Vital Caspian Graphics 2

Biodiversity in the Caspian Sea

Comb jelly ( Mnemiopsis leidyi ) abundance variation in the Caspian Sea

Total species in the Caspian Sea

V

V

V

Atyrau

b a

b a

b a

Listed species (Red Book)

Atyrau

o l g

o l g

Endemic species

Atyrau

o l g

m

m

m

E

E

E

Biota group

Alien species

a

a

a

Astrakhan

Astrakhan

Astrakhan

RUSSIA

RUSSIA

RUSSIA

KAZAKHSTAN

KAZAKHSTAN

KAZAKHSTAN

441

17

6

?

Phytoplankton

Aktau

Aktau

Aktau

Makhachkala

Makhachkala

Makhachkala

315

64+

7

10

Zooplankton

Derbent

Derbent

Derbent

380

190

12

20

Zoobenthos

133

54

17

27

Fishes

AZERBAIJAN

AZERBAIJAN

AZERBAIJAN

Turkmenbashi

Turkmenbashi

Turkmenbashi

Baku

Baku

Baku

k s

K u r

K u r

k s

k s

K u r

TURKMENISTAN

TURKMENISTAN

r a

TURKMENISTAN

r a

r a

A

a

a

a

A

A

Marine and land mammals

125

1

3

41

k

k

k

a

a

r

a

r

t

r

t

t

A

A

A

466

?

?

63

Birds

Rasht

Rasht

Rasht

Gorgan

Gorgan

Gorgan

N.B.: figures are estimates since the literature does not agree on values. Source: Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis for the Caspian Sea , Caspian Environment Programme, 2002.

IRAN

IRAN

IRAN

2000

2001

2002

Atyrau

Atyrau

V

Atyrau

o l g

a

Astrakhan

Astrakhan

Astrakhan

V

V

b a

b a

o l g

o l g

b a

m

m

E

E

m

E

RUSSIA

RUSSIA

RUSSIA

a

a

KAZAKHSTAN

KAZAKHSTAN

KAZAKHSTAN

Aktau

Aktau

Aktau

Makhachkala

Makhachkala

Makhachkala

Derbent

Derbent

Ice cover on the North Caspian

Derbent

km 2

AZERBAIJAN

AZERBAIJAN

AZERBAIJAN

Turkmenbashi

Turkmenbashi

Turkmenbashi

100 000

Baku

Baku

Baku

k s

K u r

k s

K u r

K u r

k s

TURKMENISTAN

r a

TURKMENISTAN

TURKMENISTAN

r a

r a

A

a

a

A

a

A

90 000

k

k

a

k

a

r

80 000

a

r

t

r

t

t

A

A

A

Rasht

Rasht

Rasht

70 000

Gorgan

Gorgan

Gorgan

60 000

IRAN

IRAN

IRAN

2003

2004

50 000

2005

0

200 km

40 000

the arrival of the North American comb jelly ( Mnemiopsis leidyi ). It was brought accidentally to the Caspian in the ballast water of oil tankers. A voracious feeder on zooplankton and fish larvae, it first arrived in the Black Sea in the early 1980s where it changed the whole ecosystem and contributed to the collapse of more than two dozen major fishing grounds. From there the comb jelly also invaded the Azov, Marmara and Aegean Seas and most recently the Caspian.

Specie abundance Number of individuals for cubic metre

30 000

Data not available

20 000

Source: CEP, Monitoring study of Beroe ovata and Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Southern Caspian Summer-Autumn 2005, personal communication with Igor Mitrofanov

500

10 000

250

100

50

10

0

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Sources: Kouraev, A., Comparison of historical and satellite derived data of the Northern Caspian ice cover, 2008.

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