Template for Submission of Information, including Traditional Knowledge, to Describe Areas Meeting Scientific Criteria for Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas Abstract (in less than 150 words) Eastern Gulf of Finland (the Baltic Sea) (~9300 square kilometers of Russian territorial waters1) kilometers is characterized remarkable salinity gradient from the brackish conditions on the west to freshwater conditions in the east. This area includes variable habitats including open sea, indented bays in north and open bays in south, several archipelagoes and outer part of Neva Bay Estuary. Aquatic flora and fauna of this region are transitional from brackish to freshwater. Eastern part of the Gulf of Finland provides suitable conditions for populations of grey and ringed seals. It is also important as bottleneck stopover site for spring and autumn bird migrations. Several species of endangered waders and waterfowl are nesting on islands and at coastline. The region is under significant pressure from shipping and presence of St.Petersburg, the largest city in the Baltic Sea Region. Introduction The proposed area is located in the easternmost part of the Gulf of Finland (see the location map below) including the water area around several archipelagoes, particularly outer islands of east Gulf of Finland (Gogland, greater and smaller Tuters, Moschny etc., Gulf of Vyborg, Beryozovie islands and Bjorkesund strait. On the east the area is bordered by the Dam of St.Petersburg (Saint Petersburg Flood Prevention Facility Complex). The depth range varies from 50m average (70m maximum) in the west near Gogland Island, 15-30 m in the central part and 5-15 meters on the east. Salinity in the lower brackish part of Neva Estuary ranges from 1.5-3.0 ppm in the East to 3-8 ppm in the West. The whole area is significantly influenced by Neva river in terms of water quality and salinity, since it is a major contributor of fresh water in the Baltic Sea. Also Neva river is among the most important sources of pollution for Gulf of Finland (Golubkov, 2009). Location (Indicate the geographic location of the area/feature. This should include a location map.) 1 This area could be and is recommended to be enlarged westwards if Estonia and Finland would agree. EBSA – Northeast part of the Gulf of Finland (the Balic Sea) – DRAFT proposal by Baltic Fund for Nature (RUS) 1 Feature description of the proposed area (This should include information about the characteristics of the feature to be proposed, e.g. in terms of physical description (water column feature, benthic feature, or both), biological communities, role in ecosystem function, and then refer to the data/information that is available to support the proposal and whether models are available in the absence of data. This needs to be supported where possible with maps, models, reference to analysis, or the level of research in the area) Water column and planktonic communities Nonindigenous cladoceran Cercopagis pengoi contributes to nearly 30% of zooplankton biomass in eastern Gulf of Finland in summer, while cyanobacteria Planktothrix agardhii represents the most of summer phytoplankton (Orlova et al., 2006; Nikulina & Gubelit, 2011). The invasion of Cercopagis had negatively affected the abundance of native species Eutytemora affinis (Lehtiniemi & Gorokhova, 2008). The competition between the native and invasive cladoceran species and increase in cyanobacterial blooms caused the triple increase in primary production since 1980s, but significant decrease in production of zooplanknon in eastern Gulf of Finland (Golubkov et al., 2010). Benthic communities The invertebrate fauna of the East Gulf of Finland’s subtidal and intertidal communities consist of ca.130 taxa (Baluskhina & Golubkov 2010). Dynamics of deep-water communities of the proposed area is generally attributed to recurrent influxes of saline water masses from the west, while the nearshore shallow communities in the east are significantly affected by costal infrastructure development of Port of St.Petersburg. In recent decades benthic communities in Eastern Gulf of Finland experienced significant change due to establishment of several non-indigenous species (Orlova et al., 2006). Highest biomass in the deep-water communities was recorded in Koporye Bay at 13 m depth (~60 g×m-2) and was mainly formed by dense assemblage of the Baltic clam, Macoma balthica. The average biomass in the eastern part, near the Kotlin island located in the mouth of Neva bay is ~22 g×m-2 (Maximov, 2010). Until the year of 2008, benthic communities located below the 5m isobath were dominated by complex of Arctic estuarine arthropods, Monoporeia affinis, Corophium volutator and Saduria entomon (Maximov, 2000; Berezina & Maximov, 2015). From year of 2009 and onwards, a spionid polychaetes Marenzelleria arctica became the dominant species in benthic communities of most part of eastern part of the Gulf of Finland (Maximov, 2010; Golubkov et al., 2010). The shallow-water communities of Eastern Gulf of Finland feature a group of species tolerating strong temporal salinity variation. The total diversity of amphipods in the eastern Gulf of Finland consists of 10 species, of which four are invasive, originating from Lake Baikal (Gmelinoides facsiatus) and Ponto-Caspian region (Berezina & Maximov, 2015). The coastal macroalgae in the freshwater part of the eastern Gulf of Finland are presented by Cladophora glomerata and Ulva intestinalis, but westwards where salinity exceeds 2 ppm, marine species Ceramium sp. and Pylaiella littoralis appears in the community (Nikulina & Gubelit, 2011). Brown algae Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus radicans occurs in nearshore communities at outer islands, and these easternmost range edge populations are consisted both of clones and uniques in contrast with the inner part of Bothnian Bay, where most of Fucus thalli were found to be clones (Ardehed et al., 2016). Birds and seals at reefs, islands and coasts of the East Gulf of Finland Remote Outer islands of Eastern Gulf of Finland, Beryozovie islands and the coastline of Kurgalskiy Peninsula are important stopover and nesting sites for migratory species of migratory birds and especially waterfowl. The bird fauna of Kurgalskiy Peninsula include 250 species with 180 species nesting on site. One of the key species in Kurgalskiy is dunlin, which is quite rare in the region. The Gulf of Vyborg, Beryozovie islands and Kurgalskiy peninsula are important sites for white-tailed eagle Haliaeetus albicilla and osprey Pandion haliaetus. Every spring these areas attract huge numbers of ducks, of which the highest densities are: 4 millions of long-tailed ducks Clangula hyemalis, 2 millions of common scoters Melanitta nigra, 10 thousands of greater scaups Aythya marila and 30 thousands of velvet scoters Melanitta fusca. 180 thousands of brent geese Branta bernicla and EBSA – Northeast part of the Gulf of Finland (the Balic Sea) – DRAFT proposal by Baltic Fund for Nature (RUS) 2 70 thousands of barnacle geese Branta leucopsis makes a migratory stop in Gulf of Vyborg. The spring number of migrating Bewick’s swans Cygnus bewickii at several sites across the eastern Gulf of Finland was estimated as ~7000 individuals in total, and abundance of whooper swans Cygnus cygnus was estimated as ~3000 individuals. Common eiders Somateria mollissima are not a key species of ducks in the region, but nearly 150 pairs are nesting at Outer islands. Among the rare and vulnerable species in the eastern Gulf of Finland are Steller’s eider Polystica stelleri (500 individuals in spring), lesser white-fronted goose Anser erythropus (10-20 birds), red-breasted goose Branta ruficollis (single occurrences), smew Mergellus albellus (several hundreds) and others (All abundance estimates in this paragraph are from Buzun, 2015). Seals are common on Outer islands, Beryozovie islands and Kurgalskiy Peninsula. The total count of grey seals Halichoerus grypus at Kurgalskiy Peninsula is estimated as ~400 individuals. The total size of Baltic ringed seal Phoca hispida bothnica population in the eastern Gulf of Finland was estimated as ~300 individuals in 2004, with main breeding grounds located at Beryozovie islands (Verevkin & Sagitov, 2004). Feature condition and future outlook of the proposed area (Description of the current condition of the area – is this static, declining, improving, what are the particular vulnerabilities? Any planned research/programmes/investigations?) Until the new sewage treatment plants in St.Petersburg were constructed, the Gulf of Finland receive annually ca. 140 000 t of nitrogen of which 70% enters to the easternmost part. Mass balance calculations indicate that on average 5 g N m−2 a −1 is denitrified in this area. Currently, after the South-western and other minor sewage treatment plants were constructed, the 85% of sewage is treated (Gran, Biological, & and of , 1999). Establishment of permanent populations of aquatic invasive species is another feature of marine ecosystem of eastern Gulf of Finland. While invasive species are commonly recognized as threat to indigenous ecosystems, in this particular region their role is currently unpredictable (Orlova et al., 2006; Golubkov et al., 2010). Assessment of the area against CBD EBSA Criteria (Discuss the area in relation to each of the CBD criteria and relate the best available information. Note that a proposed area for EBSA description may qualify on the basis of one or more of the criteria, and that the polygons of the EBSA need not be defined with exact precision. And modeling may be used to estimate the presence of EBSA attributes. Please note where there are significant information gaps) CBD EBSA Description Ranking of criterion relevance Criteria (Annex I to decision IX/20) (please mark one column with an X) (Annex I to No Low Medi High decision informat um IX/20) ion Uniqueness or Area contains either (i) unique (“the only one of X rarity its kind”), rare (occurs only in few locations) or endemic species, populations or communities, and/or (ii) unique, rare or distinct, habitats or ecosystems; and/or (iii) unique or unusual geomorphological or oceanographic features.