Herbicides are among the most commonly found contaminants in freshwater ecosystems. Standard tests are frequently employed to assess their ecotoxicological impacts, but sublethal endpoints in non-target species are often not considered. In addition, ecotoxicological investigations rarely take into account that many species from field populations are naturally infected with parasites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe a novel sanguicolous parasitic ciliate, Metacollinia emscheri n. sp., found in the freshwater amphipods Gammarus pulex and G.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAquatic organisms are challenged by changes in their external environment, such as temperature and salinity fluctuations. If these variables interacted with each other, the response of organisms to temperature changes would be modified by salinity and vice versa. We tested for potential interaction between temperature and salinity effects on freshwater, brackish, and marine organisms, including algae, macrophytes, heterotrophic protists, parasites, invertebrates, and fish.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUrban streams are exposed to a variety of anthropogenic stressors. Freshwater salinization is a key stressor in these ecosystems that is predicted to be further exacerbated by climate change, which causes simultaneous changes in flow parameters, potentially resulting in non-additive effects on aquatic ecosystems. However, the effects of salinization and flow velocity on urban streams are still poorly understood as multiple-stressor experiments are often conducted at pristine rather than urban sites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiological invasions may act as conduits for pathogen introduction. To determine which invasive non-native species pose the biggest threat, we must first determine the symbionts (pathogens, parasites, commensals, mutualists) they carry, via pathological surveys that can be conducted in multiple ways (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn lotic freshwater ecosystems, the drift or downstream movement of animals (e.g., macroinvertebrates) constitutes a key dispersal pathway, thus shaping ecological and evolutionary patterns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis contribution presents the occurrence of epibiotic species associated with shrimp collected in the wild, aquaculture ponds, and aquaria. A total of 900 shrimp are imported from Taiwan, three-quarters of which host at least one of the recorded epibionts. Among those epibionts, two species new to science are discovered, sp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur capacity to predict trajectories of ecosystem degradation and recovery is limited, especially when impairments are caused by multiple stressors. Recovery may be fast or slow and either complete or partial, sometimes result in novel ecosystem states or even fail completely. Here, we introduce the Asymmetric Response Concept (ARC) that provides a basis for exploring and predicting the pace and magnitude of ecological responses to, and release from, multiple stressors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMercury (Hg) is a serious concern for aquatic ecosystems because it may biomagnify to harmful concentrations within food webs and consequently end up in humans that eat fish. However, the trophic transfer of mercury through the aquatic food web may be impacted by several factors related to network complexity and the ecology of the species present. The present study addresses the interplay between trophic ecology and mercury contamination in the fish communities of two lakes in a pollution-impacted subarctic watercourse, exploring the role of both horizontal (feeding habitat) and vertical (trophic position) food web characteristics as drivers for the Hg contamination in fish.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe release of ornamental pets outside their native range can directly or indirectly impact the recipient community, e.g. via the co-introduction of associated pathogens.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study provides new insight into suitable microsporidian–host associations. It relates regional and continental-wide host specialization in microsporidians infecting amphipods to degraded and recovering habitats across 2 German river catchments. It provides a unique opportunity to infer the persistence of parasites following anthropogenic disturbance and their establishment in restored rivers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Parasitol Parasites Wildl
August 2020
Ontogenetic dietary shifts are common in fish and often impact trophically transmitted parasite communities. How parasite species composition and relative abundances change among size classes, and at what rate these changes occur, is rarely examined. Hosts with a broad trophic niche are potentially exposed to a large variety of parasite species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChanges in abiotic and biotic factors between seasons in subarctic lake systems are often profound, potentially affecting the community structure and population dynamics of parasites over the annual cycle. However, few winter studies exist and interactions between fish hosts and their parasites are typically confined to snapshot studies restricted to the summer season whereas host-parasite dynamics during the ice-covered period rarely have been explored. The present study addresses seasonal patterns in the infections of intestinal parasites and their association with the diet of sympatric living Arctic charr () and brown trout () in Lake Takvatn, a subarctic lake in northern Norway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUse of virtual proxies of live animals are rapidly gaining ground in studies of animal behaviour. Such proxies help to reduce the number of live experimental animals needed to stimulate the behaviour of experimental individuals and to increase standardisation. However, using too simplistic proxies may fail to induce a desired effect and/or lead to quick habituation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF