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| Project leader: |
Nina Marn |
| Project co-leader: |
Johan Petter Holme |
| Administering organization: |
Institute Rudjer Boskovic |
| Partner Institution/Company: |
Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) |
| Grant type: |
2A |
| Project title: |
Physiological adaptations of fish to a changing climate |
| Project summary: |
Adaptations to the ongoing climate change shape geographic and size distributions of fish, possibly driving some species or populations to extinction. This could endanger fisheries and aquaculture as major sources of dietary protein. How fish adapt to a changing climate is therefore critical to scientists and industry, and with extreme climate becoming more common, fast action is needed.
Successful physiological adaptations require metabolism to change with environmental conditions. Researching such adaptations experimentally poses practical, ethical, and financial constraints, and requires time to assemble large datasets. Mathematical modelling alleviates the need for long-term observations by using the general principles of physiological energetics and limited data to predict fish ontogenetic development. However, even limited data requirements are relatively high, and often unsatisfiable for longer-lived species. The only viable alternative is to turn to shorter-lived and fast-growing model organisms and subsequently extrapolate the results to longer-lived species.
Medaka are short-lived and fast-growing fish native to Japanese rice fields, and owing to exceptional resilience, are among the most used model organisms in science. Medaka’s range extends over 2500 km from north to south, meaning that various medaka populations have adapted to very different temperature conditions. All this makes medaka an ideal model organism for studying metabolic adaptations in the context of temperature acclimatization.
This project will analyse state-of-the-art data on three geographically distant medaka populations to unravel the said metabolic adaptations. Coupling the results with population dynamics will further reveal the consequences of such adaptations to whole populations. Particularly important will be implications for aquaculture production aimed at avoiding production losses in the face of a changing climate. The project should therefore be timely and relevant for Croatia as a major aquaculture producer, as well as a country where climate-change-driven temperature increases have already surpassed the 2-degree limit of the Paris Accord. |
| Hrvatski sažetak: |
Prilagođavajući se promjenama klime, mnoge vrste riba mijenjaju geografsku i veličinsku distribuciju, a neke vrste ili populacije korak su bliže izumiranju. Ovo bi se moglo negativno odraziti na ribarstvo i ribogojstvo (akvakulturu) koji su bitni izvori proteina. Način na koji se ribe prilagođavaju klimatskim promjenama je stoga bitan i znanstvenicima i industriji, a veća učestalost ekstremnih klimatskih prilika zahtijeva hitnu reakciju.
Da bi se organizam mogao fiziološki prilagoditi, njegov metabolizam se mora mijenjati u skladu s okolišnim uvjetima. Eksperimentalno proučavanje ovog tipa prilagodbi je otežano praktičnim, etičkim i novčanim aspektima, te vremenski zahtijeva dugosežne setove podataka. Matematičko modeliranje otklanja potrebu za dugosežnim setovima podataka, jer možemo koristiti principe fiziološke energetike i podatke manjeg opsega da bismo predvidjeli ontogenetski razvoj riba. Međutim, čak i ovaj umanjeni opseg podataka uključuje podatke koje je često teško prikupiti za dugoživuće vrste. Tada je jedina alternativa okrenuti se kratkoživućim i brzorastućim modelnim organizmima, te zatim prilagoditi rezultate dugoživućim vrstama.
Medaka je kratkoživuća i brzorastuća riba autohtona rižinim poljima Japana, te je, zbog izvanredne otpornosti, među najkorištenijim modelim organizmima u znanosti. Stanište medake proteže se kroz više od 2500km od sjevera do juga, pa su se pojedine populacije prilagodile vrlo različitim temperaturnim uvjetima. Sve ovo čini medaku idealnim modelnim organizmom za proučavanje metaboličkih prilagodbi u kontekstu temperaturne aklimatizacije.
Tijekom projekta analizirat ćemo najsuvremenije podatke za tri geografski odvojene populacije medake, kako bismo odgonetnuli spomenute metaboličke prilagodbe. Kombinirajući rezultate s populacijskom dinamikom, otkrit ćemo utecaj takvih prilagodbi na razini populacije. Od posebne važnosti bit će implikacije za akvakulturnu proizvodnju, a u kontekstu smanjivanja gubitaka do kojih bi moglo doći uslijed klimatskih promjena. Projekt bi dakle trebao biti pravodoban i od važnosti za Hrvatsku kao jednu od većih akvakulturnih proizvođača, ali i zemlju gdje je klimatskim-promjenama-uzrokovan temperaturni skok već premašio 2 stupnja - razinu Pariškog sporazuma. |
| Amount requested from UKF: |
34.000,00 |
| Amount of matching funding: |
33.700,00 |
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