Paride Balzani

University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice · Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters

Numerous phytosanitary threats challenge global agriculture, ecosystems, and food security. These threats are exacerbated by non-native species and diseases that are projected to intensify in the future due to global warming and anthropogenic habitat alterations. Assessments of the ecological impacts of overlooked phytosanitary threats are urgently...

In recent decades, the population of European eel Anguilla anguilla has strongly declined and the stock is outside safe biological limits. Freshwater habitat degradation has been cited as a key causal factor in the European eel decline, but there are limited studies assessing the responses of this species to river habitat restoration efforts. This...

The phylogeography and demographical history of Italian Formica pratensis populations were examined and compared with the Eurasian-wide dataset available for this species and the other red wood ant species Formica lugubris . Forty-eight workers belonging to eight populations from both Alps and Apennines were analysed sequencing a 1.5-kilobase mitoc...

Among reptiles, turtles are the most frequently traded species, and are often released in the wild once they become unwanted as pets. The common snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina and the alligator snapping turtle Macrochelys temminckii are freshwater turtles native to North America. Although their trade is regulated in some countries, they have b...

Trophic interactions are a critical component of ecosystem stability, governing prey-predator relationships. Crayfish are involved in numerous interactions within freshwater communities and, when non-native, they can negatively impact the structure and dynamics of ecosystems. During biotic interactions or unsuccessful molts, they are able to autoto...

Numerous fish and crayfish species are invasive in freshwater ecosystems, where they interact. In this study, we performed two experiments to investigate adult three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus predation on early juvenile invasive crayfish in Europe. The first experiment focused on evaluating predation upon early juveniles of three in...

Rising global food demands have led to unprecedented aquaculture growth. Aquaculture has simultaneously become a major global pathway for biological invasions. Non-native farmed species, while highly productive, can undermine sustainability agendas because of their environmental and socio-economic damages when they escape. We analyse global non-nat...

Among reptiles, turtles are the most frequently traded species and often released in the wild once they become unwanted as pets. The common snapping turtle Chelydra serpentina and the alligator snapping turtle Macrochelys temminckii are freshwater turtles native to North America. Although their trade is regulated in some countries, they have been i...

The introduction of non-native fish species poses a significant threat to biodiversity. In Spain, the common carp Cyprinus carpio (Linnaeus, 1758) and the bleak Alburnus alburnus (Linnaeus, 1758) are both established and sometimes co-occurring non-native species. Here, we investigated the trophic ecology of these species using an integrative approa...

Habitat alterations and the introduction of non-native species have many ecological impacts, including biodiversity loss and a deterioration of ecosystem functioning. The effects of these combined stressors on the community trophic web and functional niche are, however, not completely clear. Here, we investigated how artificial ecosystems (i.e. res...

Stable isotopes serve as indispensable tools in a variety of scientific fields. The scale and breadth of stable isotope research within ecological studies vary from local, small-scale projects to expansive, large-scale research efforts. The absence of a unified European database for the integration and management of stable isotope data (e.g. from f...

Stable isotope analysis has been broadly used to study food webs, but often relies on inaccurate assumptions of trophic isotopic discriminations, which could lead to misinterpretation of obtained results. While many taxa exhibit similar trophic discrimination factors (TDFs), crayfish, exhibit omnivorous feeding strategies, yet TDFs are missing. In...

Long‐term biodiversity monitoring is crucial for freshwater ecosystems as it enables the detection of even subtle changes and biodiversity trends, guiding conservation efforts and ensuring the sustainability of these vital habitats. Despite becoming more commonly considered in the field of freshwater ecology and biological invasions, studies using...

Biological invasions have profound impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services, resulting in substantial economic and health costs estimated in the trillions of dollars. Preventing and managing biological invasions are vital for sustainable development, aligning with the goals of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference. Howeve...

Standardized terminology in science is important for clarity of interpretation and communication. In invasion science – a dynamic and rapidly evolving discipline – the proliferation of technical terminology has lacked a standardized framework for its development. The result is a convoluted and inconsistent usage of terminology, with various discrep...

Phytosanitary threats can pose substantial risks to global agriculture and ecological systems, affecting biodiversity, human well-being, and food security. Meanwhile, global warming is projected to exacerbate these threats in the future. One in Europe already widely distributed potential phytosanitary threat that may benefit from global warming is...

The zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha is one of the most successful, notorious, and detrimental aquatic invasive non-native species worldwide, having invaded Europe and North America while causing substantial ecological and socioeconomic impacts. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal trends in this species' invasion success using 178 macroinvert...

Invasive non-native species are a growing burden to economies worldwide. While domesticated animals (i.e., livestock, beasts of burden or pets) have enabled our ways of life and provide sustenance for countless individuals, they may cause substantial impacts when they escape or are released (i.e., become feral) and then become invasive with impacts...

The global threat posed by non-native species to biodiversity and freshwater ecosystems necessitates understanding their ecological impacts. The invasive North American channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque, 1818) is such a case, having been shown to not only have considerable impacts to native biodiversity, but also to expand its range....

Biological invasions pose a growing threat to ecosystems, biodiversity, and socio-economic interests. In the European Union, the introduction of non-native species through trade, tourism, and other pathways has led to unintended consequences. Among these non-native species, a subset exhibits negative impacts and is commonly referred to as ‘invasive...

Biological invasions, particularly of fish species, significantly threaten aquatic ecosystems. Among these invaders, the introduction of the European perch (Perca fluviatilis) can have particularly detrimental effects on native communities, affecting both ecosystem functioning and human well-being. In this study, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope...

Despite the potential ecological and economic impacts of invasive species, there is a dearth of data on the presence, impacts, and management implications of potentially invasive Orthoptera species. This lack of research and inconsistent data, including risk screenings and impact assessments, is especially evident in Europe. Consequently, assessing...

Standardized terminology in science is important for clarity of interpretation and communication. In invasion science — a dynamic and quickly evolving discipline — the rapid proliferation of technical terminology has lacked a standardized framework for its language development. The result is a convoluted and inconsistent usage of terminology, with...

Non-native species introductions have been acknowledged as one of the main drivers of freshwater biodiversity decline worldwide, compromising provided ecosystem services and functioning. Despite growing introduction numbers of non-native species, their impacts in conjunction with anthropogenic stressors remain poorly documented. To fill this gap, w...

Biological invasions are a global challenge that has received insufficient attention. Recently available cost syntheses have provided policy and decision makers with reliable and up-to-date information on the economic impacts of biological invasions, aiming to motivate effective management. The resultant InvaCost database is now publicly and freely...

The use of long-term datasets is crucial in ecology because it provides a comprehensive understanding of natural fluctuations, changes in ecosystems over extended periods of time, and robust comparisons across geographical scales. This information is critical in detecting and analysing trends and patterns in species populations, community dynamics,...

Background Non-native species can have significant negative impacts on the environment, economies, and amongst others, also human Non-native species can have significant negative impacts on the environment, economies, and human Non-native species can have significant negative impacts on the environment, economies, and human well-being, among other...

Background Biological invasions threaten the functioning of ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being by degrading ecosystem services and eliciting massive economic costs. The European Union has historically been a hub for cultural development and global trade, and thus, has extensive opportunities for the introduction and spread of alien spec...

Alternative methods to achieve sustainable agricultural production while reducing the use of chemical pesticides, such as biological control, are increasingly needed. The exploitation of trait-mediated indirect interactions (TMIIs), in which pests modify their behavior in response to some cues (e.g., pheromones and other semiochemicals) to avoid pr...

Invasive species are a significant threat to natural biodiversity and human well-being. Despite becoming more commonly considered in the field of biological invasion, studies using long-term time series from Türkiye`s freshwater resources have remained scarce. To fill this gap, we used nine time series from the highly anthropogenically-altered Lake...

The topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva is one of the worst invasive species worldwide and is considered to be highly plastic in terms of its phenotype but also behavioral ecology. Here, we analyzed the population structure and the morphological and dietary plasticity of four populations of P. parva across the four seasons within the Arno River ba...

The establishment of introduced fishes can be inhibited by the biotic resistance from species in the receiving environment, including strong consumptive resistance from specific piscivorous fishes. In response to predation pressure, prey fish population responses include predator-induced morphological changes, where an extreme example is seen in th...

Alien fish substantially impact aquatic communities. However, their effects on trait composition remain poorly understood, especially at large spatiotemporal scales. Here, we used long-term biomonitoring data (1984–2018) from 31 fish communities of the Rhine river in Germany to investigate compositional and functional changes over time. Average tot...

Background: Biological invasions threaten the functioning of ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being by degrading ecosystem services and eliciting massive economic costs. The European Union, as the world’s third-largest economy, has historically been a hub for cultural development and global trade, and thus, has extensive opportunities for t...

Biological invasions are a global challenge that has received insufficient attention. Recently available cost syntheses have provided policy and decision makers with reliable and up-to-date information on the economic impacts of invasive alien species, aiming to motivate effective management. The resultant InvaCost database is now publicly and free...

Identifying general patterns and trends underlying the impacts and dynamics of biological invasions has proven elusive for scientists. Recently, the impact curve was proposed as a means to predict temporal impacts of invasive alien species, characterised by a sigmoidal growth pattern with an initial exponential increase, followed by a subsequent ra...

1. Predatory fish species play a key role in aquatic ecosystems by exerting top-down control on the food web. Also, their intra-guild trophic interactions (i.e. competition) are crucial for the stability of the community. However, most studies focus on adult stages, while juveniles remain poorly studied, although their recruitment is the basis for...

In Europe, the meadow spittlebug Philaenus spumarius (L.) (Hemiptera Aphrophoridae) is the main vector of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa Wells et al., the etiological agent of the Olive Quick Decline Syndrome. The froth produced by spittlebug nymphs has a primary function in protecting the insect from dehydration and thermal stress. It is also ac...

Canals provide wide-ranging economic benefits, while also serving as corridors for the introduction and spread of aquatic alien species, potentially leading to negative ecological and economic impacts. However, to date, no comprehensive quantifications of the reported economic costs of these species have been done. Here, we used the InvaCost databa...

Ants are widespread in all terrestrial habitats, and competitive interactions between species are common. Although redistribution of food within a colony may buffer the negative effects of temporary resource shortages, colony functionality can be compromised when famine is prolonged. One of the possible effects of famine is impairment of the fighti...

The variation in the typical black-reddish color of red wood ants (Formica rufa group) has been recently suggested as a good indicator of habitat quality, being dependent on environmental conditions. However, the relative contribution of external factors and heritability in shaping this trait is poorly investigated. In this study, we compared the f...

Red wood ants are ecologically dominant species that affect the composition of the invertebrate community. In the past century, one of these species, Formica paralugubris (Seifert 1996), was introduced outside its native area (the Alps), in the Apennines (Italy). Here we investigated the effect of the presence of an introduced population of F. para...

Despite several restrictions to their use, neonicotinoid insecticides are still widely employed worldwide. Residual sub-lethal amounts of these chemicals can have detrimental effects on the behavior of non-target insects. Toxic effects on economically important species such as bees have been widely documented, but less is known about their toxic ac...

The Formica rufa group comprises several ant species which are collectively referred to as “red wood ants” and play key roles in boreal forest ecosystems, where they are ecologically dominant and greatly influence habitat dynamics. Owing to their intense predatory activity, some of these species are used as biocontrol agents against several forest...

Identifying general patterns and trends underlying biological invasion population dynamics and impacts has proven elusive for scientists. Recently, the impact curve was proposed as a means to predict impacts over time from invasive alien species, characterized by a sigmoidal growth pattern in cumulative abundances. While the impact curve has been e...

Species introductions are a major concern for ecosystem functioning, socio-economic wealth, and human well-being. Preventing introductions proved to be the most effective management strategy, and various tools such as species distribution models and risk assessment protocols have been developed or applied to this purpose. These approaches use infor...

Red wood ants (RWAs) are a group of keystone species widespread in temperate and boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere. Despite this, there is increasing evidence of local declines and extinctions. We reviewed the current protection status of RWAs throughout Europe and their International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threat class...

Invasive ants are amongst the most destructive and widespread invaders across the globe; they can strongly alter invaded ecosystems and are responsible for the loss of native ant species. Several studies have reported that invasive ants can also lead to substantial economic costs. In this study, we search, describe and analyse 1342 reported costs o...

As strategic transport infrastructures, canals provide wide-ranging economic benefits as well as save energy and reduce CO2 emissions. At the same time, by connecting previously biogeographically-isolated systems, they serve as corridors for the introduction and spread of aquatic alien species, potentially leading to unforeseen ecological and econo...

Metal pollution is one of the main environmental threats in freshwater ecosystems. Aquatic animals can accumulate these substances and transfer them across the food web, posing risks for both predators and humans. Accumulation patterns strongly vary depending on the location, species, and size (which in fish and crayfish is related to age) of indiv...

The massive use of plastic has contributed to huge quantities of hazardous refuse at a global scale and represents one of the most prominent issues of the Anthropocene. Microplastics (MPs) have been detected in almost all environments and pose a potential threat to a variety of plant and animal species. Many studies have reported a variety of effec...

The Formica rufa group comprises several ant species which are collectively referred to as "red wood ants" (hereafter RWA). These species have key roles in forest ecosystems, where they are ecologically dominant and greatly influence the dynamics of the habitat they colonise. Various studies have shown how their trophic activity may affect other or...

Red wood ants (RWA) are ecologically important keystone species that affect a multitude of taxa at different trophic levels. In the past century, some RWA species were used as biological control agents and exported outside their native range. One of these species is Formica paralugubris, which was transplanted from the Italian Alps to the Apennines...

Semi-natural grasslands are characterized by high biodiversity and require multifaceted approaches to monitor their biodiversity. Moreover, grasslands comprise a multitude of microhabitats, making the scale of investigation of fundamental importance. Despite their wide distribution, grasslands are highly threatened and are considered of high conser...

Red wood ants are ecologically important species in Europe that form large colonies. Their nest mounds are characterized by stable microclimatic conditions, that are favourable to the development of rich invertebrate and microbial communities. Through their respiration processes, all these inhabitants contribute to the total gas emissions of the mo...

Altitudinal gradients have been widely studied, especially on mountains, in order to investigate diversity patterns occurring among and within communities, on the basis of abiotic and biotic factors. Taking into account taxonomic diversity and functional diversity simultaneously is fundamental to shed light on the drivers that shape communities [3]...

Invasive fishes continue to adversely impact the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems globally. The effects of introduced populations may, however, differ according to key characteristics such as size, abundance, invaded habitat type, and community composition. Here, we conduct diet analyses to describe the feeding characteristics of the no...

Invasive species are one of the main threats to biodiversity worldwide and the processes enabling their establishment and persistence remain poorly understood. In generalist consumers, plasticity in diet and trophic niche may play a crucial role in invasion success. There is growing evidence that invasive ants, in particular, occupy lower trophic l...

Invasive ants are amongst the most destructive and widespread invaders across the globe; they can strongly alter invaded ecosystems and are responsible for the displacement of numerous native ant species. Several studies have reported that invasive ants can lead to substantial economic costs. In this study, we search, describe and analyze 1,621 rep...

1. Invaders affect native species across multiple trophic levels, influencing the structure and stability of freshwater communities. Based on the 'trophic position hypothesis', invaders at the top of the food web are more harmful to native species via direct and indirect effects than trophically analogous native predators are. 2. However, introduc...

Invasive alien fishes have detrimental ecological effects on aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide. Impacts from an invasion in a single ecosystem may differ across space and time due to variability in prey availability and environmental conditions. We hypothesize that such variability can be profound, even within a single ecosystem. Sta...

1. Different habitat types are generally associated with shifts in ant species and traits, and even along a micro‐scale woodland–grassland gradient, ant biodiversity may change at the edge proximities as a result of abiotic alterations. However, to the best of authors' knowledge, the changes in ant diversity along this type of gradient are understu...

The North American channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus has been introduced to several locations in Europe but has received little or no scientific study despite its invasive attributes, including prolific reproduction, tolerance to a wide range of conditions, opportunistic feeding, at least partial ‘predator release’, and some evidence of environme...

Invasive non-native species have pervasive impacts on native biodiversity, including population extirpations and species extinctions. Identifying reasons why a population of a native species is extirpated following an invasion often relies on literature-based results of anecdotal observations. The well-established schemes of existing risk assessmen...

Freshwater ecosystems are negatively impacted by various pollutants, from agricultural, urban and industrial wastewater, with metals being one of the largest concerns. Moreover, freshwater ecosystems are often affected by alien species introductions that can modify habitats and trophic relationships. Accordingly, the threat posed by metals interact...

Stable isotope analysis of animal tissues is commonly used to infer diet and trophic position. However, it requires destructive sampling. The analysis of carbon isotopes from exhaled CO2 is non‐invasive and can provide useful ecological information because isotopic CO2 signatures can reflect the diet and metabolism of an animal. However, this metho...

In the second half of the twentieth century, many red wood ant populations were transferred from the Alps to the Apennines as biological control agents. Since the introduction involved the relocation of entire nest mounds, it is presumable that the associated fauna was also relocated. While the introduction of these ants has raised several concerns...