PHENOFISH

The complexity of ecosystems makes it inherently difficult to understand their functioning and predict their responses to disturbances. The introduction of functional approaches, which incorporates information about species’ ecological traits, has revolutionized many fields of ecology.

In fact, the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of species determine how they respond to environmental factors and influence ecosystem properties.

Although they represent the largest diversity of vertebrates, we still lack comprehensive databases of fishes’ traits. PHENOFISH aims to pool data on the biodiversity, morphology, behaviour and ecophysiology of marine and freshwater fishes that have never before been brought together. It brings together specialists in marine and freshwater ecology, spatial ecology (biogeography), ecophysiology, conservation ecology and behaviour. This complementarity in the characterisation of fish traits will advance our understanding of the processes, mechanisms and threats that influence fish species.