Identifying factors linked to the occurrence of alien gastropods in isolated woodland water bodies

Abstract

Biological invasions are a significant component of human-caused global change and is widely regarded as one of the main threats to natural biodiversity. Isolated anthropogenic water bodies created in the areas that are deprived of natural freshwater habitats allow the survival and reproduction of alien species on newly settled sites. They are often small with water level fluctuations causing frequent environmental disturbances. The colonisation success may be the result of the rate of their degradation. The aims of the study were to determine the environmental conditions that affect the existence of alien species of gastropods in this type of aquatic environment and to examine whether the occurrence of non-native species affects the community structure of the native species. This study made it possible to group woodland ponds according to the occurrence of the three invasive species in snail communities and discuss the environmental conditions present in these pond types. Analysis of water properties emphasised the distinctiveness of the selected pond types. In ponds of the Potamopyrgus antipodarum type, we found the highest values of some parameters mainly hardness, conductivity, and content of calcium and chlorides, in contrast with the Physella acuta type, which were characterised by the lowest values except for phosphates and nitrites. In the Ferrissia fragilis type, we found the highest nitrate content. Data on the occurrence of alien species in different water environments play an important role in actions which are taken to prevent new invasions and spread of non-native species as well as to reduce future impacts of invaders.

The implications of the impact of the recreational use of forest mining ponds on benthic invertebrates with special emphasis on gastropods

“…Their number and depth depends on the intensity of the human economic activity, and this alters the public use of their waters for recreation. Being formed in random locations due to the unintentional human activity, they often occur in areas regarded as wastelands, forest complexes (Spyra and Strzelec 2014) or in areas with urban agglomerations (Dąbrowska and Dąbrowski 2015;Dąbrowska and Sołtysiak 2015). They are filled by groundwater, precipitation, and surface runoff, and many of them are also stocked with fish.…”

Molluscs of extremely artificial, small temporary water bodies in a city park

“…Considering the completely artificial origin of the aquatic environments of this study, their small habitat diversity and the short time of their existence, the mollusc fauna in small ponds and in the canal was rich and diverse, and occurred more numerously compared to organisms which spend only the part of their life cycle in the water. The number of mollusc species found does not differ from that recorded in small, natural, astatic water bodies (oertLi et al 2002), as well as in the man-made ponds located in forest complexes (sPyrA & strzeLec 2014, spyra 2018. KołodziejczyK (1994) found the presence of only 10 mollusc taxa, in 21 small water bodies in the Suwałki Landscape Park, with from 0 to 8 in each of them.…”

“…While the ponds in this study do receive fallen leaves, the trees are relatively far from the shorelines and the deposits are thin. Pond freezing in the winter period is also not without significance (oertLi 1995, sPyrA & strzeLec 2014, because the deposits of organic matter that cover the bottom of aquatic environments become the habitat for gastropods to survive in.…”

Response of the mollusc communities to environmental factors along an anthropogenic salinity gradient

“…Previous studies in the anthropogenic water bodies in the area that was studied by us (e.g. Strzelec et al 2006;Lewin 2012;Spyra and Strzelec 2014;Strzelec et al 2014;Lewin et al 2015;Spyra and Strzelec 2015;Spyra 2017) indicated that P. acuta and F. fragilis are becoming a more and more common and abundant in such habitats. The presented results confirmed that alien P. acuta and F. fragilis are associated with waters that are rich in nutrients.…”

“…The creation of water bodies and anthropogenic disturbances of the aquatic environment (e.g. drainage, pollutions, hydrotechnical structures) contribute to the introduction and dispersion of alien gastropod species, among them Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Gray, 1843), Physa acuta (Drapamaud, 1805) and Ferrissia fragilis (Tryon, 1863), whose abundances are currently increasing (Meier-Brook 2002;Havel et al 2005;Lockwood et al 2007;Spyra 2008;Früh et al 2012;Spyra and Strzelec 2014). Alien species are able to tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, and their evolutionary potential allows them to adapt to new conditions (Winterboum 1969;Hylleberg and Siegismund 1987;Strzelec 1999;Hänfling and Kollmann 2002;Dunlop et al 2007;Van Leeuwen et al 2013).…”