Thesis supervisor: Tibor Erős
Location of studies (in Hungarian): University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest, Hungary Abbreviation of location of studies: ÁTE
Description of the research topic:
Non-native invasive species play a key role in the decline of biodiversity and its spatial and temporal changes. However, the phenomena cannot be generalized, since many species have only minor role in community organization, while others may cause substantial changes, depending on the type of the habitat and environmental changes. Almost half of the Hungarian fish fauna is composed of non-native species, the exact ditribution and ecological role of which are unknown. The aim of the project is to explore what environmental features of the habitat influence the most the distribution and community forming role of non-native fishes, which are those species which influence the most different aspects of the diversity and structure of fish communities and how sampling methodology may influence our inferences about the role of non-native species in community organization.
Further requirements: Knowledge of the Hungarian fish fauna, principles of community ecology, statistical and programming knowledge in R environment