DIFIE · Direct and Indirect mechanisms of Fisheries-Induced Evolution
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2017-03-01 → 2019-02-28
- EU contribution
- €183,455
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Direct and Indirect mechanisms of Fisheries-Induced Evolution
Fisheries-induced evolution (FIE) represents one of the most important human-induced evolutionary pressures for natural populations. However, different potential mechanisms could be involved to alter the phenotypes of fish, but their relative roles have been overlooked so far. While FIE has mostly been studied in the context of life-history traits, fish physiology (e.g. metabolism or swimming performance) or behavior (e.g. activity level, risk taking or sociability) may also be under harvest-associated selection and if these traits are heritable, this could lead to direct evolutionary shifts within populations. On the other hand, intense fishing could also alter the environment of targeted species, for example by reducing the population density, which could constitute an indirect effect on phenotypes. There could also be density-dependent effects on the evolutionary response itself. A better understanding of the relative inputs of direct and indirect sources of FIE could substantially increase the prospects of sustainable management of fisheries. Therefore, the main aims of this project were to determine within a fish population how life history (growth, size), physiology, behavior and corresponding genotypes could be selected by the capture process, how they are heritable and to what extent the population density may affect their expression and genetic basis; and to document in heavily-fished populations over generations how harvest-associated selection, population density and their interaction modulate phenotypic expression and act as source of FIE. The results of the action provided novel insights into the determinants and outcomes of FIE, revealing possible evolutionary shift of a large variety of traits in natural populations, as well as the importance of density effects on evolutionary trajectories.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Fisheries-induced evolution (FIE) represents one of the most important human-induced evolutionary pressures for natural populations. However, the exact mechanisms by which FIE operates is still unclear. Fish may vary in their vulnerability to capture (because of their life history and/or physiology or behaviour) and undergo heritable genetic change due to selection imposed by commercial fishing, resulting in a direct evolutionary response. Alternatively intense fishing could alter the population density of targeted fish causing an indirect environmental effect on the phenotypes (i.e. phenotypic plasticity) within the remaining fish population. This could also lead to density-dependent effects on the evolutionary responses, through genotype-by-environment interactions. A better understanding of the relative roles of direct and indirect sources of FIE could thus substantially increase the prospects of sustainable fisheries management. Using controlled experiments and simulated fisheries practices, the aims of this project are: (1) to document phenotypic (i.e. physiological, behavioural and life-history traits) and genetic differences in fish the most and least vulnerable to fishing within a generation (representing their initial responses to fishing and their evolutionary potential); (2) to determine how population density may alter the expression of traits related to vulnerability ; and (3) to investigate, in populations that have experienced selective fishing over generations, how vulnerability, population density and their interaction modulate phenotypic variation as source of FIE. This project will use innovative approaches to investigate the mechanisms underlying FIE such as experimentally assessing population density as environmental effect relevant to FIE, and directly merging molecular and quantitative genetics. This will provide completely novel insights into the broad importance of density effects on evolution, while addressing a key issue for FIE research.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW · GlasgowCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union