Influence of niche and neutral processes on fish communities associated with changes in macrophyte rafts along the hydrological cycle

The Species-Sorting concept, one of the models developed to explain patterns in metacommunity structure, suggests that relationships between biological communities and environmental conditions is the basic means of the species selection processes. A second concept is Neutral Theory, and the idea of neutral dynamics underpinning metacommunity structure, cannot be overlooked. The third mechanism is the Mass-Effect concept, that focuses on the interaction between environmental condition and neutral effects. In the present study, we partitioned fish communities in streams between niche and neutral theory concepts, identifying the best representation of metacommunity structure, and assessed if linear and hydrographic distance were equivalent in the representation of neutral processes. The result points to the importance of species sorting mechanisms in structuring fish communities with neutral processes best represented by the linear distances. These results are important for the fish fauna conservation leading to three considerations: (i) the variation of the landscape and habitat is important for the stream fish, (ii) the natural barriers are an important landscape component to be considered, and (iii) the artificial barriers (dams and impoundments) need to be planned taking in account the catchment basin as the landscape unit.

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The influence of flood pulse on fish communities of floodplain canals in the Middle Solimões River, Brazil

Neotropical Ichthyology ◽

10.1590/s1679-62252008000200013 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 249-255 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Raniere G. C. Sousa ◽

Carlos E. de C. Freitas

Keyword(s):

River Flow ◽

Fish Assemblages ◽

Hydrological Cycle ◽

Flow Direction ◽

Seasonal Pattern ◽

Fish Communities ◽

Flood Pulse ◽

Large River ◽

Floodplain Lakes ◽

Solimões River

The functioning of large river systems with adjacent floodplains is strongly influenced by the flood pulse. This phenomenon is the main structuring force for the biota, including fish communities that use floodplain environments for spawning, feeding, nursery and refuge. In floodplains and in the entire basin, the volume of water controls internal flows. During rising water, the high discharge of the river acts as a natural barrier to the canals that connect floodplain lakes and the Solimões River, because the water flows from river to lake. During the dry period, there is a reduction of discharge and the water flow is reversed or stationary. These canals are environments with distinct ecological characteristics such as differentiated limnology and water level variation intensely affected by the hydrological cycle. Therefore, we surveyed the influence of the flood pulse on fish communities that inhabit two canals that connect floodplain lakes to the Middle Solimões River. Particularly, we evaluated the hypothesis that the Solimões River flow direction is not perfectly parallel to its banks, which creates peripheral flows that direct water from the rivers to the floodplain lake canals. Our analysis indicated that the seasonal pattern is stronger than the spatial. Beside this, we observed that the positions of the canals in relation to the main river flow somehow affect the fish assemblages. Finally, we conclude that the flood pulse is the main structuring force acting on these fish communities.

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PARTITIONING AMONG NICHE AND NEUTRAL EXPLANATIONS FOR METACOMMUNITY PATTERNS IN CERRADO STREAM FISH COMMUNITIES

10.1101/2020.04.06.027417 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Thiago Bernardi Vieira ◽

Liriann Chrisley Nascimento da Silva ◽

Lilian Casatti ◽

Renato Romero ◽

Francisco Leonardo Tejerina Garro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neutral Theory ◽

Fish Communities ◽

Mass Effect ◽

Species Selection ◽

Local Conditions ◽

Species Sorting ◽

Biological Communities ◽

Neutral Processes ◽

Selection Processes ◽

Metacommunity Structure

AbstractThe Species Sorting concept, one of the models developed to explain patterns in metacommunity structure, suggests that relationships between biological communities and environmental conditions is the basic means of the species selection processes. A second concept is neutral theory, and the idea of neutral dynamics underpinning metacommunity structure, cannot be overlooked. The third mechanism is the Mass Effect concept, that focuses on the interaction between environmental condition and neutral effects. In the present study, we partitioned fish communities in streams between niche and neutral theory concepts, identifying the best representation of metacommunity structure, and assessed if linear and hydrographic distance were equivalent in the representation of neutral processes. The result points to the importance of species sorting mechanisms in structuring fish communities with neutral processes best represented by the linear distances. On the other hand, the best representation of species’ niches was achieved with average values and variance of the local conditions.

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Fish communities in two environmentally different estuarine systems of Mexico

Journal of Fish Biology ◽

10.1016/s0022-1112(02)92076-3 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 0 ◽

Author(s):

A Raz-Guzman

Keyword(s):

Fish Communities ◽

Estuarine Systems

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Ecological Studies in Tropical Fish Communities

10.1017/cbo9780511721892 ◽

1987 ◽

Cited By ~ 583

Author(s):

R. H. Lowe-McConnell

Keyword(s):

Fish Communities ◽

Tropical Fish ◽

Ecological Studies

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A Method for Evaluating the Impacts of Reservoir Operation on Fish Communities

World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2007 ◽

10.1061/40927(243)552 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

Jian-Ping Suen ◽

Edwin E. Herricks ◽

J. Wayland Eheart ◽

Fi-John Chang

Keyword(s):

Reservoir Operation ◽

Fish Communities

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Dominance determines fish community biomass in a temperate seagrass ecosystem

10.32942/osf.io/cqjvu ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Aaron Matthius Eger ◽

Rebecca J. Best ◽

Julia Kathleen Baum

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Ecosystem Function ◽

Fish Community ◽

Prey Capture ◽

Fish Communities ◽

Functional Trait ◽

Ecosystem Functions ◽

Community Biomass ◽

Ecosystem Valuation ◽

Species Abundances

Biodiversity and ecosystem function are often correlated, but there are multiple hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Ecosystem functions such as primary or secondary production may be maximized by species richness, evenness in species abundances, or the presence or dominance of species with certain traits. Here, we combined surveys of natural fish communities (conducted in July and August, 2016) with morphological trait data to examine relationships between diversity and ecosystem function (quantified as fish community biomass) across 14 subtidal eelgrass meadows in the Northeast Pacific (54° N 130° W). We employed both taxonomic and functional trait measures of diversity to investigate if ecosystem function is driven by species diversity (complementarity hypothesis) or by the presence or dominance of species with particular trait values (selection or dominance hypotheses). After controlling for environmental variation, we found that fish community biomass is maximized when taxonomic richness and functional evenness is low, and in communities dominated by species with particular trait values – those associated with benthic habitats and prey capture. While previous work on fish communities has found that species richness is positively correlated with ecosystem function, our results instead highlight the capacity for regionally prevalent and locally dominant species to drive ecosystem function in moderately diverse communities. We discuss these alternate links between community composition and ecosystem function and consider their divergent implications for ecosystem valuation and conservation prioritization.

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STUDY OF POND STATUS IN INDIA : A REVIEW

FLORA AND FAUNA ◽

10.33451/florafauna.v23i1pp99-104 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

Author(s):

V.K. YADAV ◽

SONAM SHARMA ◽

A.K. SRIVASTAVA ◽

P.K. KHARE

Keyword(s):

Fresh Water ◽

Land Surface ◽

Human Population ◽

Climate Changes ◽

Hydrological Cycle ◽

Habitat Destruction ◽

Conservation Strategy ◽

Goods And Services ◽

Human Use ◽

Over Exploitation

Ponds are an important fresh water critical ecosystem for plants and animals providing goods and services including food, fodder, fish, irrigation, hydrological cycle, shelter, medicine, culture, aesthetic and recreation. Ponds cover less than 2 percent of worlds land surface. Ponds are important source of fresh water for human use. These are threatened by urbanization, industrialization, over exploitation, fragmentation, habitat destruction, pollution, illegal capturing of land and climate changes. These above factors have been destroying ponds very rapidly putting them in danger of extinction of a great number of local biodiversity. It is necessary to formulate a correct conservation strategy for pond restoration in order to meet the growing needs of fresh water by increasing the human population. Some measures have been compiled and proposed in the present review.

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