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Genetic diversity of stone crayfish Austropotamobius torrentium in marginal areas of its distribution
Pešek, Pavel ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Kouba, Antonín (referee)
Central Europe north of the Alps was colonized by one of the Balkan haplotype lineage of stone crayfish Austropotamobius torrentium after the end of the last ice age. Stone crayfish is considered a native species in the basins of the Danube and the Rhine. The origin of populations from the Elbe basin is still debated. Most of recent European studies dealing with the crayfish distribution indicate the stone crayfish in Elbe basin as non-indigenous species. The main aim of my work was to evaluate the question of the origin of stone crayfish in the Elbe catchment by describing the distribution of genetic variability, which has not been yet studied in the Elbe river basin for this species. I have used 617 base pairs long section of mitochondrial gene for small subunit I of cytochrome c oxidase (COI). The variability of this marker is reduced in area on the north of Alps, which agrees with assumption of rapid colonization after the end of last ice age. Observed haplotype diversity is nevertheless sufficient to suggest the most likely scenario. Among 22 populations from Elbe basin, one dominant and three rare haplotypes were found. Individuals from the isolated Luční creek close to the Krkonoše (Giant Mountains) region have a haplotype that has so far been found only in central Slovenia, and this population has...
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Distribution and Ecology of the Stone Crayfish and Noble Crayfish in the Drainage Area of the Zákolanský stream
Kubínyiová, Eva ; Mourek, Jan (advisor) ; Hanel, Lubomír (referee)
This thesis is composed of two parts - research part, focused on field research of occurence and abundance of the Stone Crayfish and the Noble Crayfish in the basin of Zákolanský stream, and a pedagogical part, project Crayfish in the Czech Republic and their protection, aimed for grammar school students. The literature outline summarizes contemporary knowledge about all five species of crayfish in the Czech Republic. Our native species are the Stone Crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium) and Noble Crayfish (Astacus astacus). The non-native are Narrow-clawed Crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus), Spiny-cheek Crayfish (Orconectes limosus) and Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus). Aside from the chapters concerning the particular species and their determination, the literature outline also contains general information about the life and endangerment of crayfish. I have conducted the field research from April to September 2009. I also noted and evaluated the environmental conditions of the crayfish habitats. Based on the adjusted AOPK ČR methodology, I selected eight 100-meter long brook-sections of the Europe-important locality of Zákolanský stream, with the previously confirmed occurrence of crayfish. From the eight sections, I found crayfish only in three. All the captured specimens were of the...
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Nepůvodní druhy raků na Slovensku
LIPTÁK, Boris
Human activities have largely impacted the environment and its biota to the extent that biodiversity declines can be seen worldwide. Biological invasions significantly contribute to these processes. Slovakia is a rapidly developing country stretching along the northern parts of the Pannonian basin and western Carpathian Mountains. Geological characteristics predetermine its extraordinarily high species richness thanks to largely preserved regions and habitats of high biological and conservational value. As a result, a strong population of the stone crayfish occurs in the western part of the country, while there is a countrywide distribution of the noble crayfish. On the contrary, the country's narrow-clawed crayfish is on the edge of extinction. The main reason behind the decline of this species is the expansion of the non-indigenous crayfish species transmitting the crayfish plague pathogen. Although sites of the stone and the noble crayfish occur in the upper parts of the river basins, there is a high risk of crayfish plague outbreaks, since the established spiny-cheek crayfish population are confirmed chronic carriers of the causative agent. Aquarist trade is increasingly recognized as an important pathway for the non-indigenous species introductions, out of which some may establish and become invasive. Freshwater crayfish, shrimp and crab species were recorded in the aquarist trade in Slovakia, counting altogether 26 different species. The marbled crayfish was one of the most frequently traded species. We identified several new sites of the marbled crayfish occurrence with established reproducing populations in very close vicinity of major rivers in the country. One of the newly identified flourishing spiny-cheek crayfish populations is located close behind a bank with a pumping station, i.e. critically close to a sidearm of the Danube River, with a confirmed crayfish plague infection. Marbled crayfish can become a crayfish plague carrier acquiring the pathogen from the infected spiny-cheek population in the Danube and rapidly spreading the disease along the river, thereby endangering the remaining populations of the narrow-clawed crayfish. More sites with the marbled crayfish are expected to occur in the country. Given their parthenogenetic reproduction, theoretically, a single individual is sufficient to establish a new sustaining population. Considering the high availability of the marbled crayfish in the pet trade industry and the rising numbers of established populations in the wild, research clarifying its potential impacts on the invaded ecosystems was warranted. We provide the first study investigating the trophic position and food preferences of the marbled crayfish in its well-established populations. Based on carbon 13C and nitrogen 15N stable isotopes analysis marbled crayfish were identified in the middle of the trophic chain with polyphagic diets. Marbled crayfish were found to utilize algae, allochthonous and autochthonous detritus, zoobenthos and macrophytes, thus being a strong competitor to a wide scale of organisms depended on the same food sources. The marbled crayfish transmit the energy from the bottom of the trophic pyramid to higher trophic levels as it was found to be a prey for top fish predators. This species can form dense populations and become a dominant component of the benthic fauna, thus affecting the entire invaded ecosystem. Its trophic niche width confirms high plasticity of the species, sustaining its populations in a wide range of different habitats. The marbled crayfish is thus a highly adaptable invader that can threaten not only the indigenous crayfish species by means of competition and the spread of crayfish plague, but also entire freshwater ecosystems and their biota.
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Diverzita makrozoobentosu v Evropsky významné lokalitě výskytu raka kamenáče (Austropotamobius torrentium)
PEŘINOVÁ, Eliška
The "Zákolanský potok" takes part in European nature program Special Area of Conservation because of the presence of stone crayfish (Austropotamobius torentium), which is listed as threatened species. The area around brook is intensively agriculturally cultivated. Water from wastewater treatments plants is drained to the local brooks. The aim of the work was to describe diversity of macrozoobenthos on the brook called "Zákolanský potok". Further aim was to evaluate the ecological condition of the watercourse using biotic indexes. The samples of macrobenthos were taken from three profiles in five sampling periods. Profile 1 was control, profile 2 was under the wastewater treatments plants and the third profile was placed down the stream. Diversity, biomass, saprobic index, BMWP, and ASTP scores were evaluated for the community of macrozoobenthos. The saprobic index was evaluated to the beta-mezosaprobity value (2.0-2.4) in the first profile, the saprobic index on the second profile showed a relatively wide range from worse oligosaprobity to worse beta-mesosaprobity (1.2-2.4). On the third profile, the saprobic index ranged from better beta-mesosaprobity to better alpha-mesosaprobity (1.6-2.6). The BMWP and ASPT scores in all profiles refer to medium to low quality aquatic environments. The diversity of the community gained the best values on the 3rd profile, here was found with one more taxon than on the 1st profile. With increasing organic load, diversity decreased on the 2nd profile, although a more sensitive species was found here.
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Raci v měnících se biotických a abiotických podmínkách
VESELÝ, Lukáš
Abiotic and biotic factors directly or indirectly influence physiology, behaviour, ecology and the distribution of organisms. This thesis provides unique results in terms of the ability of crayfish to cope with a series of these abiotic and biotic factors. Successful overwintering is key factor facilitating establishment and spread of non-indigenous species. We provide experimental evidence of substantial resistance of three out of four warm water crayfish species to the low water temperatures tested in our study. To sum up, red swamp crayfish together with yabby demonstrated high survival in experimental conditions and exhibited feeding activity even during the coldest part of the experiment. Marbled crayfish suffered high mortality, but a single specimen of survived. Redclaw is expected not to pose a risk for the European temperate zone in the near future. Drought is an important factor for freshwater organisms determining their success in a given ecosystem. One of the strategies how to survive drought are an elevated desiccation capacity and burrowing ability. We evaluated the ability of three European native and five non-native crayfish to survive and burrow in a humid sandy-clayey substrate under a simulated one-week drought. Survival of non-native species was substantially higher, being absolute in the red swamp crayfish and yabby. Red swamp crayfish and marbled crayfish constructed bigger and deeper burrows than yabby and spiny-cheek crayfish. Three native species (noble crayfish, narrow-clawed crayfish and stone crayfish) suffered extensive mortalities. The native species and signal crayfish exhibited no ability to burrow under drought conditions. Marbled crayfish are a successful invader, capable of colonization new habitats. It is also established in the wild of Ukraine and pet-traded in Eastern Europe. If released, it might pose a risk to populations of native crayfish that also inhabit saline ecosystems of the Black, Azov and Caspian Sea. We conducted the first study on salinity tolerance in marbled crayfish. In summary, marbled crayfish are probably unable to invade saline ecosystems due to its low survival, reduced growth and inhibited reproduction. Nevertheless, it showed an ability to withstand the highest salinity for an extended period of time, opening a possibility for its spread to other freshwaters via this corridor. Also, a short generation time might lead to local adaptations to saline environments in the future. Yabby demonstrated an ability to withstand simulated low winter temperatures, opening the question of its potential establishment in the region of Central Europe. To successfully do so, yabby would have to deal with present strains (A, B, and E) of Aphanomyces astaci, a causative agent of crayfish plague, a devastating disease to all crayfish not originating from North America. Our comparative study revealed the ability to survive (strain A) or delay the effects (strains B and E) of crayfish plague compared to native noble crayfish. Our result, highlights a high potential for its establishment in temperate Europe. As a prominent invader, it may cause negative impacts on entire ecosystems and contribute to the spread of crayfish plague in Europe. Nowadays, organisms face multiple global drivers influencing the strength of links in food webs. Altogether, we found that predator identity, prey density, and temperature all affect trophic and non-trophic interaction strengths. Effects of prey density were always independent of temperature and predator identity in trophic as well as non-trophic interaction strength. On the other hand, the magnitude of responses in trophic as well as non-trophic interaction strengths varied strongly across predator pairs and temperatures. Based on the current evidence, we could not find strong support for a general mechanism underlying the dependence of interaction strengths on species traits and environmental conditions. Therefore, other studies are need it.
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Genetic diversity of stone crayfish Austropotamobius torrentium in marginal areas of its distribution
Pešek, Pavel ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Kouba, Antonín (referee)
Central Europe north of the Alps was colonized by one of the Balkan haplotype lineage of stone crayfish Austropotamobius torrentium after the end of the last ice age. Stone crayfish is considered a native species in the basins of the Danube and the Rhine. The origin of populations from the Elbe basin is still debated. Most of recent European studies dealing with the crayfish distribution indicate the stone crayfish in Elbe basin as non-indigenous species. The main aim of my work was to evaluate the question of the origin of stone crayfish in the Elbe catchment by describing the distribution of genetic variability, which has not been yet studied in the Elbe river basin for this species. I have used 617 base pairs long section of mitochondrial gene for small subunit I of cytochrome c oxidase (COI). The variability of this marker is reduced in area on the north of Alps, which agrees with assumption of rapid colonization after the end of last ice age. Observed haplotype diversity is nevertheless sufficient to suggest the most likely scenario. Among 22 populations from Elbe basin, one dominant and three rare haplotypes were found. Individuals from the isolated Luční creek close to the Krkonoše (Giant Mountains) region have a haplotype that has so far been found only in central Slovenia, and this population has...
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Distribution and Ecology of the Stone Crayfish and Noble Crayfish in the Drainage Area of the Zákolanský stream
Kubínyiová, Eva ; Mourek, Jan (advisor) ; Hanel, Lubomír (referee)
This thesis is composed of two parts - research part, focused on field research of occurence and abundance of the Stone Crayfish and the Noble Crayfish in the basin of Zákolanský stream, and a pedagogical part, project Crayfish in the Czech Republic and their protection, aimed for grammar school students. The literature outline summarizes contemporary knowledge about all five species of crayfish in the Czech Republic. Our native species are the Stone Crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium) and Noble Crayfish (Astacus astacus). The non-native are Narrow-clawed Crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus), Spiny-cheek Crayfish (Orconectes limosus) and Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus). Aside from the chapters concerning the particular species and their determination, the literature outline also contains general information about the life and endangerment of crayfish. I have conducted the field research from April to September 2009. I also noted and evaluated the environmental conditions of the crayfish habitats. Based on the adjusted AOPK ČR methodology, I selected eight 100-meter long brook-sections of the Europe-important locality of Zákolanský stream, with the previously confirmed occurrence of crayfish. From the eight sections, I found crayfish only in three. All the captured specimens were of the...
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Cray fish as bioindicators of human impact in freshwater ecosystems in CR - sensitivity of model species on selected toxic compounds and case study from the model catchment
MAHOVSKÁ, Ivana
This thesis deals with monitoring the occurrence of crayfish in selected river basins in the western Bohemia, considering the human impact on freshwater ecosystems and his influence on crayfish and other aquatic organisms. The selected river basin territory was Úhlava, Úslava and Otava. In the localities, numerical and species-wise representation of crayfish was monitored by finding data from the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape of Czech Republic database. The flow and environment characteristics were also monitored. This thesis focuses on water quality in streams of selected major river basins, Úhlava, Úslava and Otava rivers in the period from 2006 to 2011. Results of the findings show a sympatric occurrence of original species, stone crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium), noble crayfish (Astacus astacus) and part of the original danube crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus) with invasively spreading species of spiny-cheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus) and signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus). With respect to this fact, the sensitivity of spiny-cheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus) and signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) are evaluated in a form of own test results on acute toxicity. The thesis compared current results of occurrence and the protection of crayfish in the Czech Republic and abroad. The conclusion of this thesis is a proposal of a freshwater biomonitoring system, using the crayfish.
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Impact of american mink on stone crayfish populations
PAVLUVČÍK, Petr
1. Impact of introduced American mink (Mustela vison) predation on endangered stone crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium) was examined in western Bohemian middle-sized streams for two years. Mink diet selectivity and its impact on its prey abundance were been investigating as the main target of this study. 2. The mink diet was described from excrements which were found on the target areas. The importance of different types of prey was specified by their relative numeric contribution to diet. The number of hunted crayfish was elicited from the number of crayfish remains which were collected during two years. The crayfish abundance was determined by capture {--} recapture method. 3. The crayfish was most frequently observed component of mink diet. The rate of mink predation on crayfish was dependent on density of crayfish population. This observed rate was lower during winters than during summers. The mink preferred significantly longer crayfish than was the mean of this value in population. 4. Although the crayfish was important part of mink diet the trend of impact of mink on crayfish is still inexplicit. It would be important to continue in this research to determine correlation between these two species.
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