Body size and reproductive traits of Palaemon elegans Rathke, 1837 (Crustacea, Decapoda), a recent colonizer of the Baltic Sea

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Urszula Janas ◽  
Anna Mańkucka
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Palaemon Elegans ◽  
Southern Baltic ◽  
The Baltic

Body size and reproductive traits ofis a species of prawn new (since 2000) to the southern Baltic. The aim of this study was to find out whether there are differences in the sizes of individuals and in the reproductive traits of

Holocene diatom biostratigraphy of the SW Gulf of Gdańsk, Southern Baltic Sea (part III)

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Leśniewska ◽  
Małgorzata Witak
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
The South ◽  
Gulf Of Gdańsk ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Southern Baltic Sea ◽  
Gulf Of Gdansk ◽  
Southern Baltic ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Palaeoenvironmental Changes

Holocene diatom biostratigraphy of the SW Gulf of Gdańsk, Southern Baltic Sea (part III)The palaeoenvironmental changes of the south-western part of the Gulf of Gdańsk during the last 8,000 years, with reference to the stages of the Baltic Sea, were reconstructed. Diatom analyses of two cores taken from the shallower and deeper parts of the basin enabled the conclusion to be drawn that the microflora studied developed in the three Baltic phases: Mastogloia, Littorina and Post-Littorina. Moreover, the so-called anthropogenic assemblage was observed in subbottom sediments of the study area.

scholarly journals Size matters: relationships between body size and body mass of common coastal, aquatic invertebrates in the Baltic Sea

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e2906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Eklöf ◽  
Åsa Austin ◽  
Ulf Bergström ◽  
Serena Donadi ◽  
Britas D.H.K. Eriksson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Relative Mass ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
The Baltic

Background Organism biomass is one of the most important variables in ecological studies, making biomass estimations one of the most common laboratory tasks. Biomass of small macroinvertebrates is usually estimated as dry mass or ash-free dry mass (hereafter ‘DM’ vs. ‘AFDM’) per sample; a laborious and time consuming process, that often can be speeded up using easily measured and reliable proxy variables like body size or wet (fresh) mass. Another common way of estimating AFDM (one of the most accurate but also time-consuming estimates of biologically active tissue mass) is the use of AFDM/DM ratios as conversion factors. So far, however, these ratios typically ignore the possibility that the relative mass of biologically active vs. non-active support tissue (e.g., protective exoskeleton or shell)—and therefore, also AFDM/DM ratios—may change with body size, as previously shown for taxa like spiders, vertebrates and trees. Methods We collected aquatic, epibenthic macroinvertebrates (>1 mm) in 32 shallow bays along a 360 km stretch of the Swedish coast along the Baltic Sea; one of the largest brackish water bodies on Earth. We then estimated statistical relationships between the body size (length or height in mm), body dry mass and ash-free dry mass for 14 of the most common taxa; five gastropods, three bivalves, three crustaceans and three insect larvae. Finally, we statistically estimated the potential influence of body size on the AFDM/DM ratio per taxon. Results For most taxa, non-linear regression models describing the power relationship between body size and (i) DM and (ii) AFDM fit the data well (as indicated by low SE and high R2). Moreover, for more than half of the taxa studied (including the vast majority of the shelled molluscs), body size had a negative influence on organism AFDM/DM ratios. Discussion The good fit of the modelled power relationships suggests that the constants reported here can be used to quickly estimate organism dry- and ash-free dry mass based on body size, thereby freeing up considerable work resources. However, the considerable differences in constants between taxa emphasize the need for taxon-specific relationships, and the potential dangers associated with ignoring body size. The negative influence of body size on the AFDM/DM ratio found in a majority of the molluscs could be caused by increasingly thicker shells with organism age, and/or spawning-induced loss of biologically active tissue in adults. Consequently, future studies utilizing AFDM/DM (and presumably also AFDM/wet mass) ratios should carefully assess the potential influence of body size to ensure more reliable estimates of organism body mass.

Seasonal variability of phytoplankton in the shallow waters of the southern Baltic Sea

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-15
Author(s):  
Iwona Zabroś ◽  
Marlena Mioskowska
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Sample Collection ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Southern Baltic Sea ◽  
Southern Baltic ◽  
The Baltic

The Baltic Sea is characterized by a seasonal variation of phytoplankton structure. These organisms are particularly sensitive to changes in various environmental parameters. Cyclic, recurring annually fluctuation of species composition, abundance and biomass of phytoplankton is a consequence of these changes. Spatial and temporal variability of particular groups of phytoplankton is not the same in different areas of the Baltic Sea. The purpose of this work was to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of phytoplankton in three chosen areas of the coastal zone of the southern Baltic Sea (Ustka, Poddąbie and Rowy) in the period of November 2014 - September 2016. Mean values of abundance and biomass of phytoplankton for the surveyed areas were typical for this type of coastal waters. In each of the surveyed areas the same dominat species in terms of the abundance and biomass were observed. A growth of diatoms was recorded only in the area of Ustka, which could have been caused by the inflow of river waters. Seasonal surveys of phytoplankton indicated that in the case of the studies regarding this parameter – taxonomic composition, abundance and biomass in the same surveyed area were similar at the three research stations (e.g. 75-80%), depending on the season of the year. On this basis, it was concluded that, whether carrying out the monitoring of phytoplankton or planned investments, the sample collection frequency had a greater significance than the number of research stations.

Relationships between the Baltic Sea ice extent and ice parameters in the sheltered basins of the southern Baltic coast

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-303
Author(s):  
Józef P. Girjatowicz ◽  
Małgorzata Świątek
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Coastal Lagoons ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
Regression Methods ◽  
Baltic Coast ◽  
Southern Baltic ◽  
The Baltic

AbstractIn the study, archive data on the maximum annual ice extent in the Baltic Sea (MIB) for the period 1961–2018 were used. They were obtained from the FIMR database. Data on ice parameters for the four largest southern Baltic coastal lakes: Jamno, Bukowo, Gardno and Łebsko, and for Szczecin, Puck, and Vistula Lagoons, come from the Maritime Branch of Institute of Meteorology and Water Management – National Research Institute (in Polish: Instytut Meteorologii i Gospodarki Wodnej – Panstwowy Instytut Badawczy, IMGW-PIB) in Gdynia. The time series for the lakes cover the years from 1960 to 2018, and for the lagoons – from 1946 to 2018. Three ice parameters were selected for this study: the number of days with ice, the duration of the ice season and the maximum ice thickness for a given winter. Relationships between the selected ice parameters for the studied basins and the MIB were examined using correlation and regression methods.Correlations between the MIB and values of the ice parameters for the lakes and the southern Baltic coastal lagoons do not differ significantly. Considerable differences are observed amongst the correlation coefficients for individual ice parameters and the MIB.Larger differences are found in relationships between the values of individual ice parameters in the sheltered basins and the MIB. The strongest correlation with the MIB is observed for the maximum ice thickness and the number of days with ice.

scholarly journals Size matters: relationships between body size, dry weight and ash-free dry weight of common coastal, aquatic invertebrates in the Baltic Sea

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Eklöf ◽  
Åsa Austin ◽  
Ulf Bergström ◽  
Serena Donadi ◽  
Britas D H K Eriksson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
The Body ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
The Baltic

Background. Organism biomass is one of the most important variables in ecological studies, making estimations of organism weight one of the most common laboratory tasks. Biomass of small macroinvertebrates is usually estimated as dry (DW) or ash-free dry weight (AFDW); a laborious and time consuming process, that often can be speeded up using easily measured and reliable proxy variables like wet/fresh weight and/or body size. Another common way of estimating AFDW - which is the most accurate but also time-consuming estimate of biologically active tissue weight - is the use of AFDW/DW ratios or conversion factors. So far, however, these ratios typically ignore the possibility that the relative weight of biologically active vs. non-active support tissue (e.g. protective exoskeleton or shell) - and therefore, also the AFDW/DW ratio - may change with body size, as previously shown for taxa like spiders, vertebrates and trees. Methods. We collected samples of aquatic, epibenthic macroinvertebrates (>1 mm) in 32 shallow bays along a 360 km stretch of the Swedish coast along the Baltic Sea; one of the largest brackish water bodies on Earth. We then estimated statistical relationships between the body size (length or height in mm), dry weight and ash-free dry weight for 14 of the most common taxa; five gastropods, three bivalves, three crustaceans and three insect larvae. Finally, we statistically estimated the potential influence of body size on the AFDW/DW ratio per taxon. Results. For most of the taxa, non-linear regression models describing the power relationship between body size and i) DW and ii) AFDW fit the data well (as indicated by low SE and high R2). Moreover, for more than half of the taxa studied (including the vast majority of the shelled molluscs), body size had a negative influence on organism AFDW/DW ratios. Discussion. The good fit of the modelled power relationships suggest that the constants reported here can be used to more quickly estimate organism dry- and ash-free dry weight based on body size, thereby freeing up considerable work resources. However, the considerable differences in constants between taxa emphasize the need for taxon-specific relationships, and the potential dangers associated with either ignoring body size or substituting relationships between taxa. The negative influence of body size on AFDW/DW ratio found in a majority of the molluscs could be caused by increasingly thicker shells with organism age, and/or spawning-induced loss of biologically active tissue in adults. Consequently, future studies utilizing AFDW/DW (and presumably also AFDW/wet weight) ratios should carefully assess the potential influence of body size to ensure more reliable estimates of organism biomass.

Diet composition of herring (Clupea harengus L.) and cod (Gadus morhua L.) in the southern Baltic Sea in 2007 and 2008

2011 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Dziaduch
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Diet Composition ◽  
Gadus Morhua ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Commercial Fish ◽  
Southern Baltic Sea ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Southern Baltic ◽  
The Baltic

AbstractDiet composition of two commercial fish species, herring and cod, were studied in some regions (mainly Gda’nsk and Bornholm Basins, and the Polish coast) of the southern Baltic Sea in 2007 and 2008. Herring is the dominant zooplanktivorous species in the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea, but apart from mesoplanktonic organisms it also eats macroplanktonic and benthic species in considerable amount. The diet of cod consists of fish and crustaceans from pelagic, hyperbenthic and benthic habitats. The feeding preferences of fish indirectly reflect changes in the whole food chain in the Baltic Sea. This research focuses specifically on these invertebrate species, which are eliminated from the environment by most of the ichthyofauna of this region. The aim of this research is to examine the role of invertebrate organisms belonging to Crustacea in the diet of herring and adult cod to supply updated results about feeding of these fish as little data have been collected since the 1990s. The present study is a preliminary survey and results can not be considered conclusive. The restricted numbers of analyzed stomachs of fish and selected seasons of the year addressed in this paper are a starting point for further studies with a larger scope. In this study, 20 to 90% of herring had empty stomachs. Mesozooplankton dominated the diets of small and large herring. Mysidacea, which were historically important prey for herring, are now scarce and have been replaced by planktonic Amphipoda. In the case of cod, consumption of Mysidacea has never been as low as in this study. As for other invertebrate prey, the benthic isopod Saduria and Crangon shrimp achieved the highest amount by number and weight. These results show distinct changes in diet when compared to previous investigations and require verification at a larger spatial scale.

scholarly journals Benthic Diatoms on Sheltered Coastal Soft Bottoms (Baltic Sea)—Seasonal Community Production and Respiration

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 949
Author(s):  
Ulf Karsten ◽  
Kana Kuriyama ◽  
Thomas Hübener ◽  
Jana Woelfel
Keyword(s):  
Primary Production ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Carbon Budget ◽  
Benthic Diatom ◽  
Benthic Diatoms ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Southern Baltic Sea ◽  
Diatom Communities ◽  
Southern Baltic ◽  
The Baltic

Benthic diatom communities dominate sheltered shallow inner coastal waters of the atidal Southern Baltic Sea. However, their photosynthetic oxygen production and respiratory oxygen consumption is rarely evaluated. In the Baltic Sea carbon budget benthic diatom communities are often not included, since phytoplankton is regarded as the main primary producer. Therefore, two wind-protected stations (2–49-cm depths) were investigated between July 2010 and April 2012 using undisturbed sediment cores in combination with planar oxygen optodes. We expected strong fluctuations in the biological activity parameters in the incubated cores over the course of the seasons. The sediment particles at both stations were dominated by fine sand with a median grain size of 131–138 µm exhibiting an angular shape with many edges, which were less mobile compared to exposed coastal sites of the Southern Baltic Sea. These sand grains inhabited dense communities of rather small epipsammic diatoms (<10 µm). Chlorophyll a as a biomass parameter for benthic diatoms fluctuated from 64.8 to 277.3-mg Chl. a m−2 sediment surface. The net primary production and respiration rates exhibited strong variations across the different months at both stations, ranging from 12.9 to 56.9 mg O2 m−2 h−1 and from −6.4 to −137.6 mg O2 m−2 h−1, respectively. From these data, a gross primary production of 13.4 to 59.5 mg C m−2 h−1 was calculated. The results presented confirmed strong seasonal changes (four-fold amplitude) for the activity parameters and, hence, provided important production biological information for sheltered sediments of the Southern Baltic Sea. These data clearly indicate that benthic diatoms, although often ignored until now, represent a key component in the primary production of these coastal habitats when compared to similar studies at other locations of the Baltic Sea and, hence, should be considered in any carbon budget model of this brackish water ecosystem.

scholarly journals Size matters: relationships between body size, dry weight and ash-free dry weight of common coastal, aquatic invertebrates in the Baltic Sea

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Eklöf ◽  
Åsa Austin ◽  
Ulf Bergström ◽  
Serena Donadi ◽  
Britas D H K Eriksson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
The Body ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
The Baltic

Background. Organism biomass is one of the most important variables in ecological studies, making estimations of organism weight one of the most common laboratory tasks. Biomass of small macroinvertebrates is usually estimated as dry (DW) or ash-free dry weight (AFDW); a laborious and time consuming process, that often can be speeded up using easily measured and reliable proxy variables like wet/fresh weight and/or body size. Another common way of estimating AFDW - which is the most accurate but also time-consuming estimate of biologically active tissue weight - is the use of AFDW/DW ratios or conversion factors. So far, however, these ratios typically ignore the possibility that the relative weight of biologically active vs. non-active support tissue (e.g. protective exoskeleton or shell) - and therefore, also the AFDW/DW ratio - may change with body size, as previously shown for taxa like spiders, vertebrates and trees. Methods. We collected samples of aquatic, epibenthic macroinvertebrates (>1 mm) in 32 shallow bays along a 360 km stretch of the Swedish coast along the Baltic Sea; one of the largest brackish water bodies on Earth. We then estimated statistical relationships between the body size (length or height in mm), dry weight and ash-free dry weight for 14 of the most common taxa; five gastropods, three bivalves, three crustaceans and three insect larvae. Finally, we statistically estimated the potential influence of body size on the AFDW/DW ratio per taxon. Results. For most of the taxa, non-linear regression models describing the power relationship between body size and i) DW and ii) AFDW fit the data well (as indicated by low SE and high R2). Moreover, for more than half of the taxa studied (including the vast majority of the shelled molluscs), body size had a negative influence on organism AFDW/DW ratios. Discussion. The good fit of the modelled power relationships suggest that the constants reported here can be used to more quickly estimate organism dry- and ash-free dry weight based on body size, thereby freeing up considerable work resources. However, the considerable differences in constants between taxa emphasize the need for taxon-specific relationships, and the potential dangers associated with either ignoring body size or substituting relationships between taxa. The negative influence of body size on AFDW/DW ratio found in a majority of the molluscs could be caused by increasingly thicker shells with organism age, and/or spawning-induced loss of biologically active tissue in adults. Consequently, future studies utilizing AFDW/DW (and presumably also AFDW/wet weight) ratios should carefully assess the potential influence of body size to ensure more reliable estimates of organism biomass.

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