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ESTUARINE ECOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS

Principal Investigator:
Carlos Antunes

The Estuarine Ecology and Biological Invasions Research Group (EEBI) aims understanding the functioning of aquatic ecosystems, through the development of fundamental and applied research. The group is also highly committed to increase the awareness of the general public, policy makers and environmental managers on the importance of biodiversity and its role on the functioning of ecosystems and their services.

Research lines:

  • Understanding the impact of anthropogenic activities on estuarine and freshwater ecosystems. This has relevance to species conservation and in evaluating their response to environmental stressors.
  • How different ecosystems (e.g. terrestrial, river and sea) connect with the estuaries, and how the connectivity strength of each neighboring ecosystem affects the energy flow through estuaries.
  • Studying the mechanisms that allow some invasive species to might change the functioning of ecosystems, and how these species might change the services provided by estuaries that benefit human’s activities.

TEAM

Publications Highlights

Martins, I., Ilarri, M., Dias, E., Campuzano, F. J., Pinto, L., Santos, M., Antunes, C. (2019). Antagonistic effects of multiple stressors on macroinvertebrate biomass from a temperate estuary (Minho estuary, NW Iberian Peninsula). Ecological Indicators 101: 792-803.

Ilarri, M. I., Amorim, L., Souza, A. T., Sousa, R. (2018). Physical legacy of freshwater bivalves: effects of habitat complexity on the taxonomical and functional diversity of invertebrates. Science of The Total Environment 634: 1398-1405.

Stratoudakis, Y., Oliveira, P. B., Teles-Machado, A., Oliveira, J. M., Correia, M. J., Antunes, C. (2018). Glass eel (Anguilla anguilla) recruitment to river Lis, central Portugal: ingress dynamics in relation to oceanographic processes in the western Iberian margin and shelf. Fisheries Oceanography 27(6): 536-547. 

Neves, V., Guedes, A., Valentim, B., Campos, J., Freitas, V. (2017). High incidence of otolith abnormality in juvenile European flounder Platichthys flesus from a tidal freshwater area. Marine Biology Research 13 (9): 933-941.

Dias, E., Morais, P., Cotter, A., Antunes, C., Hoffman, J. (2016). Estuarine consumers utilize marine, estuarine and terrestrial organic matter and provide connectivity among these food webs. Marine Ecology Progress Series 554:21-34.

Projects