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International audience; In the late Miocene, a large inland sea known as the Eastern Paratethys stretched out across the present-day Black Sea - Caspian Sea region. The basin was mostly endorheic and its water budget thus strongly dependent on regional climate. The basin was therefore prone to high-amplitude water-level fluctuations and associated turnovers in water chemistry and fauna. Profound palaeoenvironmental changes happened in the Eastern Paratethys during this time period. This article documents the evolution of the Dacian Basin of Romania, the westernmost branch of the Eastern Paratethys, during the time interval between 7.7 and 6.0 Ma. Our integrated study of sedimentary facies, micro- and macro fauna along the Slănicul de Buzău Section was constrained with a timeframe based on magnetostratigraphy. The remarkable 1.3 km-thick sedimentary record, high depositional rate (0.65-1.26 m/kyr) and abundance of fossils along this section provide a unique opportunity to study sedimentary and biotic turnovers in high detail. Our analyses reveal several marked water-level and salinity changes: A predominance of freshwater coastal plain environments, only occasionally flooded, indicates a low water-level in the Khersonian (~7.7-7.63 Ma). The coastal plain deposits are overlain by offshore muds revealing a low mesohaline early Maeotian transgression, which was followed by the installation of littoral/nearshore environments with freshwater molluscs in shallow settings and oligohaline ostracods in slightly deeper settings. Subsequent delta progradation and a prevalence of freshwater fauna in both marginal and more distal environments characterize the late Maeotian. This was followed by a remarkable freshwater transgression that started at 6.3 Ma and led to predominantly offshore deposition. The late Maeotian fossil record suggests brackish water pulses from Lake Pannon (Central Paratethys), followed by mass occurrences of Coelogonia novorossica. At 6.1 Ma, a short influx of meso- to polyhaline microfauna including benthic and planktonic foraminifera defines the "Pontian Salinity Incursion". Molluscs, including Eupatorina littoralis, that biostratigraphically mark the onset of the Pontian arrived with a negligible delay of ~5 kyr after the microfauna influx. The onset of the Pontian at Slănicul de Buzau at 6.1 Ma (± 5 kyr), is thus synchronous with the onset in other Paratethys basins. Our integrated approach, placing the preserved fossil fauna in its respective sedimentary environment, allows for a detailed insight into the salinity of coeval marginal as well as basinal environments and could be more widely applied in the Paratethys realm and other semi-isolated basins with a deviant salinity.

The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) has a greater impact on local ecosystems than other herbivores, and the affected area exceeds the range of its presence. Its activity may change or create new habitats by modifying the availability of the biotic and abiotic resources available not only to beavers, but also to other groups of animals. Our aim was to study how beaver activity affects the benthos composition in a small river and in a beaver pond. The way in which beavers function in the case of small rivers has received little attention. The study showed a lower density of benthos above the dam (beaver pond - 1467 ind./m2) compared to the river (3147 ind./m2). Below the dam, the diversity of Trichoptera and Coleoptera was greater, while Diptera were more abundant in the beaver pond. Betidae were a constant component in the benthos assemblages and were most abundant in the beaver pond. Collectors-gatherers and predators were the most numerous in the beaver pond. Decreasing percentages of collectors-gatherers were observed with an increased abundance of collectors-filterers and shredders in the river. All of the ratio values except the P/T FFG (Predators to total of all other groups) were lower in the beaver pond compared to the river. The % EPT (Ephemeroptera Plecoptera and Trichoptera) was also greater in the beaver pond. Small differences in the physicochemical properties of the water and organic matter content in the bottom sediments were found both above and below the beaver dam.

Background: There is scarce information about European folk knowledge of wild invertebrate fauna. We have documented such folk knowledge in three regions, in Romania, Slovakia and Croatia. We provide a list of folk taxa, and discuss folk biological classification and nomenclature, salient features, uses, related proverbs and sayings, and conservation. Methods: We collected data among Hungarian-speaking people practising small-scale, traditional agriculture. We studied "all" invertebrate species (species groups) potentially occurring in the vicinity of the settlements. We used photos, held semi-structured interviews, and conducted picture sorting. Results: We documented 208 invertebrate folk taxa. Many species were known which have, to our knowledge, no economic significance. 36 % of the species were known to at least half of the informants. Knowledge reliability was high, although informants were sometimes prone to exaggeration. 93 % of folk taxa had their own individual names, and 90 % of the taxa were embedded in the folk taxonomy. Twenty four species were of direct use to humans (4 medicinal, 5 consumed, 11 as bait, 2 as playthings). Completely new was the discovery that the honey stomachs of black-coloured carpenter bees (Xylocopa violacea, X. valga) were consumed. 30 taxa were associated with a proverb or used for weather forecasting, or predicting harvests. Conscious ideas about conserving invertebrates only occurred with a few taxa, but informants would generally refrain from harming firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus), field crickets (Gryllus campestris) and most butterflies. We did not find any mythical creatures among invertebrate folk taxa. Almost every invertebrate species was regarded as basically harmful. Where possible, they were destroyed or at least regarded as worth eradicating. However, we could find no evidence to suggest any invertebrate species had suffered population loss as a result of conscious destruction. Sometimes knowledge pertaining to the taxa could have more general relevance, and be regarded as folk wisdom concerning the functioning of nature as a whole. Conclusions: The high number of known invertebrate folk taxa suggests that it would be worth conducting further investigations in other areas of Europe.

Joint study with the Union of Biodiversity Organizations on the marine invertebrates of Bigeumdo (Is.), Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do was conducted over 3 sessions between March and September of 2011. Compared to the 2nd National Natural Environment Survey of 2000 (Ministry of Environment), 28 new species, including 10 mollusk species, were additionally observed, for a total of 71 marine invertebrates species belonging to 43 families. A list of 117 species belonging to 58 families, which includes the 71 marine invertebrates species observed during the study and the 88 species reported in the 2nd National Natural Environment Survey, was used to create an inventory of marine invertebrates studied in Bigeumdo (Is.), Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do.

In Poland eleven stygobitic species have been found, whereas in Central Europe their number reached 23 species. Lumbriculidae are represented by 10 species, Enchytraeidae by seven, Naididae by three, whereas Dorydrilidae and Lumbricidae by two and singular species, respectively. Some species are known from Central Europe exclusively, but majority of them have wider distribution.

BackgroundBiogeographical and macroecological principles are derived from patterns of distribution in large organisms, whereas microscopic ones have often been considered uninteresting, because of their supposed wide distribution. Here, after reporting the results of an intensive faunistic survey of marine microscopic animals (meiofauna) in Northern Sardinia, we test for the effect of body size, dispersal ability, and habitat features on the patterns of distribution of several groups.Methodology/principal findingsAs a dataset we use the results of a workshop held at La Maddalena (Sardinia, Italy) in September 2010, aimed at studying selected taxa of soft-bodied meiofauna (Acoela, Annelida, Gastrotricha, Nemertodermatida, Platyhelminthes and Rotifera), in conjunction with data on the same taxa obtained during a previous workshop hosted at Tjärnö (Western Sweden) in September 2007. Using linear mixed effects models and model averaging while accounting for sampling bias and potential pseudoreplication, we found evidence that: (1) meiofaunal groups with more restricted distribution are the ones with low dispersal potential; (2) meiofaunal groups with higher probability of finding new species for science are the ones with low dispersal potential; (3) the proportion of the global species pool of each meiofaunal group present in each area at the regional scale is negatively related to body size, and positively related to their occurrence in the endobenthic habitat.Conclusion/significanceOur macroecological analysis of meiofauna, in the framework of the ubiquity hypothesis for microscopic organisms, indicates that not only body size but mostly dispersal ability and also occurrence in the endobenthic habitat are important correlates of diversity for these understudied animals, with different importance at different spatial scales. Furthermore, since the Western Mediterranean is one of the best-studied areas in the world, the large number of undescribed species (37%) highlights that the census of marine meiofauna is still very far from being complete.

Invasive plants generally have fewer aboveground pathogens and viruses in their introduced range than in their natural range, and they also have fewer pathogens than do similar plant species native to the introduced range. However, although plant abundance is strongly controlled by root herbivores and soil pathogens, there is very little knowledge on how invasive plants escape from belowground enemies. We therefore investigated if the general pattern for aboveground pathogens also applies to root-feeding nematodes and used the natural foredune grass Ammophila arenariaas a model. In the late 1800s, the European A. arenariawas introduced into southeast Australia (Tasmania), New Zealand, South Africa, and the west coast of the USA to be used for sand stabilization. In most of these regions, it has become a threat to native vegetation, because its excessive capacity to stabilize wind-blown sand has changed the geomorphology of coastal dunes. In stable dunes of most introduced regions, A. arenaria is more abundant and persists longer than in stabilized dunes of the natural range. We collected soil and root samples and used additional literature data to quantify the taxon richness of root-feeding nematodes on A.?arenaria in its natural range and collected samples from the four major regions where it has been introduced. In most introduced regions A. arenaria did not have fewer root-feeding nematode taxa than the average number in its natural range, and native plant species did not have more nematode taxa than the introduced species. However, in the introduced range native plants had more feeding-specialist nematode taxa than A. arenaria and major feeding specialists (the sedentary endoparasitic cyst and root knot nematodes) were not found on A. arenaria in the southern hemisphere. We conclude that invasiveness of A. arenaria correlates with escape from feeding specialist nematodes, so that the pattern of escape from root-feeding nematodes is more alike escape from aboveground insect herbivores than escape from aboveground pathogens and viruses. In the natural range of A. arenaria, the number of specialist-feeding nematode taxa declines towards the margins. Growth experiments are needed to determine the relationship between nematode taxon diversity, abundance, and invasiveness of A. arenaria. [KEYWORDS: Ammophila arenaria ; Ammophila breviligulata ; biotic resistance hypothesis ; enemy escape hypothesis ; feeding specialist ; invasive plant ; root herbivore ; soil pathogen]

Une population protegee d'ecrevisses a pattes blanches, Austropotamobius pallipes pallipes (Lereboullet), a ete etudiee entre 1995 et 1996. 1 511 ecrevisses ont ete collectees au cours de cette etude incluant des captures par nasse et a la main. 356 animaux excedaient la taille legale de capture -90 mm LT (Longueur Totale)-, representant 23,6% des captures. Les Captures Par Unite d'Effort (C.P.U.E.) sont comprises entre 1,2 en fevrier et 8,6 en octobre. Le sex ratio sur les captures est biaise en faveur des femelles (1:1,9). Les mâles sont dominants uniquement durant la periode froide ou la temperature de l'eau est inferieure a 10°C. La thelohaniose semble apparaitre de facon cyclique dans cette population avec de hauts taux d'ecrevisses infestees au cours des etes 1995 et 1996. Aucune ecrevisse infestee n'a ete trouvee entre janvier et mars. Les densites estimees sont comprises entre 4,4 et 2,2 adultes au metre carre. L'accouplement commence au milieu du mois de novembre ou la duree du jour est courte et ou la temperature de l'eau tombe en dessous de 10°C. Les femelles grainees ont une taille comprise entre 58,5 et 100,4 mm de LT. La moyenne du nombre d'oeufs pleopodaux baisse au cours de la periode d'incubation (moyenne = 55 oeufs par femelle en decembre a 30 oeufs en mai). Le maximum d'oeufs est de 85 pour une femelle (85 mm de LT) capturee en novembre. Au cours du debut du mois de mai, 40% des femelles echantillonnees ne portaient pas d'œuf. Tous ces resultats semblent montrer une surdensite d'ecrevisses dans cette population, des recommandations pour la reguler sont discutees.

This study was conducted to examine the benthic invertebrate fauna inhabiting in the subtidal zone in and around the islets of Namuseom and Bukhyeongjeseom off the coast of Busan by SCUBA diving in September 2013. As a consequence, it was confirmed that a total of 6 phyla, 14 classes, 20 orders, 46 families, and 73 species of zoobenthos inhabit in and around those islets. The total number of species surveyed by taxon during the study is 22 species of Arthropoda (30%), 20 species of Mollusca (27%), 15 species of Cnidaria (21%), 10 species of Echinodermata (14%), four species of Poridera (5%), and two species of Chordata.