For the wide audience

The story of my project started in 2012. That's when I submitted a project proposal for the first time, and although I didn't win, I really appreciated the existence of minimum requirements for participating in the competition. Far from being discouraged, I continued to improve my scientometric indicators in relation to those requirements, and in 2014 my proposal reached a score that placed me on the list of funded projects. I always trusted that I would win at some point; the only unknown was when a new competition would appear — the lack of predictability being one of the darkest sides I would attribute to UEFISCDI.

I was confident because I proposed a beautiful project, not necessarily because it addresses crayfish — the animals with which I build my career — but because I aimed to address a topic in line with current problems, namely the biology of invasion. Romania was at that time one of the few European countries in the early stage of invasion of spiny-cheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus), a species that had already wreaked havoc on many native populations in Western Europe. Thus, the real-time invasion on the Danube became a good scientific opportunity. And the UEFISCDI funding from 2014 allowed me to pursue it. Even before I found out the results, my team already had a paper showing that invasive crayfish is a superior competitor because its females are able to naturally increase the number of eggs in the area of active invasion.

Then came the management work: acquisitions, hiring team members, reporting — things I hadn't done before. I liked what I did and made sure everything was impeccable. The fieldwork was the most beautiful part, as any zoologist or ecologist especially appreciates. The large amount of new data paved the way for new ideas we hadn't even thought about at the time of submitting. We expanded the team through volunteer students and third partners. At one conference, a Diploma Student from the project team was awarded "best poster", even though the competition was made up of PhD students from all over the world. The final results are visible in the five scientific papers already published, as well as six under evaluation at the time of final reporting (2017).

A fairly consistent list of papers is still on the work table. We are lucky that the host institution allowed us to use 50% of the project's indirect costs for research purposes, so we continued to invest in genetic or isotope analyses. The list of results can be consulted on the Project results page. It was a real pleasure to learn that our project received an A+ at the final evaluation score by UEFISCDI experts.

For my career, this project was a very important step, allowing me to compete for a position as an associate professor. Most importantly, this project has given me confidence that I can access other projects. The only problem, as I said before, is the lack of competitions that would facilitate my professional career. Normally, one project should be followed by another, but we all Romanians know that no one knows when the next competition will be available.

My relationship as project director with UEFISCDI was impeccable: very efficient communication, the financing complied with the approved budget. The project officer acted impeccably every time. Perhaps it should be mentioned that results in a project usually start to appear only after the accumulation and processing of data; the project being only two years long, it is easy to understand that most important papers will appear after the project ends, and there is no procedure for the project leader to update the final report. I would like any evaluator of a future competition to be able to consult the results of those who have implemented projects from UEFISCDI funds. Foreign reviewers may not be perfect, but are much more objective than those in our country.

I want to dedicate the conclusion to those who made it possible for me to have these experiences associated with a research project — a sincere thank you!

During most of 2016, the team was mostly involved in field sampling as well as processing samples in the laboratory. The first half of the year represented the optimum for field sampling to investigate fecundity (Work Package 1). We managed to collect sufficient samples for the population genetics work plan, and also for Aphanomyces astaci pathogen prevalence. Molecular investigations were conducted during the second half. Following the obtained data, the paper "Hidden sites in distribution of crayfish plague pathogen Aphanomyces astaci in Europe: relic genotype(s) of older outbreaks?" has been drafted, now under review in Biological Invasions. The paper addresses the issue of Aphanomyces astaci distribution in the eastern limit area of Orconectes limosus invasion up to the Dniester river basin — fitting into Working Package 3 — Conservation of indigenous species.

Biological Invasions

Hidden sites in distribution of the crayfish plague pathogen Aphanomyces astaci in Eastern Europe: Relicts of genetic groups from older outbreaks?

Panteleit J, Pârvu M, Schrimpf A, Pârvulescu L et al. · 2018 · Vol. 157: 117–124

↗ View paper

The optimal season for benthonic sample gathering began in the second half of the year, during which the team underwent numerous field campaigns (Working Package 2 — Ecology of invasion). We successfully collected a relevant amount of samples representing crayfish, benthonic invertebrates, fish, vegetation and detritus, subsequently processed for stable isotope analyses. Stable isotope analyses were completed in the last months of 2016, with data processing and scientific valorisation scheduled for 2017.

Regarding the evaluation of the manuscript submitted in 2015 — it was rejected by Oecologia, then sent to Ecohydrology (IF 2.138, Q1 per JCR 2015). The paper has been accepted and published as "Flash-flood potential: a proxy for crayfish habitat stability".

Ecohydrology · IF 2.138 · Q1 JCR 2015

Flash-flood potential: a proxy for crayfish habitat stability

Pârvulescu L, Zaharia C et al. · 2016 · Vol. 9: 1507–1516

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The project's host institution supports the expansion of scientific research by making 50% of the indirect costs available to the project director. This allowed addressing new complementary topics, encouraging and promoting students interested in scientific research. A first paper from this addresses Working Package 3 — the competition between native and invasive crayfish species. The manuscript "Experimental evidence of the successful invader Orconectes limosus dominating the native Astacus leptodactylus in acquiring shelter and food" was under evaluation in Biologia.

Biologia

Experimental evidence of the successful invader Orconectes limosus dominating the native Astacus leptodactylus in acquiring shelter and food

Lele SF, Pârvulescu L · 2017 · Vol. 72: 877–885

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This study was presented by Sandra-Florina Lele (Project team member) at the International Association of Astacology 21st Symposium at Real Jardin Botanico, Madrid. The poster was awarded the:

Award-winning poster — click to download PDF (OneDrive)

At the same event, the oral presentation "The future of endangered Austropotamobius torrentium (Schrank 1803) in the light of protected areas and habitat fragmentation: a case study from the Carpathians" was also presented.

Participation in scientific events was also completed at the conference "Diaspora in Scientific Research and Higher Education in Romania – Diaspora and its friends" organised by MECS, UEFISCDI in partnership with West University of Timisoara. Octavian Pacioglu, a former member of Diaspora now successfully integrated in the project team, presented "Aquatic ecology and spatial ecology: interdisciplinary through Big Data" (in Romanian).

Student promotion is a priority. Two papers were presented at the Biologia VIII conference at West University of Timisoara: "Chelae biometry of four crayfish species suggests predominantly ambidextrous habitude", presented by Sandra Lele (student and Project team member), and "Adaptive response to early dominance of an acute invader", presented by Adelina Getejanc (volunteer student).

The first step in implementation was the Contracting. After the application was announced as funded, all legal procedures were fulfilled and Funding Contract no. 23 from 01 October 2015 was signed. After this, the internal procedures within the West University of Timisoara made it possible to hire team members and start the procurement process for necessary consumables.

From a scientific point of view, research began with preliminary data processing right after sending the application for evaluation. Goal argumentation was based on a consistent set of preliminary data materialised in a first scientific paper accepted for publication in Zoology (IF 1.670, JCR 2014). The paper "Plasticity in fecundity highlights the females' importance in the spiny-cheek crayfish invasion mechanism" addressed the reproductive strategies (Work Package 1) of the crayfish species competitors from the Lower Danube Basin. Considering that the invasive species is capable of almost doubling the number of eggs — and thus the number of juveniles — we proposed the hypothesis that this biological feature is the main reason for their invasion success.

Zoology · IF 1.670 · JCR 2014

Plasticity in fecundity highlights the females' importance in the spiny-cheek crayfish invasion mechanism

Pârvulescu L, Pârvu M, Moroșan LG, Zaharia C · 2015 · Vol. 118: 424–432

↗ View paper

Also within reproductive strategies (Work Package 1), we started collecting biological material to investigate parthenogenesis — another possible biological trait by which the invasive species increases its multiplication rate in the active invasion front.

The second scientific paper aims at the protection of native species (Work Package 3). We focused on the crayfish ability to use aquatic habitats based on substrate stability. The geographical distribution data was correlated with erosion risk extracted from the digital elevation model. Statistical analysis revealed that both species have an optimum at which populations are normally represented, with a decreasing trend with increasing erosion risk. Austropotamobius torrentium was found capable of inhabiting river sectors with higher erosion risk than Astacus astacus. At the time of reporting, the manuscript "Shelter choice prevents crayfish population drift in streams" was under evaluation in Oecologia.

Ecohydrology (published after revision)

Flash-flood potential: a proxy for crayfish habitat stability (originally submitted as "Shelter choice prevents crayfish population drift in streams")

Pârvulescu L et al. · 2016 · Vol. 9: 1507–1516

↗ View paper

Result dissemination began by building the website for the project hosted on the crayfish.ro domain. We also attended the Annual Zoological Congress of "Grigore Antipa" Museum where "Plasticity in fecundity highlights the females' importance in the spiny-cheek crayfish invasion mechanism" was presented. The abstracts volume can be downloaded here.

I am a biologist with a great interest in the field of freshwaters. My first professional contact with aquatic ecology started ten years ago, when I worked as a biologist at "Romanian Waters" Ltd. for a full year. Then, for almost another year, I worked as research assistant at the Institute of Speleology "Emil Racovita" Bucharest, focusing on subterranean environment and groundwater ecology. These two years could be called the apprenticeship in aquatic ecology. Two years later (2007) I started a PhD study at Roehampton University, London, with a study theme about the impact of nitrates and soil collimation on the community of invertebrates inhabiting the interstitial habitats connecting rivers with groundwater (the hyporheic habitat). After obtaining the title of Dr. (2012), I worked for six months as a postdoctoral scientist at a research station in Germany (Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries), in a project focused on the toxic impact of aluminum on lake invertebrates. After one year back home, in the summer of 2013, I started a second postdoctoral position in the UK, at a research station in Dorset affiliated to Queen Mary University of London. The project focused on river food webs and the way that nutrients are transferred from basal resources (algae, detritus) to invertebrates and finally to fish.

I worked together with Lucian on this project proposal because I thought it was tackling a very interesting scientific issue. Moreover, transferable skills from abroad are applied here. My role will mainly be in investigating the ecological aspects of spiny cheek crayfish invasion versus the local narrow-clawed and stone crayfish species. Together with colleagues from West University of Timisoara and from abroad (Koblenz-Landau University, Germany), we will quantify by state-of-the-art techniques (carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses, genetic analyses of gut content) the way the invasive species interacts with both local species of crayfish, the degree of overlap of their ecological niches and the ecological advantages of the invasive species versus native ones. Another reason that attracted me to joining Dr. Pârvulescu's team was the decent professional and financial aspects of my return home — incentives that any scientist from Diaspora should receive in order to be attracted back home. Because of all these reasons, I was convinced to start a fruitful collaboration for an interesting, exciting and feasible project.

I had this project on my mind for quite a while now. The ideas, the backbone of the project, everything, were there — except the financing. And the opportunity arose when I applied for a national grant competition entitled "Young Teams" at the end of last year, and when I managed to convince the funding agency that this is a piece of work worth the time, effort and funding. If I ought to describe this project in a nutshell, I would say it's addressing an ongoing, dynamic issue, lying just at the borders of our country. Western Europe is a long-time invaded territory as we speak, and this represents for us both the chance and the responsibility at the same time. The process of active invasion does not give us the time to have second thoughts. For this very reason, we started to work on this immediately after finishing the grant proposal, the current team already holding some consistent preliminary findings.

One of the questions we would like to answer is the underpinning mechanism that makes this invasion so successful. In order to investigate this working hypothesis, we will investigate the reproductive assets of the invasive species extending its area in real time, in parallel with the local species of crayfish. This effort dates a few years in the past and the main findings were summed in a research paper accepted for publication in a scientific journal. In this study we have managed to suggest the biological mechanisms of the reproductive females of the spiny cheek crayfish that allows them to increase their mean number of eggs in the active invasion front, as opposed to local species of crayfish (the narrow-clawed crayfish) with females incapable of such plasticity. Going down this rationale, we will test if the females of this invasive species are capable of asexual reproduction (parthenogenesis), a biological trait discovered only in laboratory studies so far, but never in the wild.

A second direction of investigation is focused on the ecological mechanisms of invasion, with emphasis on habitat requirements of two aforementioned crayfish species, including a third that inhabits the headwaters of main tributaries of the lower Danube (the stone crayfish). We expect to understand better if and how both species compete for habitat resources, including the array of food items they consume. Fieldwork will start in spring 2016.

Another crucial aspect comprises local biodiversity conservation actions, assessing the odds of survival for local crayfish species after encountering such a cosmopolite top invader that brings a lethal fungus (Aphanomyces astaci) causing crayfish plague — a mass lethal biological "weapon" for local crayfish species. In order to quantify the incidence of this pathogen, we gathered preliminary data from the lower Danube, Danube Delta, Black Sea and Dniester.

These represent only the major guidelines of this project; other ideas will follow shortly. At the right time they will become public, along with the aimed results of this project.

Last, but not least, I would like to close this message for the wide audience by expressing my optimism and support for the working team of this project. During the writing stage of this grant, I included experienced scientists with different backgrounds (ecologists, geneticists, mathematicians) and equally early career scientists. An aspect that makes me really happy is that in my closely knit team, an experienced scientist from Diaspora decided to join us, and equally an undergraduate student that will gain consistent work experience through this project. All aspects are of significant importance for me, the more so as I find myself as Principal Investigator for the first time in my career.