BSEP116B Biodiversity in the Baltic Sea - Helcom

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Breeding pairs 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 Species that have indicative value for characteristic population developments of birds in the Baltic Sea region are: • Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis): Representative of species that have recovered after being nearly extinct by persecution, and which benefit from eutrophication; • White-tailed eagle ( Haliaeetus albicilla): Representative of top-predators that have suffered from DDT and other chemical pollutants, and have a positive population trend after the ban on these substances; • Dunlin ( Calidris alpina): Representative of waders, which are declining in many regions of the Baltic Sea; • Barnacle goose ( Branta leucopsis): A new species which has recently occupied the Baltic Sea as a breeding area. Typical marine and coastal species include: • Sandwich tern ( Sterna sandvicensis): A species that has expanded its range to the Baltic Sea during the 20th century; representative of the group of typical coastal birds; 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 Total Denmark Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Schleswig-Holstein • Eider ( Somateria mollissima): A sea duck that has its main breeding sites at the coast; • Razorbill ( Alca torda): Representative of the auks; the Baltic Sea is a breeding area for the species, but also a wintering site for birds from the North Atlantic population. Species of worldwide concern for which the Baltic is of special importance are: • Steller’s eider ( Polysticta stelleri): Worldwide threatened species with globally impor tant wintering populations in the Baltic Sea; • Long-tailed duck ( Clangula hyemalis): The species has been the most numerous bird wintering in the Baltic Sea, but is now most likely rapidly decreasing in numbers. It is heavily affected by chronic oiling. Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) During the 19th century, the great cormorant was exterminated as a breeder in several Baltic countries. The persecution continued during the 20th century, and in the early 1960s the European breeding population of the continental subspecies sinensis had declined to 4 000 breeding pairs (bp), of which Germany and Poland hosted more than half. The species was successful in recolonizing Denmark in 1938 and Sweden in 1948. As a result of protection measures, breeding pair numbers started to increase during the 1970s. By 1981, the number in the Baltic Sea area had reached approximately 6 500 bp, and in 1991 already about 51 000 bp. 72 Figure 4.3.1. The population of the great cormorant in the western Baltic (Denmark and northern areas of Germany) has remained fairly stable since the mid-1990s. Breeding pairs 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 Figure 4.3.2. In the eastern Baltic, the cormorant population is still increasing (the total is the sum for Finland and Estonia). Data from SYKE 2008a and V. Lilleleth, pers. comm. 1995 1997 1999 2001 Total Finland Estonia 2003 2005 2007 Since about 1994, the population of the great cormorant has been fairly stable in the western part of the Baltic (Denmark and Germany, Figure 4.3.1), but breeding numbers have continued to increase in Poland (25 800 bp in 2006), Sweden (44 000 pairs in 2006), and the more recently colonized areas in the eastern Baltic. The expansion to former breeding areas in the eastern Baltic took place during the 1980s and 1990s. The cormorant started to breed in Estonia in 1983, in Lithuania in 1985, and in Finland in 1996 (Žydelis et al. 2002, SYKE 2008a, V. Lilleleth, pers. comm.). In addition to the strong population growth in Finland and Estonia (Figure 4.3.2), numbers are also increasing in the Russian part
of the Gulf of Finland (from 1 400 bp in 1994 to 3 800 in 2006), in Lithuania (from 900 bp in 1995 to 3 700 in 2006), and in Kaliningrad (from 120 bp in 1991 to 8 500 in 2005). No increase has been recorded in Latvia, where only 200–300 bp have been nesting since the mid-1990s. Population size 600000 500000 400000 300000 Flyway population Estonia spring population The total number of breeding pairs of great cormorants in the Baltic Sea littoral countries amounted to about 157 000 bp in 410 colonies in 2006, with almost 80% of the birds breeding in Denmark, Germany, Poland and Sweden 4 . All large colonies in the Baltic Sea area are located near to the coast. The largest colonies are found around the highly eutrophic estuaries of the large rivers: Vistula Lagoon (11 500 bp in 2006 in a colony on Vistula Spit, Poland), Odra lagoon (10 750 bp in 2006 in five colonies in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Poland), and Curonian Lagoon (11 300 bp in 2006 in two colonies on the Lithuanian and the Kaliningrad side of the lagoon). Some Baltic countries have initiated management actions to control breeding numbers in order to reduce conflicts with fisheries or to protect salmon smolts. These actions include oiling or pricking of eggs in ground-nesting colonies, scaring of birds attempting to found new colonies, and shooting of cormorants around fish ponds, lakes or fishing devices. Illegal persecution is also reported from several countries. 200000 100000 0 1958 1963 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 1998 2003 2008 Figure 4.3.3. Development of the flyway population and Estonian spring population of the barnacle goose 1959–2008 (Eichhorn et al. 2009). Number of breeding pairs 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 1971 Öland Gotland 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 Figure 4.3.4. Number of breeding pairs of barnacle goose in the main Baltic colonies on Gotland and Öland, Sweden. The first breeding pair in the Baltic Sea was recorded in 1971. Reductions in the number of breeding pairs in 2003 and 2006 are due to the presence of foxes on major breeding islands. 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) During past decades, the East Atlantic flyway population of barnacle geese, which consists of the Arctic Russian population, the temperate Baltic population and the temperate North Sea population, increased in numbers from about 20 000 birds in 1959/1960 to about 550 000 birds in 2005/2006 (Ganter et al. 1999, Eichhorn et al. 2009, Figure 4.3.3). Birds of the Russian population, which is by far the largest, use the Baltic Sea coast for foraging during spring and autumn migration. Birds belonging to the recently established Baltic population breed mainly in colonies along the coasts of Gotland and Öland in Sweden, Saaremaa in Estonia, and in southern Finland 4 Numbers include inland colonies; for Germany, only the Baltic Federal States Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig Holstein are considered, for Russia the St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad regions. (Larsson et al. 1988, Black et al. 2007, Mikkola- Roos et al. 2008). Smaller breeding colonies are also found in mainland Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. The Baltic breeding population was established naturally in 1971 on Laus holmar off the eastern coast of Gotland. During the 1970s, the colony increased in numbers and consisted of 125 bp in 1982. In 1981, the first breeding pair was observed at the coast of Saaremaa, and in 1982 the first breeding was recorded on Öland. During the 1990s, the number of colonies increased considerably along the coasts of Gotland, Öland, Saaremaa and southern Finland. In 2002, about 5 300 pairs bred on more than 20 different small islands off Gotland and Öland. Since then the overall number of breeding pairs has decreased owing to the presence of red foxes on some of the breeding islands in some years (Figure 4.3.4). In addition to fox 73
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Baltic Sea Environment Proceedings
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Published by: Helsinki Commission K
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TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE . . . . .
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6.6 Hazardous substances . . . . .
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1 INTRODUCTION 8 1.1 An integrated
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Box 1.1. Biodiversity The term biod
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of saline water from the North Sea
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14 On a global scale, marine ecosys
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Box 1.2. Regime shifts in the Balti
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2 MARINE LANDSCAPES AND HABITATS 18
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From an ecological point of view, a
Page 24 and 25: Box 2.1.2. The Baltic marine landsc
Page 26 and 27: • A coherent data set on benthic
Page 28 and 29: Denmark Estonia Finland Germany Lat
Page 30 and 31: Mud-sandflat, Greifswald Lagoon, Ge
Page 32 and 33: 3 COMMUNITIES Communities are assem
Page 34 and 35: 32 Spring bloom index 1200 1000 800
Page 36 and 37: 34 Unusual events and new species i
Page 38 and 39: 36 Depth limit (m) the Gulf of Both
Page 40 and 41: Number of species 16 14 12 10 8 6 4
Page 42 and 43: Figure 3.2.7. Left panel shows pred
Page 44 and 45: Implications for the Baltic Sea Act
Page 46 and 47: Biomass (wet weight, mg per m 2 ) B
Page 48 and 49: the other hand, is not selected by
Page 50 and 51: iomass can be used to assess enviro
Page 52 and 53: Average number of species 20 15 10
Page 54 and 55: 52 Macoma baltica where the influen
Page 56 and 57: the total BT identified for each ma
Page 58 and 59: Recruitment (thousands) 8000000 700
Page 60 and 61: Alien species Several alien fish sp
Page 62 and 63: 4 SPECIES The number of species in
Page 64 and 65: Table 4.1.1. Results of dedicated a
Page 66 and 67: Number of stranded porpoises 180 16
Page 68 and 69: is recommended to survey harbour po
Page 70 and 71: Number of individuals 12000 10000 8
Page 72 and 73: Mean blubber thickness (mm) 40 35 3
Page 76 and 77: predation on nests and nesting adul
Page 78 and 79: sites outside the Baltic, decreased
Page 80 and 81: Table 4.3.1. Development of the pop
Page 82 and 83: 80 Number of breeding pairs 3000 25
Page 84 and 85: The strategic goal of the BSAP to h
Page 86 and 87: for a given site or area. The secon
Page 88 and 89: Mussel bed reef community, Jasmund,
Page 90 and 91: Table 5.3. Assessment results of th
Page 92 and 93: Aerial photo of harbours seals (Pho
Page 94 and 95: 6 HUMAN PRESSURES ON BIODIVERSITY A
Page 96 and 97: Table 6.1.1. Catch range during the
Page 98 and 99: Baltic herring trawling, Bothnian B
Page 100 and 101: 6.1.3 Major international framework
Page 102 and 103: 100 Oil turnover (millions of tonne
Page 104 and 105: NOx emissions and sewage Macrophyte
Page 106 and 107: Communication links There are a num
Page 108 and 109: Figure 6.3.3. Left: concrete-stone
Page 110 and 111: ecommendations would contribute to
Page 112 and 113: Tourist fishing 110 cial fishery fo
Page 114 and 115: 112 Figure 6.5.1. Integrated classi
Page 116 and 117: can be considered as having been a
Page 118 and 119: Although no direct, dramatic mass m
Page 120 and 121: Bearing in mind the complex hydrogr
Page 122 and 123: Box 6.7.1. Invasion status of the B
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Table 6.7.1. Examples of ecological
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munities that formerly consisted of
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6.8.2 Activities generating noise i
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128 and fish in the Baltic Sea area
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800 700 600 bag of the two German B
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Fish swarm on kelp (Laminaria sp.)
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tion of ice cover, either through r
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7 STATUS OF THE NETWORK OF MARINE A
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Box 7.1. Natura 2000 network of pro
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25 20 on how the criteria on ecolog
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estrial, nearshore marine, and offs
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144 >30 psu 18-30 psu 11-18 psu 7.5
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Permission needed Restricted Forbid
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Figure 7.8.a. MARXAN ’best portfo
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The BSPA network is relatively well
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Mammals. Among the mammals, the pop
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154 taxonomic groups and communitie
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156 provided by an ecosystem. Use o
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158 Reduction of human pressures Wh
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160 fishing on fish population dyna
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162 Baden, S., Boström, C. (2001).
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164 Season 2001-2002. Acta Zoologic
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166 Gasiūnaitė, Z.R., Cardoso, A.
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168 HELCOM & OSPAR (2003): Joint HE
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170 ICES (2008c). Report of the Bal
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172 area: density-dependent effects
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174 Noer, H., Clausager, I., Asferg
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176 Scheffer M., Carpenter S.R., Fo
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178 by passive acoustic monitoring.
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180 Warzaw, Poland Vilhunen, Jarmo,
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182 6.7 Alien speices Authors: Lepp
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ANNEX III: CONSERVATION STATUS OF T
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ANNEX IV: HABITAT OR SPECIES DISTRI
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ANNEX V: STATUS OF BREEDING AND WIN
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BSEP116B Biodiversity in the Baltic Sea - Helcom

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