Dr. Marc Ventura, coordinator of the LIFE RESQUE ALPYR project and researcher at the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), will participate in the Cladocera XII Conference, which will take place in Verbania (Italy) from October 6 to 12, 2024. On this occasion, he presents the results on the effects of invasive fish on the cladocerans of high mountain lakes and their recovery after the removal of the fish.

High mountain lakes, natural ecosystems that originally did not contain fish, have undergone drastic changes due to the introduction of non-native species, primarily trout and minnow. This introduction has caused significant predation of the native fauna, profoundly altering the ecological balance of these lakes.

The study that Dr. Ventura presents analyzes the impact of these introductions on cladocerans, such as Daphnia, in the high mountain lakes of the Alps and the Pyrenees. The results indicate that lakes with minnow have suffered a more severe impact on Daphnia populations.

As part of the conservation projects – LIFE BIOAQUAE, LIFE LIMNOPIRINEUS, and LIFE RESQUE ALPYR – both trout and minnow have been eliminated or are being eliminated from 32 high mountain lakes in the Catalan Pyrenees and the Italian Alps.

Preliminary evaluations show that Daphnia populations have recovered in most lakes where they were previously absent. Additionally, the eradication of minnow has been accompanied by an increase in species richness, as well as the appearance of planktonic species and those associated with macrophytes.

Throughout the congress, there will be a total of 65 oral presentations and 41 posters, as well as two keynote lectures. The contributions will cover a wide range of topics related to the biology of cladocerans, including our beloved Daphnia, as model organisms. Topics such as ecology, evolutionary biology, genomics, interaction with environment.