Investigating freshwater shrimps target species’ reproductive strategies as predictors of climate change

The response of different species to climate change is reflected primarily to their life cycle traits, and particularly to their reproductive strategy. Especially for the inland surface water habitats, which are characterized by dynamic changes and significant variations of water physicochemical parameters, aquatic organisms’ adaptive pressures and responses are strong and immediate. Based on the above and on the fact that the freshwater shrimps play a crucial role in the trophic webs of inland waters, the present research will try to elucidate comparatively and integrated the reproductive strategies of two target species, the Atyaephyra thyamisensis  (Atyidae) and the Palaemon (Palaemonetes) antennarius (Palaemonidae) from different habitats (lotic, lentic and lagoonal) of Western Greece. Sex ratios, fecundity parameters, population size, gonadosomic indexes, reproductive potential and the general reproductive strategy will be studied by means of statistical analyses and models in order to determine intraspecific and interspecific reproductive diversity under the simultaneous effect of different habitats and environmental conditions.