Tamara A. Shiganova – författare

The present volume contains the presentations of a NATO advanced Research Workshop (ARW) entitled “The invasion of the Black, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas by the American Ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi Agassiz: a multidisciplinary perspective and a comparison with other aquatic invasions”, held on 24 - 26 June 2002 in Baku (Azerbaijan). The meeting was ?nanced by the NATO Division for Scienti?c and Environmental Affairs (Brussels); substantial logistic support was provided by the CEP (Caspian Environmental Program) of the GEF in Baku. The Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas represent three fragments of the former Tethys Sea, and are thus of great interest to understanding the evolution of the entire region where Eurasia, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula meet. While the Mediterranean is a typical marine environment, with salinity even a little above the world ocean’s, the Black Sea is a brackish meromictic lake, and the Caspian is a lake with a saline gradient extending from a freshwater basin in the North to a brackish water basin in the South. Intense ?shing activity takes place in all three seas, while maritime traf?c through the Dardanelles and Bosporus, and via the Lenin Canal (between the Don and Volga rivers) to the Caspian Sea has become greatly intensi?ed in the course of the last few decades.

The present volume contains the presentations of a NATO advanced Research Workshop (ARW) entitled “The invasion of the Black, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas by the American Ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi Agassiz: a multidisciplinary perspective and a comparison with other aquatic invasions”, held on 24 - 26 June 2002 in Baku (Azerbaijan). The meeting was ?nanced by the NATO Division for Scienti?c and Environmental Affairs (Brussels); substantial logistic support was provided by the CEP (Caspian Environmental Program) of the GEF in Baku. The Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas represent three fragments of the former Tethys Sea, and are thus of great interest to understanding the evolution of the entire region where Eurasia, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula meet. While the Mediterranean is a typical marine environment, with salinity even a little above the world ocean’s, the Black Sea is a brackish meromictic lake, and the Caspian is a lake with a saline gradient extending from a freshwater basin in the North to a brackish water basin in the South. Intense ?shing activity takes place in all three seas, while maritime traf?c through the Dardanelles and Bosporus, and via the Lenin Canal (between the Don and Volga rivers) to the Caspian Sea has become greatly intensi?ed in the course of the last few decades.

The Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas represent three fragments of the former Tethys Sea, and are thus of great interest to understanding the evolution of the entire region where Eurasia, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula meet. Fishing activity and maritime traffic through the Dardanelles and Bosporus, and via the Lenin Canal to the Caspian Sea, have greatly intensified. Moreover, all major European rivers are now linked by canals, meaning that ships can navigate from the mouth of the Volga to the Baltic, from the Danube to the Rhine, and from there to all other major European Rivers. Such an anastomosed system not only allows ships to pass between basins: biota follow in their wake, and thus the Black Sea and Caspian fauna and flora, long sequestered in their closed basins, are suddenly given an opportunity to "escape". On the other hand, alien invaders increasingly find their way to the three seas, as stowaways in ballast water tanks or attached to the hulls. Some of the newcomers expanded to enormous numbers in the receiving ecosystem, where they may cause great economic damage.The book provides an up-to-date overview of the situation in the Ponto-Caspian with regard to the jelly invasions that have been perturbing the local pelagic ecosystems since the early 1980s, contrasting that with biological invasions elsewhere, to try and identify general underlying principles.

Gaining some momentum in the early 18th century, accelerating in the 19th century, and culminating in the second half of the 20th century, a sharp increase in the number of non-native animal and plant species introduced to foreign ecosystems, terrestrial and aquatic alike, occurred. In marine systems, they appeared in the pelagic as well as in near-shore zones. Like an infection, this process rapidly spread globally. Currently, the “spontaneous” appearance of invasive, non-native species in various taxonomic groups, ranging from algae and protozoa to fishes, and their naturalization to new biotopes has become like an epidemic to coastal regions of the World Ocean, inland seas, and to brackish and freshwater systems as well.This book provides a comprehensive synthesis of all aspects regarding the non-native species in the Ponto-Caspian seas, including their introduction, naturalization, geographical distribution and consequences for native biota with special attention to gelatinous species. Highlighting important research findings, this book provides an overview of the invasion process from transportation patterns and reasons for establishment success to ecological impacts and role of abiotic factors and climate change.Increasing awareness of the problems associated with invasions of non-native species in Ponto-Caspian seas has led to rapid growth in research on this topic. This book provides updated summary of this fast-growing field of research, and is an essential text for established researchers, undergraduate and graduate students.