, known and putative pathogens (Borrelia burgdorferi s.

Tick-borne pathogens in Finland: comparison of Ixodes ricinus and I. persulcatus in sympatric and parapatric areas.

Background: Almost 3500 tick samples, originally collected via a nationwide citizen science campaign in 2015, were screened to reveal the prevalence and distribution of a wide spectrum of established and putative tick-borne pathogens vectored by Ixodes ricinus and I. persulcatus in Finland. The unique geographical distribution of these two tick species in Finland allowed us to compare pathogen occurrence between an I.

Crowdsourcing-based nationwide tick collection reveals the distribution of Ixodes ricinus and I. persulcatus and associated pathogens in Finland.

A national crowdsourcing-based tick collection campaign was organized in 2015 with the objective of producing novel data on tick distribution and tick-borne pathogens in Finland. Nearly 20 000 Ixodes ticks were collected. The collected material revealed the nationwide distribution of I.

Tick-borne bacterial pathogens in southwestern Finland.

Background: Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes persulcatus are the main vectors of Lyme borreliosis spirochetes and several other zoonotic bacteria in northern Europe and Russia. However, few studies screening bacterial pathogens in Finnish ticks have been conducted. Therefore, reports on the occurrence and prevalence of several bacterial pathogens detected from ticks elsewhere in Europe and Russia are altogether missing from Finland.

Assessing the abundance, seasonal questing activity, and Borrelia and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) prevalence of Ixodes ricinus ticks in a Lyme borreliosis endemic area in Southwest Finland.

Studies have revealed that Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) have become more abundant and their geographical distribution extended northwards in some Nordic countries during the past few decades. However, ecological data of tick populations in Finland are sparse. In the current study, I.

Morphological abnormalities in gonads of the Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras): Description of types and prevalence in the northern Baltic Sea.

Due to heavy anthropogenic influence and variation of the environmental conditions in the Baltic Sea, reproductive disorders are becoming a major environmental concern. We show here an increasing prevalence of gonadal malformations in the Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras), a key species of the Baltic ecosystem and important in commercial fishery. During 1987-2014, the spawning herring population in the Archipelago Sea (AS) (North Baltic Sea, Finland) was monitored annually and analyzed for gross morphology of the gonads [total number (n) of analyzed fish = 38 284].

Riverine tot-P loading and seawater concentrations in the Baltic Sea during the 1970s to 2000-transfer function modelling based on the total runoff.

The signal of climate through the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) extends to westerly weather and to the Baltic Sea river runoff (BSRR) and further to the salinity and the marine fauna in the Baltic Sea. Our working hypothesis was that increased BSRR should also lead to increasing nutrient concentrations in the seawater. In rivers, transfer function (TF) models of the loading were constructed by time series of BSRR and tot-P concentrations.

Scenario simulations of future salinity and ecological consequences in the Baltic Sea and adjacent North Sea areas-implications for environmental monitoring.

Substantial ecological changes occurred in the 1970s in the Northern Baltic during a temporary period of low salinity (S). This period was preceded by an episodic increase in the rainfall over the Baltic Sea watershed area. Several climate models, both global and regional, project an increase in the runoff of the Northern latitudes due to proceeding climate change.

Prevalence of granulocytic Ehrlichia and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from Southwestern Finland and from Vormsi Island in Estonia.

Altogether, 343 adult and 111 nymphal Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from parks in Turku and suburban and rural islands of the Turku archipelago, Finland, and 100 adult I. ricinus ticks collected from Vormsi Island, Estonia, were included in this study. Using the polymerase chain reaction the ticks were examined for 16S rDNA of the Ehrlichia phagocytophila genogroup and for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato recA and flagellin genes.