Suchergebnisse

Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Chapter 1: Important Rivers and Their Worldwide Contributions to Epidemics on the Continents -- 1.1 Table with a Selection of Important Rivers on the Continents Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America -- 1.2 List and Description of Important Rivers of the World in Alphabetical Order -- 1.2.1 Amazon River (syn. Rio Amazona, Río Marañón, Rio Solimões) -- 1.2.2 Amur River -- 1.2.3 Brahmaputra River (Jamuna River) -- 1.2.4 Colorado River -- 1.2.5 Congo (syn. Zaire) River -- 1.2.6 Danube River (German: Donau) -- 1.2.7 Darling River -- 1.2.8 Dnieper River -- 1.2.9 Don River -- 1.2.10 Douro River -- 1.2.11 Ebro River -- 1.2.12 Elbe River (Labe in Czech) -- 1.2.13 Ganges River (``Indian´´: Ganga) -- 1.2.14 Indus River (Sindhu, Darya-e-Sindh) -- 1.2.15 Jordan River -- 1.2.16 Lena River -- 1.2.17 Limpopo River -- 1.2.18 Mackenzie River (Nagwichoonjik) -- 1.2.19 Madeira River -- 1.2.20 Main River -- 1.2.21 Mekong River -- 1.2.22 Meuse River -- 1.2.23 Mississippi River -- 1.2.24 Murray River -- 1.2.25 Murrumbidgee River -- 1.2.26 Neman River (Memel) -- 1.2.27 Niger River -- 1.2.28 Nile River (Al-Nil, Bahr-en-Nil) -- 1.2.29 Oder River -- 1.2.30 Okavango River -- 1.2.31 Oranje River -- 1.2.32 Orinoco River -- 1.2.33 Paraguay River -- 1.2.34 Parana River -- 1.2.35 Pearl River (Zhu Jian, Canton River) -- 1.2.36 Po River -- 1.2.37 Rhine River -- 1.2.38 Rhône River -- 1.2.39 Rio de la Plata (engl. Plate River) -- 1.2.40 Rio Grande River -- 1.2.41 Saint Lawrence River -- 1.2.42 São Francisco River -- 1.2.43 Seine River -- 1.2.44 Thames River -- 1.2.45 Tiber River -- 1.2.46 Tigris-Euphrates River System -- 1.2.47 Uruguay River -- 1.2.48 Volga River -- 1.2.49 Yamuna River (syn. Jumna) -- 1.2.50 Yangtze River (Yangtze Kiang) -- 1.2.51 Yellow River (Hwang Ho River).

1. During the last century, the practice of fur farming in Europe led to the introduction of two mammal species from opposite ends of the world. With their subsequent unintentional escape from captivity or intentional releases, the process of slow expansion and establishment in Europe began. The raccoon Procyon lotor and the raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides are included on the European Union's list of invasive alien species. 2. We characterised the current climatic niches of the two species in their native ranges in North America and Asia, and compared them with their non-native-range niches in Europe, where we also projected climatic suitability. The aim was to locate suitable habitats beyond their current ranges and assess where a range expansion can be expected. 3. Niche comparison and the projection of climatic suitability in Europe were based on eight bioclimatic variables and presence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility database. For niche modelling, we applied the maximum entropy approach (Maxent) and used the native-range data for training. 4. Minimum temperature of the coldest month (bio06) was identified as the most important bioclimatic variable in the habitat suitability models for both species. Different tolerance levels regarding this variable might explain small differences between the species' projected ranges, especially in the north and east of Europe. The high niche unfilling for both species in Europe suggests a potential for expansion beyond their present ranges. 5. With only little understanding of their ecological impacts in their new ranges, including the potential risk of Nyctereutes procyonoides as SARS-CoV-2 reservoir hosts, further research and management is required at various spatial scales in Europe.

AbstractCrustacean amphipods serve as intermediate hosts for parasites and are at the same time sensitive indicators of environmental pollution in aquatic ecosystems. The extent to which interaction with the parasite influences their persistence in polluted ecosystems is poorly understood. Here, we compared infections of Gammarus roeselii with two species of Acanthocephala, Pomphorhynchus laevis, and Polymorphus minutus, along a pollution gradient in the Rhine-Main metropolitan region of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Prevalence of P. laevis was very low at the unpolluted upstream reaches (P ≤ 3%), while higher prevalence (P ≤ 73%) and intensities of up to 9 individuals were found further downstream—close to an effluent of a large wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Co-infections of P. minutus and P. laevis occurred in 11 individuals. Highest prevalence of P. minutus was P ≤ 9% and one parasite per amphipod host was the maximum intensity recorded. In order to assess whether the infection affects survival in the polluted habitats, we tested the sensitivity of infected and uninfected amphipods towards the pyrethroide insecticide deltamethrin. We found an infection-dependent difference in sensitivity within the first 72 h, with an effect concentration (24 h EC50) of 49.8 ng/l and 26.6 ng/l for infected and uninfected G. roeselii, respectively. Whereas final host abundance might partially explain the high prevalence of P. laevis in G. roeselii, the results of the acute toxicity test suggest a beneficial effect of acanthocephalan infection for G. roeselii at polluted sites. A strong accumulation of pollutants in the parasite could serve as a sink for pesticide exposure of the host. Due to the lack of a co-evolutionary history between parasite and host and a lack of behavioral manipulation (unlike in co-evolved gammarids), the predation risk by fish remains the same, explaining high local prevalence. Thus, our study exemplifies how organismic interaction can favor the persistence of a species under chemical pollution.