Evolutionary Ecology of Kerguelen Islands Colonization by Introduced Salmonids: SALMEVOL 1041-2 project
Abstract
The present report is a synthesis of all studies conducted around the long-term ecological research
(LTER) monitoring of introduced salmonid species in the sub Antarctic Kerguelen islands over the 2015-
2020 period, within the SALMEVOL-2 project. The monitoring encompasses the history of eight species,
five of which are still present in Kerguelen, the data and collections spanning five decades and tenths
of rivers. Based on this monitoring, but also thanks to various field experiments, we have undertaken
to study the evolutionary ecology of these species, using the invasive Brown trout as flagship model,
under the premise that the Kerguelen situation, where rivers were previously void of any fish species,
could be an anticipation lab of the situation developing at the poles due to climate change. Our
findings pertain to life history traits such as individual growth, migration between freshwater and
marine ecosystems, microbiomes, but also proximal and ultimate mechanisms of adaptation in relation
to the local environment. We also begin to investigate how the expanding metapopulation structure,
resulting from multiple invasion events, may affect life history traits evolution.
Origin : Files produced by the author(s)
