ESR01 - Quantification of fish response to multimodal signals

Host Institution: SOTON - University of Southampton 

Fish have significant economic, ecological and cultural value. Freshwater ecosystems are the most degraded of all environments, and as a consequence, freshwater fish are one of the most threatened groups of vertebrates on the planet. Human activity, such as river engineering for irrigation, electricity generation, and navigation, is a fundamental causal factor for the decline in many freshwater fish populations. However, we do not fully understand the mechanisms that explain how habitat modification, such as a disrupted hydrodynamic and acoustic environments, operate in isolation or in combination to negatively impact fish at the level of behaviour and physiology. This project will focus on adopting a reductionist approach to quantify how hydrodynamics and acoustics, in isolation and in combination, influence fish behaviour through acting on different sensory modalities.  Information obtained will not only enable conservation efforts to be advanced, but may also provide the stimuli needed to develop environmental impact mitigation technology (such as behavioural deterrents). An interdisciplinary team of fish biologists and engineers at the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences will develop a series of experiments that will use large-scale experimental facilities (flumes and tanks) to investigate fish behaviour in response to manipulated hydrodynamic and acoustic environments. 

Secondment period (to be confirmed): Expected duration: 4 months; Hosting institutions: EAUK (Environment Agency - Brighton, UK), KAU (Karlstad University - Karlstad, Sweden)