Vladica M. Simic

University of Kragujevac

To elucidate the historical biogeography of a species, the patterns of population divergence must be understood, and the evolutionary history of the species must be accurately known. For brown trout ( Salmo trutta complex), estimating divergence times remains a challenge due to the lack of well-defined time calibration points and insufficient phylo...

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the population characteristics of spirlin, Alburnoides bipunctatus, in Serbia, since this small fish species is facing a severe decline in its abundance and its natural habitats in Europe. We investigated the spirlin population dynamics, including size, age structure, growth pattern, mortality, and ex...

The Lepenica River is the most important watercourse in the city of Kragujevac. Regardless of its importance, this river and its tributaries are extremely poorly investigated from a biological aspect. Only a few investigations were conducted from the end of the 20th century. After that, only physicochemical and microbiological parameters were monit...

Length–weight relationship give information on the condition and growth patterns of fish. This study reports length– weight relationships for Abramis brama (Linnaeus, 1758), Alburnus alburnus (Linnaeus, 1758), Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758), Cyprinus carpio (Linnaeus, 1758), Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus, 1758), Silurus glanis (Linnaeus, 1758), Ame...

Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) is a nonlinear dimension reduction technique based on manifold learning. It is specifically designed to achieve a balance between the global and local structure when embedding data points. We applied this method to morphometric features in populations of the noble crayfish, a freshwater species r...

This paper reports the accumulation of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in trout (Salmo trutta L.) sampled from rivers Raška and Studenica in Serbia, which are assumed to be free of pollutants. The presence of PTEs, essential elements and heavy metals, in aquatic ecosystems is usually a consequence of anthropogenic activities such as mining, agric...

This paper presents the feeding habits of specimens of the fish Alburnus alburnus (L.) that inhabit the Gruža and Gazivode reservoirs. The diets of 37 specimens from Gruža reservoir and 44 specimens from Gazivode reservoir were analyzed. The common bleak from Gazivode reservoir fed more diversely on eight different prey items, while six different p...

This paper is a synthetic overview of some of the threats, risks, and integrated water management elements in freshwater ecosystems. The paper provides some discussion of human needs and water conservation issues related to freshwater systems: (1) introduction and background; (2) water basics and natural cycles; (3) freshwater roles in human cultur...

This study examines the ecological sustainability of the Velika Morava River Basin (Serbia, Central Balkans) under modern conditions of multiple freshwater stressors, including climate change. The impact of stressors on the ecological services of the river basin is considered, including: drinking water, irrigation, recreation, tourism, ecotourism,...

This study examines the ecological sustainability of the Velika Morava River Basin (Serbia, Central Balkans) under modern conditions of multiple freshwater stressors, including climate change. The impact of stressors on the ecological services of the river basin is considered, including: drinking water, irrigation, recreation, tourism, ecotourism,...

Concentrations of Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, and Zn were detected in the muscle and gills of Prussian carp from three different freshwater ecosystems: isolated ponds and the South Morava River in Serbia, and Kopačko Lake in complex wetland ecosystem of the Kopački Rit Nature Reserve in Croatia. The main goals of the present...

European perch, Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758 and roach, Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus, 1758) are the most common species present in mesotrophic and eutrophic lakes throughout Europe. Their biomass, especially in juvenile stages, contributes the most to the fish production of these ecosystems. In Bovan Reservoir, these two species constitute the bul...

Wetland ecosystems are recognized to play a crucial role in the conservation of fish biodiversity. River-associated wetlands are characterized by a high diversity of fishes as they use that type of aquatic ecosystem as a refuge for breeding, feeding, and nesting purposes at one or the other stages of their life cycle. This chapter aims to present f...

Small lakes and ponds are among the most sensitive ecosystems, vulnerable to changes that have little or no effect on larger water bodies. Therefore this topic should be given more attention around the world. Anthropogenic impacts, which have been extensively researched in larger water bodies, have been barely examined in small lakes and ponds. Con...

The meniscus midges Dixella aestivallis (Meigen, 1818) was recorded for the first time on the territory of Serbia. This species was found in the Karamejdan Lake on the territory of the protected nature reserve Pešter plateau, the highest Karst plateau of the Balkan Peninsula. The larva of D. aestivalis was detected in a locality with well-developed...

The presence of microplastics (MPs) in the gastrointestinal tract, muscle, and whole-body samples of common bleak Alburnus alburnus L. from Gruža Reservoir (Central Serbia) was studied for the first time. Different protocols for MPs extraction were applied to determine the most efficient one. The study aimed to modify existing protocols to be cost-...

The extinction of species and the decline of biodiversity are the most severe global consequences of environmental threats. The decline of biodiversity is far greater in freshwater ecosystems than in the most threatened terrestrial ecosystems, and the most vulnerable are invertebrates, such as freshwater crayfish. Even one-third of freshwater crayf...

Batušinac ponds are situated in southeastern Serbia, near the Južna Morava River. In this study we compared benthic macroinvertebrate community structures of the river and three ponds located at contrasting distances from the river in order to assess the impact of the river proximity on benthic macroinvertebrate community structures in Batušinac po...

Concentrations of Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Sn, and Zn were detected in the muscle and gills of Prussian carp from three different freshwater ecosystems: isolated ponds and the South Morava River in Serbia, and Kopačko Lake in complex wetland ecosystem of the Kopački Rit Nature Reserve in Croatia. The main goals of the paper w...

Background The noble crayfish ( Astacus astacus ) is a native European species in decline, with a contracting range and diminishing populations and abundance. Previous studies revealed this species significant genetic diversity in the south-eastern Europe, with populations from the western and the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula being the mos...

Shallow lentic ecosystems (SLEs) encompass various waterbodies that represent a valuable source of freshwater biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services. They are distributed across different landscapes, and thus can be exposed to a wide range of simultaneous stressors. Zooplankton diversity has been recommended for assessing the wate...

Shallow lentic ecosystems (SLEs) encompass various waterbodies that represent a valuable source of freshwater biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services. They are distributed across different landscapes, and thus can be exposed to a wide range of simultaneous stressors. Zooplankton diversity has been recommended for assessing the wate...

There is a consensus that human activities affect biodiversity in pond ecosystems. However, the majority of studies have mainly focused on the direct effect of human activities on a single group, despite the fact that anthropogenically induced biodiversity loss in ecosystems occurs across multiple trophic levels and may depend on both altered habit...

The aim of this study was to investigate the diet of adult predatory fish (pikeperch, perch, pike, and catfish) that inhabit the Bovan reservoir and determine their impact on the ecological stability of the reservoir. The results showed that predators most often used planktivorous fish species in their diet, including bleak, roach, and perch. These...

The utilization of fish bioindicators has become of crucial importance for ecosystem contamination assessment. Bleak (Alburnus alburnus) is a widely distributed epipelagic fish species characterized as very active with fast metabolism which can lead to a high accumulation of pollutants in tissues. Bleak is easy to sample, identify in the field by m...

The noble crayfish is one of the three autochthonous species that inhabit the freshwater ecosystems of Serbia, along with stone and Danube crayfish. The noble crayfish has a complex historical and genetic status shaped by geological events, habitat loss, pollution, translocations, and reintroductions of both autochthonous and allochthonous crayfish...

Western vairone Telestes souffia (Risso, 1827) is a small-sized leuciscine species inhabiting rivers in Mediterranean, North and Black Sea drainages. Due to the lack of information on its occurrence in the waters of Serbia, there is a need for renewing knowledge about its geographical range. The new record of a population of T. souffia in Gračanica...

The objective of this study was to develop a successful freezing protocol for cryopreservation of Danube barbel sperm, and to identify the presence of different spermatozoa subpopulations. By testing different concentrations of different cryoprotectants, we determined that the use of 5% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) yielded the highest total motility o...

This study was carried out to identify the relations between macroinvertebrate communities and river basin specific (RBS) pollutants in the Danube River. The investigation was performed at 68 sites along 2,500 km of the Danube. Forward selection (FS), canonical correspondence analyses (CCA), the Spearman correlation coefficient (SC) and BIO-ENV ana...

While several studies have tested the effects of anthropogenic factors on specific taxa in ponds, the simultaneous effects of the overall anthropogenic pressure along the environmental gradient on the diversity of different groups of pond communities remain unknown. In this study, we evaluated the simultaneous effects of the overall intensity of hu...

Identifying the anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss in ponds is important since ponds serve as biodiversity “hot spots” within regions. Previous studies on ponds biodiversity were mainly focused on the effects of anthropogenic factors on specific community in ponds, leaving the effect of multiple stressors on several trophic levels unknown...

We conducted a comparative (2D landmark-based geometric and traditional) morphometric analysis on tadpoles at early developmental stages. Two species of brown frog ( Rana dalmatina and R. temporaria ) and the common toad ( Bufo bufo ) were involved, all raised in the laboratory from fertilized eggs collected in their natural habitat. Taxonomic iden...

The major objective of this study was to investigate the impact of wastewaters on the level of genotoxicity and the possible reflection of genotoxicity on the genetic variability in chub (Squalius cephalus) collected from the sites under different pollution pressures along the Sava River. To emphasize the impact of wastewaters, this study was carri...

The concentrations of 14 potentially toxic elements in freshwater and marine sardines from the Western Balkan Peninsula were determined. In Prespa Lake, a natural lake, the concentrations of toxic Pb and Cd were above the maximum permissible concentrations in freshwater sardines. The As concentrations were elevated in sardines from Boka Kotorska Ba...

In the present study, landmark-based geometric morphometrics was applied to compare and visualize the overall size and shape variation, sexual size and shape dimorphism of the species Barbus balcanicus Kotlík, Tsigenopoulos, Ráb & Berrebi from different fragmented localities. The body shape of the fish was significantly different both for sex and l...

The objective of this chapter is to present the data on aquatic macroinvertebrate communities along the Sava River, based on investigation performed during 2011 and 2012 at 12 sampling sites within the sector between Vrhovo (Slovenia) and Belgrade (confluence to the Danube). During our study 227 macroinvertebrate taxa were recorded in the Sava Rive...

The spread of alien crustaceans has significantly contributed to the homogenization of macroinvertebrate fauna of European freshwaters. However, little is known about alien Peracarida crustaceans of the Sava River, which represents the most important corridor for the spread of invasive species into Dinaric rivers with highly endemic fauna. In this...

The chironomid community in non-wadeable lotic systems was tested as a source of information in the construction of biological metrics which could be used into the bioassessment protocols of large rivers. In order to achieve this, we simultaneously patterned the chironomid community structure and environmental factors along the catchment of the Dan...

The Velika Morava River is the greatest national Serbian river and the significant tributary of the Danube River. The major problems in the Velika Morava River Basin (VMRB) represent untreated industrial and municipal wastewaters. In this study, the level of genotoxic potential at the sites along the VMRB was evaluated by parallel in vitro and in s...

Community concordance within aquatic biota could provide useful information for improving the methods used in bioassessment and biodiversity conservation management. The main goal of the study was to investigate the mechanism of community concordance between macroinvertebrates and fish in a single river basin (South Morava river Basin, Serbia). In...

The taxonomic distinctness (Δ+) index has been recognized as a robust measure to assess human impacts on marine biodiversity. However, its applicability in freshwater ecosystems has still not been confirmed. We aimed to propose the most suitable data design for calculating the Δ+ index for application in assessing anthropogenically caused degradati...

The morphometric variation among several populations of Astacus astacus from different regions of the Balkan Peninsula was studied based on a large set of morphometric parameters per crayfish. Differences in morphometry among populations from ten water bodies in Serbia, Slovenia and Albania were tested using a multiple discriminant analysis. Analys...

The tench, Tinca tinca, is an endangered freshwater fish species in the Balkans. However, there are no management and conservation strategies developed for this species so far. In order to be able to develop such strategies, we first determined the phylogeographic identity of 70 tench individuals from four countries (Serbia, FYRO Macedonia, Hungary...

Freshwater mussels of the Order Unionida provide important ecosystem functions and services, yet many of their populations are in decline. We comprehensively review the status of the 16 currently recognized species in Europe, collating for the first time their life-history traits, distribution, conservation status, habitat preferences, and main thr...

In this study we have performed a comprehensive genotoxicological survey along the 900 rkm of the Sava River. In total, 12 sites were chosen in compliance with the goals of GLOBAQUA project dealing with the effects of multiple stressors on biodiversity and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The genotoxic potential was assessed using a complex batte...

In this study a comprehensive genotoxicological survey throughout the upper and middle stretches of Adige river basin is presented. The study was carried out at 7 sites located along the Adige main course and one the most significant tributaries, the Noce creek, both presenting different levels of pollution pressure. To give an insight into the nat...

The performance of both adsorption and heterogeneous photo-Fenton processes, combined for the first time for the treatment of a real winery wastewater (WW), was evaluated under different operational conditions. A Portuguese natural Ca-smectite (Ca-Sm) was applied in both processes, however, with different purposes: (1) as an adsorbent, which reveal...

One of the main challenges in selecting suitable biological indicators of environmental degradation is to recognize the stressor-specific response signal and to separate it from the natural background variability, which can be accomplished by setting an appropriate statistical design, with an output that enables understanding of the recorded indica...

A conservation strategy for crayfish from the Astacidae family was developed for the populations inhabiting the aquatic ecosystems of the Central Balkans (territories of Serbia and Montenegro). The strategy, based upon the ESHIPPO crayfish model, uses the Ecological Specialization of taxa, the factors endangering the biodiversity (HIPPO: Habitat al...

Diet of adult pikeperch Sander lucioperca, Eurasian perch Perca fluviatilis, northern pike Esox lucius and European catfish Silurus glanis as top predators in aquatic ecosystems in Serbia was investigated during 2011, in order to understand their relationship to their prey and to investigate their food consumption, feeding and assimilation rate, ca...

The aim of this chapter is to provide the overview of the water status, state of the biological diversity, and protected areas along the Sava River as well as to underline the necessity of identification and implementation of effective conservation measures. The chapter is based on historical data on environment and recent investigation on macroinv...

Cryopreservation protocols for tench sperm are scarce, the aim of this study was to test the effect of application of two different cryoprotectants (methanol and DMSO) in different concentrations (5%, 10% and 15%) and in combination with a sugar-based extender on motility parameters and fertilization success, as well as post-thaw storage of cryopre...

On the survey of the recent records, the fish and lamprey fauna of the River Sava catchment consists of 74 species, 15 of which being considered alien. The indigenous species diversity, explained using the relation N¼0. 546 A0.232, fits well into the range common for large catchments in Europe. Both taxonomic and ecological diversity, as well as th...

Fish assemblages have been widely used as ecological indicators for assessing the level of environmental degradation and ecosystem health. Environmental disturbances affect the aquatic community structure in terms of abundance and biomass. Therefore, we tested the utility of abundance/biomass comparison (ABC) method, originally developed for marine...

Experiments were carried out to develop an optimal cryopreservation protocol for tench sperm by testing the fertilizing capacity and motility parameters including progressive motility, curvilinear velocity (VCL) and linearity (LIN) of cryopreserved sperm. Three experiments were designed to this aim: first experiment where we tested the effects of t...

The objective of this chapter is to present the data on aquatic macroinvertebrate communities along the Sava River, based on investigation performed during 2011 and 2012 at 12 sampling sites within the sector between Vrhovo (Slovenia) and Belgrade (confluence to the Danube). During our study 227 macroinvertebrate taxa were recorded in the Sava Rive...

The aim of this study is to present the distribution of aquatic molluscs along a 2600 km long stretch of the Danube River based on information obtained during the Second Joint Danube Survey (JDS2) in 2007. The collected data are used to validate the abiotic typology of the Danube River and to determine the extent of variations in mollusc richness a...

Twenty non-indigenous fish species were recorded in the Danube River. The manner of their introduction, vectors, pathways, as well as invasive status are discussed. The major modes of introduction and translocation were found to be aquaculture and fish stocking. The main environmental consequences of the spread of alien fish are related to changes...

Recently, dispersion of invasive species became an important theme, since the man-aided outspread of the organisms was recognized as one of the major threats to the biodiversity. Aquatic biotopes are, due to its unique features, among the most disposed ecosystems to this kind of disturbance. Non-indigenous species of different origin were found amo...

The diet of adult Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) as one of top predators in aquatic ecosystems in Serbia was investigated during 2011, in order to contribute to the knowledge on the food and habitat preference and cannibalism rate of this common and abundant species. Eurasian perch were collected in three reservoirs in Serbia. Fish was found to...

Diversity of the fish species important for fishery on the territory of Serbia has changed both spatially and temporally. Temporal changes are connected with historical and anthropogenic factors, while spatial changes are mostly the results of anthropogenic activity. Based on the analysis of the "BAES-ex situ" national database, there are two tempo...

Within the scope of a research project on decapod crustaceans in Montenegrin aquatic ecosystems, a population of white-clawed crayfish of the Austropotamobius pallipes/italicus species complex has been recorded for the first time. Based on an analysis of morphometric and genetic parameters, it has been established that Austropotamobius italicus (Fa...

Results of the investigation of the aquatic macroinvertebrate fauna along a 504 km stretch of the Danube River in Serbia are presented. A total of 74 macroinvertebrate taxa were observed during a 2001 survey. Oligochaeta and Mollusca were the principal components of the community with regard to species richness and abundance. Based on data on the q...

In autumn 2006 the first observations of the West Atlantic comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi in Northern Europe were reported from the North Sea, the Skagerrak and the southwestern Baltic Sea. Here we report on the further spread of this invasive ctenophore from the southwestern towards the central Baltic Sea up to the south eastern Gotland Basin during...

The paper presents work carried out with the objective of the implementation of the European Union Water Framework Directive. The data on communities of water organisms, together with the abiotic parameters, are used to define the typology, the type of specifically reference conditions and the ecological status index, which present a basis for esta...