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Affecting the ecosystem and being affected by it: the case of the non-indigenous round goby, N. melanostomus, in the Baltic Sea

Wallin, Isa

Abstract

Increased human trade and transport in the last decades has increased the number of non-indigenous species, NIS, being distributed around the globe. Some NIS estab-lish in new areas, and of these some give rise to negative environmental, economic and/or social consequences. Low native species richness in an ecosystem is associ-ated with a high degree of invasibility, defined as the susceptibility of a habitat and the associated biological community to invasion. Between 1970 and 2013 the num-ber of detected NIS in the Baltic Sea increased by 86%. One of them is Neogobius melanostomus, round goby, of which the first specimen in the Baltic Sea was found in 1990 in the Gulf of Gdansk. N. melanostomus in the Baltic Sea seems to display a variation in life-history strategies within the area and in comparison to populations in other areas. It is also an opportunistic predator, but with some prey preferences, and displays ontogenetic shifts during its course of life. It shows dietary adaptation to local conditions with the most pronounced deviation in the westernmost and northernmost parts of the Baltic Sea, where mussel-feeding is lower compared to other areas. N. melanostomus is an important prey to some predator species in the Baltic Sea, like cod and perch. However, also other species may benefit of N. mel-anostomus as prey. When resources (i.e. food or space) are limited, N. melanosto-mus appears to be the stronger competitor to a wide range of species, but also intra-specific competition occurs and could be a driver for N. melanostomus to spread to new areas. It appears as if N. melanostomus, despite the relatively short time since the establishment, has already made its mark on the Baltic Sea ecosystem acting as predator, competitor and prey, and also been marked by it, as the species to some extent has adapted to local conditions in the Baltic Sea. However, N. melanostomus’ role as predator, competitor and prey needs to be investigated further in order to clarify its ecological position in the Baltic Sea ecosystem. In the future, this knowledge should be incorporated to achieve an ecosystem-based management and sustainable commercial and recreational fisheries.

Keywords

Distribution; life-history strategy; diet; predators; competition; coastal zone ecology; ecosystem-specific effects

Published in

Aqua introductory research essay
2019, number: 2019:1eISBN: 978-91-576-9635-9Publisher: Department of Aquatic Resources, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences