Dissertation annotation
The Ponto-Caspian region is an evolutionary hotspot that harbours a globally unique and highly adaptable fauna. Due to human intervention, many of these species invaded inland waters throughout the Northern Hemisphere over the past century, causing significant ecological changes. Of these invasive species, amphipod crustaceans are the most numerous. Nevertheless, the functional ecological factors that promote invasion success are incompletely understood. Specifically, it is not known whether the invaders occupy the same ecological niche as the native species, or if the environment can influence the traits that promote invasion. The proposed project is rooted in a multidisciplinary framework that would combine field work, behavioural experiments, dietary analysis and functional morphology. The results would significantly improve our understanding of the factors that underline the higher competitiveness of invasive amphipods and could also help understand the chances for long-term survival of native Lithuanian species.