The scent of danger - predator-mediated shifts in benthic invertebrate community composition and genotypic diversity in multiply-stressed riverine ecosystems (A10)

• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426547801

A10 will employ ExStream systems in the Emscher/Boye catchment (degraded environment, nearly no fishes due to pollution history) and in the Kinzig catchment (near-natural environment, normal fish fauna) to compare the response of benthic invertebrates to fish cues and their interaction with stressors. Genotypic signatures of prey species relative to their predator avoidance behaviour will be used as response variables. Fish cues and the stressors temperature increase, salinity and re-duced flow will be used individually and in combination and will be compared to control conditions without stressor application.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1439: Multilevel response to stresser increase and release in stream ecosystems
• Applicant Institution: Universität Duisburg-Essen
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Ralph Tollrian