Distribution, population structure and ecosystem effects of the invader Cercopagis pengoi (Polyphemoidea, Cladocera) in the Gulf of Finland and the open Baltic Sea

Spatial distribution, density, biomass, population structure, predation effects, and the influence of abiotic environmental characteristics (salinity, water temperature, transparency, and depth) on a population of the Ponto-Caspian invasive cladoceran Cercopagis pengoi (Ostroumov, 1891) were studied in the Gulf of Finland and the open Baltic Sea (August 1999 and 2004). In our study in 1999, this species was first recorded in plankton of open south–eastern Baltic waters. The age and sexual structure of the C. pengoi population were interrelated with population density. The strongest impact of C. pengoi predation on the pelagic community in the Gulf of Finland was registered at the stations where the percentage of C. pengoi in the total zooplankton biomass was the highest. The calculated impact values of C. pengoi exceeded those registered a decade ago, during the first years after Cercopagis had invaded the eastern Gulf of Finland

Fifteen shades of green: The evolution of Bufotes toads revisited.

The radiation of Palearctic green toads (Bufotes) holds great potential to evaluate the role of hybridization in phylogeography at multiple stages along the speciation continuum. With fifteen species representing three ploidy levels, this model system is particularly attractive to examine the causes and consequences of allopolyploidization, a prevalent yet enigmatic pathway towards hybrid speciation. Despite substantial efforts, the evolutionary history of this species complex remains largely blurred by the lack of consistency among the corresponding literature. To get a fresh, comprehensive view on Bufotes phylogeography, here we combined genome-wide multilocus analyses (RAD-seq) with an extensive compilation of mitochondrial, genome size, niche modelling, distribution and phenotypic (bioacoustics, morphometrics, toxin composition) datasets, representing hundreds of populations throughout Eurasia. We provide a fully resolved nuclear phylogeny for Bufotes and highlight exceptional cyto-nuclear discordances characteristic of complete mtDNA replacement (in 20% of species), mitochondrial surfing during post-glacial expansions, and the formation of homoploid hybrid populations. Moreover, we traced the origin of several allopolyploids down to species level, showing that all were exclusively fathered by the West Himalayan B. latastii but mothered by several diploid forms inhabiting Central Asian lowlands, an asymmetry consistent with hypotheses on mate choice and Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibilities. Their intermediate call phenotypes potentially allowed for rapid reproductive isolation, while toxin compositions converged towards the ecologically-closest parent. Across the radiation, we pinpoint a stepwise progression of reproductive isolation through time, with a threshold below which hybridizability is irrespective of divergence (<6My), above which species barely admix and eventually evolve different mating calls (6-10My), or can successfully cross-breed through allopolyploidization (>15My). Finally, we clarified the taxonomy of Bufotes (including genetic analyses of type series) and formally described two new species, B. cypriensis sp. nov. (endemic to Cyprus) and B. perrini sp. nov. (endemic to Central Asia). Embracing the genomic age, our framework marks the advent of a new exciting era for evolutionary research in these iconic amphibians