The low salinity in the non-tidal Baltic Sea excludes many species, including marine littorinoids. The only large gastropods that occur in substantial quantities in the central Baltic proper are the freshwater snails Lymnaea peregra (O.F. Müller) and Theodoxus fluviatilis (L.); both are known to consume filamentous green and brown algae. The main objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that freshwater snails can exert substantial grazing pressure on juvenile and regenerating Fucus vesiculosus populations in the Baltic Sea. In laboratory experiments, both snail species were able to graze on F. vesiculosus germlings up to a size of approximately 0.8 to 1.0 mm. During the study period (autumn 1996 and spring and summer 1997), the largest F. vesiculosus germlings of the cohorts settled in September and May reached approximately 1.0 mm at the same time (July). Thus, to reach the 'safe' size and escape grazing requires about 8 mo for germlings settling in autumn but only 1 mo for germlings settling in spring. The survival and growth rate of new fronds from regenerating F. vesiculosus holdfasts in outdoor tank experiments were higher than for sexually recruited juveniles. After 1 yr, 95% of the holdfasts had survived, and the mean length (±SE) of the largest frond on each holdfast was 12 ± 2 mm. Grazing by L. peregra or T. fluviatilis did not affect regeneration or frond growth. During a long-term field study (1991 to 1994), an average of 8.5 ± 0.7 T. fluviatilis ind. dm^-2 were found, with a maximum density of 40 ind. dm^-2 in September. During a 1 yr study (1996), the average density of L. peregra was comparatively low and varied from 0.5 ind. dm^-2 in April to 20 ind. dm^-2 in August. The higher density found in August (L. peregra) and in September (T. fluviatilis) suggests that both species may have a grazing impact during this time. We conclude that both T. fluviatilis and L. peregra have the capacity to graze on zygotes and germlings of F. vesiculosus until they reach a safe size of approximately 0.8 to 1.0 mm. Both snail species can occasionally reach abundances high enough to affect the recruitment of F. vesiculosus. Freshwater snails do not affect the regeneration from holdfasts. However, because the time for germlings settled in autumn to reach a safe size is much longer than for germlings settled in spring, it is possible that even a low snail density has an impact on recruitment in the field. This will, however, require verification because levels of grazing activity during different times of the year are unknown.

Diverse coastal seaweed communities dominated by perennial fucoids become replaced by species-poor turfs of annual algae throughout the Baltic Sea. A large scale field survey and factorial field experiments indicated that grazers maintain the fucoid cornmunity through selective consumption of annual algae. Interactive effects between grazers and dormant propagules of annual algae. stored in a 'marine seed bank', determine the response of this system to anthropogenic nutrient loading. Nutrients override grazer control and accelerate the loss of algal diversity in the presence but not in the absence of a propagule bank. This irnplies a novel role of propagule banks for community regulation and ecosystem response to manne eutrophication.

Partially due to the mass occurrence of the isopod Idotea baltica, the perennial fucoid vegetation in the Baltic Sea has been destroyed over large areas and replaced by filamentous algae. With a combination of field investigations and laboratory experiments, we tested whether I. baltica preferred Fucus serratus to the dominant red alga Polysiphonia fucoides. In the field, the I. baltica density was higher inside F. serratus than P. fucoides patches when measured per unit area, but the situation was reversed if measured per biomass algae. Diet in the field was well correlated with the distribution of the isopods. A large proportion of the isopod faecal pellets collected in the field contained remnants of microalgae, planktonic animals, and bacteria, but the dominating material was always cells from the actual host plant. In a host plant preference experiment, I. baltica distributed evenly between the two host plant types, but the isopods grazed more heavily on F. serratus. We conclude that although F. serratus is the preferred food item in a choice situation, P. fucoides appears to have the potential to support the I. baltica population with food and shelter. A possible relationship between the weak host plant preference and the low stocks of predatory fish is discussed.

The Fucus populations on rocky shores along 300 km of the coastal waters of southeast Sweden in the Baltic proper have been studied since 1984 at a number of fixed sites as part of monitoring programmes. This paper describes changes in distribution and abundance of F. vesiculosus and F. serratus during the period 1984–2001. Sheltered sites showed a consistent temporal and spatial pattern of Fucus spp. distribution over a coastline of 300 kilometres. The depth penetration and abundance of Fucus spp. increased during the 1980s. Around 1990 the development reversed as a consequence of grazing and in 1997 many sites were almost devoid of Fucus spp. Since 1998 both abundance and depth penetration have increased again, possibly as a result of local measures against eutrophication. Exposed sites, on the other hand, lost their Fucus populations at the beginning of the 1990s, and they have not recovered. Extended field studies lead us to deduce that the fixed sites referred to above were representative of the Fucus populations in the area investigated. Major declines, both at sheltered and exposed sites, are attributed to grazing by the isopod Idotea baltica. The populations of I. baltica may have been favoured by the continuing eutrophication of the Baltic, a series of mild winters in the 1990s, and a contemporary decline in some potential predators.