| Bernat Hereu
My research activities are guided by the long
term monitoring of the Medes Islands Marine Reserve (Spain), and
the Port-Cros National Park (France), in the Department of Ecology
of the University of Barcelona. In the Medes Islands I monitored
the fish and sea urchin populations, and the algal communities,
and in Port-Cros, the echinoderm populations.
These types of long-term monitoring projects have influenced my
interests in the interactions between these organisms and the factors
that control their trophic relationships, and this was the focus
of my PhD research. In this work I wanted to know which factors
determine the structure and dynamics of algal communities in the
NW Mediterranean. I focused on the trophic relationships between
fish, sea urchins and algae, the populations dynamics of sea urchins,
and the effects of seasonality (as a limiting factor for algal growth)
on these interactions.
Additional research has addressed the structure and dynamics of
deep algae of the genus Cystoseira in the Mediterranean. This project
was in collaboration with researchers from Spain and France and
was conducted in the Scandola Marine Reserve (Corsica, France) and
more recently in Port-Cros National Park (France).
In the past few years I also studied the composition and dynamics
of fish populations within the fishing restricted zones of Marine
Protected Areas. This work was conducted in the Medes Islands Marine
Reserve and in the marine reserves of the Balearic Islands. Within
the Medes Islands Marine Reserves I also studied the reproductive
behavior of the dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus).
Otherwise I have collaborated on several projects that focus on
conservation biology. In the Port-Cros National Park I participated
in monitoring the recovery and restoration of the octocoral Paramuricea
clavata after a mass mortality occurred in 1999.
During my stay at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories as a postdoctoral
fellow, I will model my research questions after my PhD thesis.
I wish to further explore the importance of the interaction between
trophic relationships (i.e. top-down control) and growth limitations
(i.e. bottom-up control) in determining the structure and dynamics
of algal communities. For this study I will change my research community
and work for the first time in the intertidal system. I also plan
to study how light and water flow determine the composition of the
algal understory communities in kelp forests, and indirectly affect
the associated fauna community.
Contact info:
Bernat Hereu Fina
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
8272 Moss Landing Rd.
Moss Landing, CA 95039-9647
Phone #: 831-771-4421
Fax #: 831-632-4403
e-mail: hereu@mlml.calstate.edu
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