Plattform Platform	Reise-Nr. Cruise-No.	Zeitraum Period	Projekt Project	Arbeitsgebiet Working area
Littorina	L15-03	02.03.2015 - 04.03.2015		North Sea

Fahrtleiter Chief Scientist	Institut Institute	Auslaufhafen Port of departure	Einlaufhafen Port of return	Stationskarte Station map	Schiffsroute Trackchart
Briski Elizabeta	Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)	Kiel	Kiel

Ziel der Reise / Objectives of Cruise:

The objectives of the cruise were to look for Gammarus species living in different salinity, which should be collected for mother cultures and salinity experiments of Sofja Kovalevskaja project. Three different species of Gammarus were targeted in the Elbe River: Gammarus tigrinus, Gammarus locusta, and Gammarus salinus. The trip lasted three days (02.03.2015 – 04.03.2015). Four scientists were onboard: Dr. Elizabeta Briski, Dr. Andrea Barco, Isabel Casties, and Fabian Wendt. Three different transect of the Elbe, depending on salinity, were sampled using dredge and ponar grab. Human-mediated invasions by nonindigenous species (NIS) are one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Following the opening of the canals which link the North and Baltic Seas with the Black and Caspian Seas, fauna from the Black, Caspian and Azov Seas (i.e., Ponto-Caspian species) dispersed and became abundant in freshwater and estuarine ports of Northern Europe. The invasion history of the Laurentian Great Lakes reveals a more intriguing pattern, with most of these Ponto-Caspian invaders identified in the system after European invasions, and with many of these invaders being euryhaline brackish or marine species. Interestingly, this transfer has been asymmetrical, with only a few species from the Great Lakes having invaded European waters and almost no species from freshwater invading brackish or marine habitats. The simplest explanation for the comparatively large pool of species originating in the Ponto-Caspian region and emigrating from Europe to the Great Lakes may be that Ponto-Caspian species are inherently better colonizers than Northern European or Great Lakes' species. This prediction is largely hypothetical, but nevertheless ecologically important if it can be demonstrated that species evolved in some areas are better colonizers. To determining if species from a particular region (i.e., Ponto-Caspian, Northern Europe or Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River) better tolerate and acclimate to environmental and biological conditions of non-native areas, and to test salinity tolerance of non-indigenous species and their transitions from marine to freshwater habitats and vice versa, we are setting mother cultures for six Gammarus species with and without an invasion record, native to Northern Europe, Great Lakes or Ponto-Caspian region.

Messungen / Measurements