Exotic herbivorous fish in Mediterranean ecosystems: biological causes and ecological consequences of an ongoing invasion

Mediterranean coastal ecosystems are facing an ongoing invasion by exotic herbivorous fishes from genus Siganus, which tend to exclude the only native herbivorous species (Sarpa salpa) and to overgraze on macrophytes.

EXOSFIHMED project aims to answer to 2 main questions:

1) what are the factors explaining the success of exotic herbivores to the expense of the native species ?

2) what are the consequences of this species turnover for ecosystem functioning ?

To answer these questions our team will lead a multidisciplinary approach to compare biological attributes and ecological roles of native and exotic herbivorous fishes.

 

The project is funded by the French National Agency for Research (ANR) for 3 years (2018-2021).