Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2025
06:48
Assessing Intertidal Populations of the Invasive European Green Crab
Published on: September 16, 2020
6.1K
Long-term trends in crayfish invasions across European rivers
Ismael Soto1, Danish A Ahmed2, Ayah Beidas2
1University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic.
The Science of the Total Environment
|January 14, 2023
Summary
Non-indigenous crayfish species (NICS) are spreading across Europe. While no overall abundance trend exists, biomonitoring data reveals varied regional impacts and invasion velocities, emphasizing the need for high-resolution data collection.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Invasive Species Biology
- Freshwater Ecology
Background:
- Non-indigenous crayfish species (NICS) have increased in Europe since the mid-20th century due to fisheries, aquaculture, and the pet trade.
- Despite long invasion histories and negative impacts on biodiversity, large-scale spatio-temporal analyses of NICS occurrences are lacking.
- Biomonitoring data's utility for tracking NICS trends and impacts requires evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the information obtainable on NICS from biomonitoring approaches.
- To evaluate the usability of biomonitoring data for describing NICS trends.
- To infer temporal patterns and environmental drivers of NICS trends across Europe.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a large freshwater macroinvertebrate database (1983-2019) containing 160 NICS time-series.
- Employed meta-regression and generalized linear models to analyze temporal trends and predictors of abundance.
- Analyzed spatial range expansion and invasion velocity across different European regions.
Main Results:
- No significant European-scale temporal trend in abundance was found for *Procambarus clarkii*, *Pacifastacus leniusculus*, or *Faxonius limosus*.
- Species-specific predictors of abundance were identified.
- Spatial range expansion varied regionally, with increasing spread in England and retreat in northern Spain; invasion velocities ranged from 30 km/year (England) to 90 km/year (Hungary).
Conclusions:
- Biomonitoring data is valuable for understanding NICS dynamics, despite a lack of overall European abundance trends.
- Regional invasion patterns and velocities differ significantly.
- High-resolution, abundance-estimating biomonitoring data is crucial for a profound understanding of NICS impacts on aquatic biodiversity.
