Application potential of autochthonous fish populations for biological control of dipteran nuisance species in flooding areas.

In this project, the conditions for native fish to be used as biological control in restored tidal marshes is investigated. Using native fish may not only be extremely cost-effective, improving the conditions will also improve restored flooding areas as habitats for fish at the same time. Information will be collected on the current distribution and habitat preferences of nuisance species and native fish communities in three flooding areas along the Scheldt estuary. The first is a flooding area which had very recent serious outbreaks of midges. This area is connected to a second and neighboring a third flooding area, which both have a different design as the first and which have no issues with outbreaks. The collected field information will be combined with experiments that look at which factors can help fish to eat more nuisance species and to create habitat suitability models. These are models that can be used to predict the risk of nuisance species outbreaks. They will also show the conditions that are important for fish in flooding areas. These models can be used to evaluate and potentially improve any of the flooding areas in Flanders and abroad. They will be made public to policymakers and project managers and companies involved in the construction and restoration of flooding areas to be used as a tool for controlling nuisance species and improving flooding areas for fish.

Keywords:WATER POLICY, ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION

Disciplines:Animal ecology

Project type:Collaboration project