MOMBASAR

In the present context of Global Changes, human activities exert different pressures on ecosystems, including chemical pressure, which is particularly associated with the introduction into the environment of numerous synthetic organics with potential ecotoxicological impact. The MOMBASAR project is thus designed as an element of a larger research project which aims at contributing to a comprehensive knowledge of the ecodynamics of xenobiotics in aquatic ecosystems.
The overall objective of MOMBASAR is to describe and to model the bioaccumulation of two families of persistent halogenated organics in the Gironde estuarine food web, namely perfluoalkylated acids (PFASs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This work will focus on a fish species of major interest for the Bay of Biscay fisheries: the common sole Solea solea.
MOMBASAR proposes to implement a mechanistic model describing the bioaccumulation of PFASs and PCBs in the S. solea food web. The modelling framework adopted in this project combines (i) classical models describing the kinetics of contaminants through the food web with (ii) a process-based model (DEB: Dynamic Energy Budget) in order to characterise fish growth and contaminant tissue distribution.
This approach should provide a predictive tool for the investigation of contaminant dynamics in the sole food chain. On the longer term, this approach may be used to consider the effect of PFASs and PCBs on physiological responses in S. solea (DEB-Tox model). Ultimately, the combination of both aspects will help assessing the quality of the Gironde estuarine nursery ground with regard to the fitness of the common sole population.
By integrating the influence of environmental factors (temperature, food availability…) on bioaccumulation dynamics, this modelling framework will also allow, in a long-term perspective, simulating the effects of environmental changes on ecological processes involved.