Project: Ecological interactions of cryptic amphipod species in their Carpathian contact zone
Research group: Petrusek
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Deadline is closed
Molecular studies have revealed an enormous cryptic diversity in many presumably widespread taxa of the freshwater crustacean group Amphipoda. In fact, all common members of the genus Gammarus in European inland waters are apparently species complexes, which often comprise narrowly endemic evolutionary lineages. We have recently revealed a substantial diversity of the Gammarus fossarum complex in the Western Carpathians (in Slovakia and eastern Czechia), with multiple lineages apparently distributed in a mosaic fashion. A focused study in regions where these get into contact confirmed that syntopic presence of two or more lineages at the same place is not uncommon. Considering that these gammarids seem ecologically very similar despite their long evolutionary isolation (often >10 My), it is of interest to evaluate how they interact in syntopy, whether this coexistence is stable in time, and what mechanisms allow it. The proposed PhD project should contribute to answer these questions in small streams in eastern Czechia and calcareous spring fens in the Carpathians by combining multiple approaches, including, e.g., screening of small-scale distribution of lineages within specific habitats by molecular methods, evaluation of local environmental characteristics, stable isotope analyses to assess tropic position, and experiments directly testing interactions of selected lineages.
Deadline is closed