Institut d'Ecologia Aquàtica: Recent submissions
Now showing items 1-20 of 55
Decoding the enigma of Lophocladia: exploring its invasive behavior and the ecological implications
The synergy between climate change and biological invasions presents a significant threat to ecosystems worldwide. In the Mediterranean Sea, the proliferation of invasive species has surged since the early 20th century, ...
Conservation biology of the Spanish toothcarp (Aphanius iberus): mechanisms of coexistence with eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)
Inland waters are amongst the most diverse and impacted ecosystems globally, and they host many endangered taxa. Cyprinodontiforms are at the forefront of endangered freshwater fishes in Europe, with more than 80% of the ...
Variability in the health status and reproductive traits of European sardine stocks in the Mediterranean. Implications for fishery management
Small pelagic fish play an important ecological role mainly due to their contribution in transferring energy from low to higher trophic levels. Likewise, the capture of these species is in many cases an important nutritional ...
Hydrological alteration, critical swimming speed and life history in inland fish
Fresh waters are among the most biodiverse ecosystems globally but, at the same time, also the most threatened. Serious threats to freshwater ecosystems are, for example, habitat alteration, invasive alien species and ...
Conservation ecology of headwater streams: a case study from the Pyrenees
Pyrenean headwater streams are singular ecosystems with a particular seasonal pattern. They sustain a unique biodiversity especially sensitive to environmental change. Because of this, their ecosystem structure and function ...
Microbial communities responses in fluvial biofilms under metal stressed scenarios
This thesis shows how the metals of natural and anthropic origin change significantly the composition of the prokaryotic communities (mainly the composition of bacteria). The β-diversity is the most sensitive variable to ...
At the edge of aquatic systems: intermittent streambed microbial communities’ responses to hydrological alterations
Hydrological drought is a process of natural desiccation mainly due to large shortage of rainfall events. Reduced precipitations and prolonged droughts are spreading worldwide and threaten the integrity of aquatic ...
Metacommunities and biodiversity patterns in Mediterranean temporary ponds: the role of pond size, network connectivity and dispersal mode
We sampled the macrofaunal metacommunities in four networks of Mediterranean temporary ponds covering a wide range of pond sizes and different spatial extents. 1) In the smallest pond network, pond size was not related to ...
Towards the implementation of a biotechnology for biogas upgrading: role of bacteria in siloxane removal
Biogas is a highly recognized alternative to fossil fuels towards a sustainable energy production. Massive use of biogas depends on the removal of contaminants that may affect performance of processing equipment and energy ...
Resilience of aquatic metacommunities: implications for disturbance recovery
During the last years, there has been an increase in the number and intensity of disturbances, and their consequences related with global change, which have corroborated the already forecasted scenarios. One example are ...
Origin and fate of nitrite in model ecosystems: case studies in groundwater and constructed wetlands
Nitrogen pollution in water is common in our environment, especially in places affected by agriculture and livestock, industry or wastewater discharge areas. Ammonium and nitrate are the most common pollutants and can be ...
Reproductive and condition status of “cold water” marine fish: new insights from a changing environment
Exploited marine fish species with an affinity for cold waters inhabiting close to the warmer edge of their distribution area are exposed to stress caused by fishing and climate change. Three case studies of “cold water ...
Transport, distribution and fate of emerging contaminants in wastewater-receiving rivers under multiple stress conditions
The main aim of this thesis was to establish a link between the urban origin of chemical contamination (e.g. PhACs) and other stressors, particularly associated to water scarcity (Chapter 1, 2, and 3). Research has been ...
Estudio de la red trófica microbiana en lagunas someras: autotrofia versus heterotrofia
Autotrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms are two essential functional units in the microbial food web of aquatic ecosystems. They play a key role in nutrient cycling and carbon flow and influence the structure, composition ...
Arsenic and fluvial biofilms: biogeochemistry, toxicity and biotic interactions
Based on the current knowledge about biofilm ecotoxicology and arsenic biogeochemistry in freshwater ecosystems, this thesis studied, under realistic environmental concentrations, i) the role of benthic biofilms in the ...
Insights into the distribution and ecological role of members of the archaeal Phylum Bathyarchaeota. From the global to the local scale
The Phylum Bathyarchaeota is currently one of the most studied uncultured archaeal phyla. Bathyarchaeota are phylogenetically diverse, globally ubiquitous and especially abundant in marine subsurface sediments. Despite ...
Effects of global change on fish assemblages in Mediterranean streams
L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és de'explorar alguns aspectes de l'impacte humà sobre les poblacions de peixos i altres components dels ecosistemes fluvials Mediterranis de Catalunya. Es va mostrar com els peixos del Riu Llobregat ...
Diversity, dynamics and activity of Epsilonproteobacteria in a stratified karstic lake. Implications in carbon and sulfur cycles
This doctoral thesis studies the abundance, diversity, seasonal dynamics and activity of Epsilonproteobacteria in a meromictic basin of Lake Banyoles during three year cycles. We applied a complementary array of molecular ...
Influences of toxicants on freshwater biofilms and fish: from experimental approaches to statistical models
The main aims of this thesis are: i) to evaluate arsenic toxicity in two major, interacting components of the freshwater ecosystem, biofilm and fish, to provide information on environmentally realistic exposures and on ...
Where nitrite respiration meets electrotrophy: diversity studies and functional characterization of autotrophic bacterial isolates from bioelectrochemical system
Denitrifying biocathodes are used to treat nitrogen contaminated water resources. The present PhD dissertation have been characterized different bacterial families with a relevant role in denitrification process. Different ...
