Central European flora and fauna is increasingly impacted by invasive species. In most cases invasions have been caused by humans, by release of alien species, the construction of pathways or human-induced environmental changes. We deal with migration patterns, ecological preferences of selected aquatic invasive species and their consequences of ecosystem structure and function.

A focus is on parasitic invasive species. Knowledge on non-native parasitic species is fragmented, despite their severe impact e.g. on fish production (e.g. Gyrodactylus salaris, Anguillicola crassus).

The eel parasite Anguillicola crassus invaded Europe in the 1980ths and is now distributed all of Europe. It has severe effects on the physiology of the European Eel, which likely affect the eel’s ability to migrate to the spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea.