Drastic changes of the amphipod fauna in northern Germany and the displacement of Gammarus lacustris G.O. Sars, 1864 to relict habitats/status

Abstract

The amphipod fauna of Central Europe has changed dramatically over the last century. This change has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. This dynamic is well documented in northeast Germany. This study places it in a landscape-ecological context. An example of a displacement is Gammarus lacustris G.O. Sars, 1864, a circumpolar species with a variety of habitats, but relegated to relic habitats. The species turns out to be a very weak competitor. Already with the immigration of Gammarus roeselii Gervais, 1835 (probably in the 1960s), it became a relic species in northeast Germany. Massive waves of introduction of Pontocaspian species of the genera Dikerogammarus, Pontogammarus and Echinogammarus a few decades later intensified this process for this and other species.