Status of Biodiversity in the Baltic Sea

The brackish Baltic Sea hosts species of various origins and environmental tolerances. These immigrated to the sea 10,000 to 15,000 years ago or have been introduced to the area over the relatively recent history of the system. The Baltic Sea has only one known endemic species. While information on some abiotic parameters extends back as long as five centuries and first quantitative snapshot data on biota (on exploited fish populations) originate generally from the same time, international coordination of research began in the early twentieth century. Continuous, annual Baltic Sea-wide long-term datasets on several organism groups (plankton, benthos, fish) are generally available since the mid-1950s. Based on a variety of available data sources (published papers, reports, grey literature, unpublished data), the Baltic Sea, incl. Kattegat, hosts altogether at least 6,065 species, including at least 1,700 phytoplankton, 442 phytobenthos, at least 1,199 zooplankton, at least 569 meiozoobenthos, 1,476 macrozoobenthos, at least 380 vertebrate parasites, about 200 fish, 3 seal, and 83 bird species. In general, but not in all organism groups, high sub-regional total species richness is associated with elevated salinity. Although in comparison with fully marine areas the Baltic Sea supports fewer species, several facets of the system's diversity remain underexplored to this day, such as micro-organisms, foraminiferans, meiobenthos and parasites. In the future, climate change and its interactions with multiple anthropogenic forcings are likely to have major impacts on the Baltic biodiversity

Water treatments as the basis for the development of spa tourism (spa Sopot case study)

Stres i pośpiech, wszechobecne w życiu współczesnego człowieka, wpływają na zwiększenie zainteresowania pobytem w uzdrowiskach, dającym możliwość obcowania ze środowiskiem, w którym możliwe jest działanie wielu pozytywnych bodźców na organizm. Przedmiotem artykułu jest nadmorskie Uzdrowisko Sopot, słynące ze źródła wody mineralnej chlorkowosodowej, jodkowej i bromkowej, stosowanej w lecznictwie uzdrowiskowym. Do celów leczniczych (w tężniach, grzybkach inhalacyjnych oraz przy kuracji pitnej) wykorzystywana jest solanka o stężeniu 4,4%. Woda ta stanowi podstawę zabiegów leczniczych wykonywanych m.in. w Zakładzie Balneologicznym w Sopocie.Stress and rush, ever-present in modern life, increase people's interest in health resorts, which give them an opportunity to get close to the natural environment. As a result, many positive stimuli have a beneficial effect on their bodies. The subject of the article is the seaside health resort of Sopot, famous for being a source of curative sodium chloride, iodine and bromide mineral water, used in health resort treatments. The 4.4% brine is used for treatment in graduation towers, inhalation mushrooms in Sopot parks or in the form of drinking cure. It is the basis of medical treatments conducted, among others, at the Zakład Balneologiczny (Balneology Centre) in Sopot

Crustacean species new to Spitsbergen with notes on the polymorphism and the subfossil preservation of Cytherissa lacustris (G. O. Sars)

The copepods Limnocalanus macrurus G. O. Sars and Eucyclops serrulatus (Fisch.) and the ostracode Cytherissa lacustris (G. O. Sars), hitherto unknown on Spitsbergen, were found in Lake Rewatnet, the last species also in Lake Svartvatnet. Samples from parthenogenetic populations of C. lacustris showed a complete lack of electrophoretically detectable variability at four enzyme-encoding loci, two of which are highly variable in mainland populations. However, morphological variation in the carapace length and nodation was no less than in the mainland populations. The carapace valves of C. lacustris do not preserve well in the sediments of Rewatnet

Adaptation to the Baltic Sea – the case of isopod genus Idotea

The three marine isopods of the genus Idotea: I. balthica, I. chelipes and I. granulosa have an important functional role as meso-grazers in the Baltic food web. These meso-grazers are key species in the Fucus belt and in Zostera marina beds and are characterized by top-down effects through impressive feeding rates on filamentous algae as well as through their importance as prey for 23 fish species (bottom-up effects). In the Baltic Sea, the three Idotea spp. show clear habitat segregation, but may also coexist and compete for food and space. The habitat differences are also reflected in their different life history strategies. Whereas I. balthica is more of a generalist and K-selected species, I. chelipes shows characteristics of an r-selected species. The third species, I. granulosa, is displaced by I. balthica to less favorable habitats, why the adversity strategy fits best for this species. A phylogeographic study and reconstruction of demographic history indicated that after the Baltic Sea became a marine habitat, I. granulosa first invaded into the young Baltic Sea from the Atlantic followed by I. balthica and I. chelipes. Small estimated population sizes and the haplotype networks, suggest that I. balthica and I. granulosa have gone through a bottleneck during colonization, losing genetic diversity in Baltic populations. Although Baltic populations of I. chelipes were genetically distinct from populations outside the Baltic Sea, differentiation was ten times lower than in the other two species. Distribution patterns over the past 150 years, showed fairly constant large-scale distributions for the Idotea spp., but changes in distribution could be found. I. chelipes and I. granulosa shifted southwards, probably as a consequence of changes in salinity and temperature reported for the Baltic Sea. In general, the distribution patterns of Idotea spp. seem to be more determined by temperature than by salinity as supported by ecological niche modelling. Predicted distributions under a climate change scenario (ECHAM5) demonstrated a northern shift of Idotea through increased temperature, deeper into the Bothnian Sea. Such distribution changes may have serious consequences, since the endemic narrow wrack, Fucus radicans, today may be protected from intensive grazing pressure through the distribution limit of Idotea to the southern parts of the Bothnian Sea. Demographic analysis demonstrated that all three species live closely to their limits under the Baltic Sea extremes. The obvious change in life history from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea can be a cost of acclimation or adaptation. Whereas I. balthica lives close to its carrying capacity, several local extinctions of I. granulosa have been reported. As a typical r-selected species and with the highest genetic diversity, I. chelipes may have the highest capacity to adapt to further predicted climate changes. Today it is not clear if Idotea spp. are locally adapted to the Baltic extremes or showing phenotypic plasticity in response to abiotic factors, which calls for further studies