Periodic Reporting for period 4 - COMPLEX-FISH (Complex eco-evolutionary dynamics of aquatic ecosystems faced with human-induced and environmental stress)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-12-01 al 2024-08-31
Understanding how complex aquatic ecosystems function is vital for the conservation and management of species and natural resources. This project tackles the issue by developing mechanistic tools using which ecosystem functioning can be predicted under alternative scenarios regarding eg human use, climate change, fishing, and environmental alterations. The project objectives are two fold: the development of methodology and theory and their application to three aquatic study systems. Within the methodology development part, we developed a modelling tool that can be used to predict contemporary species evolution in an aquatic ecosystem context. This can develop understanding of evolutionary consequences of external drivers and species interactions. Namely, population collapses, lack of recovery from disturbances, and biodiversity loss are burning issues today. Their mitigation and appropriate management to restore natural populations will require understanding of the ecosystem functioning, as species exist within communities and ecosystems, not alone in isolation from other species. The objectives of the present project aimed to close this knowledge gap by improving understanding and predictive methodology of ecosystem structure and functioning in the context of aquatic ecosystems.
The main output of the project was the developed dynamically evolving food web model. Moreover, we tested its functioning in two simulated lake ecosystems and one marine ecosystem. Additionally, we developed methodology to randomly generate food webs to explore system responses across a broad range of food web types. The questions outlined above were investigated using the developed modelling techniques. Theoretical analyses were complemented with the analyses of empirical study systems, for which we solved their complex food web structures. Majority of the research outputs are published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and a few are still undergoing the revision process. The results have also been disseminated in international conferences and two new PhDs have been completed during the course of the project.
The project developed methodological tools to simulate evolution in aquatic food webs and, more generally, in food webs developed based on generating models. Two of such models were developed during the course of the project. While the initial aim was to mainly focus on the impacts of fishing on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of aquatic food webs, the project went beyond and applied the developed modelling tools to study species eco-evolutionary interactions in lake and marine ecosystems as well as to develop the theory of food web stability and the impacts of environmental forcing, species invasions and introductions as well as human impacts via fishing and stocking of reared fish larvae, thereby providing a comprehensive view of multiple stressors aquatic ecosystems are exposed to today. .