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Rapid environmental change as a key to understanding maladaptive behavior in freshwater communities
Project Id24-12263S
Main solverdoc. RNDr. Aleš Dolný, Ph.D.
Period1/2024 - 12/2026
ProviderStandardní projekt GA ČR
Statefinished
AnotationPerception of the environmental quality during colonization precedes the action of the selection mechanisms such as predation or environmental filtering and undoubtedly affects the structure of freshwater communities. Many aquatic and semiaquatic organisms are during their life cycles repeatedly exposed to challenges to assess their habitat quality; terrestrial for themselves and aquatic for their larvae. However, evolutionarily effective cognitive mechanisms used during colonization often fail due to human-mediated changes in the structure and quality of the environment. As the diversity of freshwater communities is facing a huge decline, understanding the habitat selection mechanisms that lead to the preference for poor-quality patches is not only the key to understanding the nature of this phenomenon but also offers the opportunity to create habitats of true quality.