ProjectPOPSIZE focuses on the comparison of the actual sizes and populations genetics of four species of coastal fish along European coast: two commercially exploited species (the sea breams Diplodus sargus and D. vulgaris, Sparidae) will be compared with two species that are not subject to fishing pressure (the sand-smelt Atherina presbyter, Atherinidae, and the shanny Lipophrys pholis, Blenniidae).
To develop an innovative approach that combines historical and contemporary data on the actual size of the study populations.
To compare the population structure obtained by two sets of temporally independent samples.
To contrast the current state with the one of at least one generation behind, under the assumption that the species commercially exploited must show a decrease in their effective size in the case of fishing.
POPSIZE gains additional relevance in a context where climate change and anthropogenic influences on ecosystems are quite concerning, providing great importance to the genetic biodiversity monitoring and to the prediction of changes in allele frequencies and in Ne, either for contexts of conservation or fisheries management.
All project particpantsSara Francisco, MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA Instituto Universitário, Portugal
Halvor Knutsen, Institute of Marine Research , Norway
Per-Erik Jorde, University of Oslo, Norway
Joana Robalo, MARE-ISPA, Portugal
Ana Pereira, MARE-ISPA, Portugal