Contact database
English name: Animal Ecology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory;
Parent institute: Université de Liège; Faculté des Sciences; Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution (ULG), more
Address:
Quartier Agora
Allée du 6 Août, 11
4000 Liège
Belgium
| |
Tel.: +32-(0)4-366 50 60
Fax: +32-(0)4-366 51 47
|
| |
Type: Scientific
|
1 Director: Head of the department
2 Marine scientist: Works in this research group and acts as (co-)author in at least one marine publication in the last 5 years.
3 Specialized personnel: Provides administrative or technical support to marine scientific research.
| Abstract: |
The Animal Ecology and Ecotoxicology laboratory (LEAE) of the University of Liège was founded in 1967 under its former name ‘laboratoire de Morphologie, Systématique et écologie Animales’. The laboratory studies freshwater ecology, marine ecology and ecotoxicology. The former research theme includes the study of the relationship between different plankton species and food selection by the rotifera Brachionus calyciflorus. The ecotoxicological focus includes the study of the effect of pollution on an ecosystem and the impact of pollutants on organisms. Furthermore, a central ecotoxicological research theme concerns the study of the endocrine disruption in freshwater invertebrates, with molluscs, rotifers and crustaceans as model organisms and based on proteomic and genomic approaches. The experiments and analyses were performed in the laboratory, as well as in natural ecosystems. LEAE is also specialised in the analyses of organic micropollutants in environmental matrices (water, sediments, organisms). In addition, the group is involved in epidemiological studies in order to evaluate the impact of several xenobiotics on human health in the French Antilles (chlordecone and POPs).
The Marine Ecology unit of the Animal Ecology and Ecotoxicology laboratory performs research on:
- Mediterranean ecosystems: the study of marine bacteria and the impact of ecological changes on those microorganisms, and the changing behaviour of red weeds caused by (human-induced) changes in their environment;
- Coral ecology: the study of the contribution of bacteria and an increasing temperature in the coral bleaching process as well as the study of marine microbacterial communities associated with corals;
- Malacology: systematics and ecology of molluscs.
The Marine Ecology unit collaborates with several French and Monégasque institutes in the BioCoB project, studying biomarkers for coral bleaching. The unit also participates within the research center STARESO (‘Station de Recherches Sous-marines et Océanographiques’) on Corsica. Here, benthic and pelagic ecosystems are studied, as well as temporal changes (associated with climate change) in plankton and other organisms. This research is conducted in order to predict how the marine system will respond to future changes. |
| Project |
Top | Persons |
- BENCORE: Belgian Network for Coastal Reseach, more
|
