<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Alongside natural factors, human activities have a major impact on the marine environment and thus influence processes in vulnerable ecosystems. The major purpose of this review is to summarise the current understanding as to how manmade factors influence the marine biocenosis of helminths, their intermediate hosts as well as seabirds as their final hosts. Moreover, it highlights current knowledge gaps regarding this ecosystem, which should be closed in order to gain a more complete understanding of these interactions. This work is primarily focused on helminths parasitizing seabirds of the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean.</p>
<p>The complex life cycles of seabird helminths may be impacted by fishing and aquaculture, as they interfere with the abundance of fish and seabird species, while the latter also affects the geographical distribution of intermediate hosts (marine bivalve and fish species), and may therefore alter the intertwined marine ecosystem. Increasing temperatures and seawater acidification as well as environmental pollutants may have negative or positive effects on different parts of this interactive ecosystem and may entail shifts in the abundance or regional distribution of parasites and/or intermediate and final hosts. Organic pollutants and trace elements may weaken the immune system of the hosting seabirds and hence affect the final host’s ability to control the endoparasites. On the other hand, in some cases helminths seem to function as a sink for trace elements resulting in decreased concentrations of heavy metals in birds’ tissues. Furthermore, this article also describes the role of helminths in mass mortality events amongst seabird populations, which beside natural causes (weather, viral and bacterial infections) have anthropogenous origin as well (e.g. oil spills, climate change, overfishing and environmental pollution).</p>
</abstract>

Alongside natural factors, human activities have a major impact on the marine environment and thus influence processes in vulnerable ecosystems. The major purpose of this review is to summarise the current understanding as to how manmade factors influence the marine biocenosis of helminths, their intermediate hosts as well as seabirds as their final hosts. Moreover, it highlights current knowledge gaps regarding this ecosystem, which should be closed in order to gain a more complete understanding of these interactions. This work is primarily focused on helminths parasitizing seabirds of the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean.
The complex life cycles of seabird helminths may be impacted by fishing and aquaculture, as they interfere with the abundance of fish and seabird species, while the latter also affects the geographical distribution of intermediate hosts (marine bivalve and fish species), and may therefore alter the intertwined marine ecosystem. Increasing temperatures and seawater acidification as well as environmental pollutants may have negative or positive effects on different parts of this interactive ecosystem and may entail shifts in the abundance or regional distribution of parasites and/or intermediate and final hosts. Organic pollutants and trace elements may weaken the immune system of the hosting seabirds and hence affect the final host’s ability to control the endoparasites. On the other hand, in some cases helminths seem to function as a sink for trace elements resulting in decreased concentrations of heavy metals in birds’ tissues. Furthermore, this article also describes the role of helminths in mass mortality events amongst seabird populations, which beside natural causes (weather, viral and bacterial infections) have anthropogenous origin as well (e.g. oil spills, climate change, overfishing and environmental pollution).

Impact of anthropogenous environmental factors on the marine ecosystem of trophically transmitted helminths and hosting seabirds: Focus on North Atlantic, North Sea, Baltic and the Arctic seas

Helminthologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Alongside natural factors, human activities have a major impact on the marine environment and thus influence processes in vulnerable ecosystems. The major...

Impact of anthropogenous environmental factors on the marine ecosystem of trophically transmitted helminths and hosting seabirds: Focus on North Atlantic, North Sea, Baltic and the Arctic seas

Article Category: Review

Published Online: Dec 31, 2023

Page range: 300 - 326

Received: Dec 31, 2022

Accepted: Sep 21, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2023-0034

Keywords
Helminths, seabirds, fisheries, aquaculture, climate change, seawater acidification, microplastic, organic pollutants, trace elements

© 2023 U. Schwantes et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Impact of anthropogenous environmental factors on the marine ecosystem of trophically transmitted helminths and hosting seabirds: Focus on North Atlantic, North Sea, Baltic and the Arctic seas

Article Category: Review

Published Online: Dec 31, 2023

Page range: 300 - 326

Received: Dec 31, 2022

Accepted: Sep 21, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/helm-2023-0034

KeywordsHelminths, seabirds, fisheries, aquaculture, climate change, seawater acidification, microplastic, organic pollutants, trace elements

© 2023 U. Schwantes et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Helminths, seabirds, fisheries, aquaculture, climate change, seawater acidification, microplastic, organic pollutants, trace elements