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Abstract

Management actions against invasive species are usually most efficient during early stages of invasion. Monitoring for early detection is therefore part of many management plans. However, if monitoring efforts do not match suitable habitat areas, detecting the initial stages of an invasion may fail. We highlight this mismatch by assessing which areas have suitable habitats for an invasion of the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii in the Baltic Sea, and compare these with the areas that are currently monitored for algal blooms. Establishment of this potential toxin-producer in the Baltic Sea could have serious socio-economic consequences for tourism and recreation, as well as fisheries and aquaculture in the coastal regions. We estimate the coastal areas of the eastern Gulf of Finland as the most suitable area for establishment because of low salinity and high summer seawater surface temperatures. The species is not yet reported in the Baltic Sea, but in the suitable-habitat areas indicated by our assessment, very little monitoring is currently being done. We suggest several lines of research and monitoring to increase the probability of early detection and better predictions for the future distribution of the species.

Keywords

cyanobacterium; toxin; climate change; temperature; salinity; Gulf of Finland

Published in

Environmental Reviews -Ottawa- National Research Council
2015, volume: 23, number: 2, pages: 161-169
Publisher: CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING, NRC RESEARCH PRESS

SLU Authors

Global goals (SDG)

SDG13 Climate action
SDG14 Life below water

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology
Microbiology
Botany

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2014-0062

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/68882