scholarly journals Groundwater declines are linked to changes in Great Plains stream fish assemblages

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (28) ◽  
pp. 7373-7378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshuah S. Perkin ◽  
Keith B. Gido ◽  
Jeffrey A. Falke ◽  
Kurt D. Fausch ◽  
Harry Crockett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Fish Assemblage Structure ◽  
Stream Fishes ◽  
Groundwater Pumping ◽  
Small Stream ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages

Groundwater pumping for agriculture is a major driver causing declines of global freshwater ecosystems, yet the ecological consequences for stream fish assemblages are rarely quantified. We combined retrospective (1950–2010) and prospective (2011–2060) modeling approaches within a multiscale framework to predict change in Great Plains stream fish assemblages associated with groundwater pumping from the United States High Plains Aquifer. We modeled the relationship between the length of stream receiving water from the High Plains Aquifer and the occurrence of fishes characteristic of small and large streams in the western Great Plains at a regional scale and for six subwatersheds nested within the region. Water development at the regional scale was associated with construction of 154 barriers that fragment stream habitats, increased depth to groundwater and loss of 558 km of stream, and transformation of fish assemblage structure from dominance by large-stream to small-stream fishes. Scaling down to subwatersheds revealed consistent transformations in fish assemblage structure among western subwatersheds with increasing depths to groundwater. Although transformations occurred in the absence of barriers, barriers along mainstem rivers isolate depauperate western fish assemblages from relatively intact eastern fish assemblages. Projections to 2060 indicate loss of an additional 286 km of stream across the region, as well as continued replacement of large-stream fishes by small-stream fishes where groundwater pumping has increased depth to groundwater. Our work illustrates the shrinking of streams and homogenization of Great Plains stream fish assemblages related to groundwater pumping, and we predict similar transformations worldwide where local and regional aquifer depletions occur.

Effects of reservoir connectivity on stream fish assemblages in the Great Plains

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A Falke ◽  
Keith B Gido
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Fish Assemblage Structure ◽  
Reservoir Species ◽  
Notropis Stramineus ◽  
Pimephales Notatus ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages ◽  
Reservoir Connectivity

The upstream effects of reservoirs on stream fish assemblages were highly localized in 3rd- through 5th-order streams in the Great Plains, USA. Streams that differed in connectivity to reservoirs were sampled at their confluences with a river or reservoir and between the confluence and the stream's origin. Sites at confluences had higher total, nonnative, and reservoir species richness than middle sites. Variability in fish assemblage structure upstream of reservoirs was influenced by catchment area, stream size, gradient, and reservoir connectivity. Confluence sites connected to reservoirs were correctly classified based on the presence of red shiners (Cyprinella lutrensis) and bluntnose minnows (Pimephales notatus) and the absence of sand shiners (Notropis stramineus); middle sites on connected streams were classified by the absence of redfin shiners (Lythrurus umbratilis). Intensive sampling across pool habitats within two streams isolated by a reservoir indicated that abundance of common reservoir species was related to pool size, turbidity, and canopy cover, but not proximity to the reservoir. These data suggest that streams connected to reservoirs can maintain diverse native fish communities with minimal invasions by reservoir-dwelling species, but a fraction of the community either has been lost or occurs at low abundance (e.g., sand shiners and redfin shiners).

scholarly journals ECOLOGIA FILOGENÉTICA DE COMUNIDADES DE PEIXES DE RIACHO NEOTROPICAIS

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (02) ◽  
pp. 433-448
Author(s):  
Bruno Eleres Soares ◽  
◽  
Gabriel Nakamura ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Stream Fishes ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Neotropical Stream ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages ◽  
Phylogenetic Ecology

Neotropical stream fishes exhibit a complex evolutionary history and encompass both old and recent lineages. Patterns of species diversity of stream fishes are relatively well-studied for Neotropical streams, but not for patterns of clade distribution and historical factors that structure these assemblages, which are the main interests of phylogenetic ecology. Understanding the evolutionary context of communities provides important insights into large-scale mechanisms that structure them. This review aims to: (i) discuss the main concepts of phylogenetic ecology and its application to Neotropical stream fishes; and (ii) highlight the main methods applied in this background. The first section presents the main phylogenetic hypothesis of fishes and discusses how their gaps in Neotropical stream fishes hinder phylogenetic ecology. Afterward, we discuss the main concepts of phylogenetic ecology (phylogenetic signal, community phylogenetic structure, and phylogenetic diversity), as well as gaps and potential applications of these concepts and tools to understand Neotropical stream fish assemblages. The second section introduces the main methods to address the phylogenetic ecology, including a standardized procedure to edit fish phylogenetic trees, comparative methods, and indices and analytical tools to understand community structure and conservation importance. Finally, we discuss the perspectives to the next years to better understand the Neotropical stream fish assemblages in the light of past and current historical processes.

scholarly journals Effects of deforestation on headwater stream fish assemblages in the Upper Xingu River Basin, Southeastern Amazonia

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Ilha ◽  
Sergio Rosso ◽  
Luis Schiesari
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Headwater Stream ◽  
Assemblage Structure ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Taxonomic Structure ◽  
Fish Assemblage Structure ◽  
Xingu River ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages

ABSTRACT The expansion of the Amazonian agricultural frontier represents the most extensive land cover change in the world, detrimentally affecting stream ecosystems which collectively harbor the greatest diversity of freshwater fish on the planet. Our goal was to test the hypotheses that deforestation affects the abundance, richness, and taxonomic structure of headwater stream fish assemblages in the Upper Xingu River Basin, in Southeastern Amazonia. Standardized sampling surveys in replicated first order streams demonstrated that deforestation strongly influences fish assemblage structure. Deforested stream reaches had twice the fish abundance than reference stream reaches in primary forests. These differences in assemblage structure were largely driven by increases in the abundance of a handful of species, as no influence of deforestation on species richness was observed. Stream canopy cover was the strongest predictor of assemblage structure, possibly by a combination of direct and indirect effects on the provision of forest detritus, food resources, channel morphology, and micro-climate regulation. Given the dynamic nature of change in land cover and use in the region, this article is an important contribution to the understanding of the effects of deforestation on Amazonian stream fish, and their conservation.

Community Ecology of Stream Fishes: Concepts, Approaches, and Techniques

2010 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Stream Fishes ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Landscape Features ◽  
Temperature Regimes ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages

<em>Abstract</em>.—Stream fish assemblages are influenced indirectly by natural and anthropogenic landscape features acting through intermediate factors like flow and temperature regimes, water quality, and physical habitat. These relationships affect distributions and abundances of individual species and also frame potential interactions among different types of fishes. This hierarchical influence of environmental factors, also known as the landscape perspective, is a widely accepted view of fluvial systems. However, few studies have attempted to quantify the complex mechanistic relationships among landscape variables, intermediate factors, and fish, a gap due partially to limitations of traditional analytical techniques for devolving such relationships. Using covariance structure analysis (CSA), we attempt to quantify the influence of natural and anthropogenic land uses on stream fish assemblages through indirect effects on fluvial physical habitat, including descriptors of habitat complexity, flow stability, and channel size, for 46 streams of southeastern Michigan. CSA was selected for this investigation because of its ability to quantify indirect effects of variables through intermediate factors and to account for intercorrelations among related measures. For analysis, fish assemblages were summarized by their richness and diversity and also according to functional groups that included trophic guilds and preferences for stream size, substrate, and geomorphological units, such as riffles and pools. Our analysis showed that, when acting through habitat factors, assemblages were more strongly influenced by natural landscape features, including catchment area and geology, than by anthropogenic land uses of our study region. Further, the analyses revealed that different aspects of fish assemblages varied with different habitat variables. While diversity and richness increased with habitat complexity and channel size, numbers of carnivores decreased with flow stability, possibly due to the link between flow and stream temperature regimes of our study region. Diversity and richness, however, were not affected by human land uses. Numbers of invertivores, fish preferring fine substrate, and fish preferring pool/ run habitat all increased with agriculture while numbers of detritivores increased with both agriculture and urban land use. These results emphasize complex effects of landscape features on stream fishes through intermediate factors and underscore the importance of understanding the varied response of different aspects of fish assemblages to environmental influences for improved conservation and restoration opportunities.

Landscape influences on stream fish assemblages across spatial scales in a northern Great Plains ecoregion

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry F Wilson ◽  
Marguerite A Xenopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Species Assemblages ◽  
Northern Great Plains ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages ◽  
Nms Ordination

We examined the relationship between multiple spatial scales of fish assemblage structure and land cover in streams of a northern Great Plains ecoregion. We used regional richness measurements, an index of biotic integrity (IBI), and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination to characterize fish assemblages. These metrics were related to regional catchment landscape at two spatial scales (overall catchment, overall riparian) and then to a set of local subcatchments from within these catchments at three scales (overall subcatchment, overall riparian buffer, and reach). Relationships between catchment fish richness, IBI scores, and landscape predictors were strongest at the riparian scale, with the strongest single predictor being riparian forest (r2 = 0.63, P < 0.01). NMS ordination analysis showed clear similarities between fish species assemblages in agriculturally dominated catchments and assemblages found in smaller headwater streams. At the same time, forested catchments and catchments with larger areas exhibited similar fish species assemblages. Our results indicate that both local and regional stream fish assemblages are structured by broader-scale landscape characteristics, with land cover providing a better indication of overall available habitat volume than catchment area or stream order.

Within-basin fish assemblage structure: the relative influence of habitat versus stream spatial position on local species richness

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Grenouillet ◽  
D Pont ◽  
C Hérissé
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Spatial Autocorrelation ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Spatial Position ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Fish Assemblage Structure ◽  
Local Species Richness ◽  
Local Species ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages ◽  
Local Habitat

Local species richness (LSR) in stream fish assemblages is related to both local habitat conditions and stream spatial position. In this study, we examined the within-basin distribution of LSR in the Upper Saône River (France). We describe the longitudinal patterns in LSR and assess the relative effects of both local habitat and spatial (upstream and downstream) influences on species richness. We showed that among the different local habitat variables, only stream width and gradient significantly influenced LSR. Spatial factors also influenced the within-basin distribution of LSR and resulted in spatial autocorrelation, highlighting contagious biotic processes in structuring stream fish assemblages. However, we did not confirm other published predictions that headwater streams entering large rivers directly should have greater species richness. The spatial autocorrelation was only significant downstream (from 4th- to 7th-order streams), suggesting that the relative importance of local habitat and biotic processes may depend on the position along the longitudinal gradient.

Spawning phenology and habitat use in a Great Plains, USA, stream fish assemblage: an occupancy estimation approach

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (12) ◽  
pp. 1942-1956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Falke ◽  
Kurt D. Fausch ◽  
Kevin R. Bestgen ◽  
Larissa L. Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Stream Fishes ◽  
Occupancy Estimation ◽  
Multiple Samples

Knowledge of basic life-history attributes, paired with unbiased estimates of species distribution, is critical for the effective conservation of sensitive fish species. We quantified the spawning phenology, habitat use, and detectability for larvae of an assemblage of threatened Great Plains, USA, stream fishes using new occupancy estimation methods. Spawning by six Great Plains fish species occurred from April through July, and was likely initiated by changes in water temperature and photoperiod. Habitat size and type were important factors influencing the occupancy of larvae in spawning habitats. Detectability of larvae differed among species and over time, and was influenced by habitat depth and fish size. Our models indicated that multiple samples from individual habitats within a season are needed to adequately detect and predict occupancy by stream fish larvae. Conservation efforts for imperiled Great Plains fish assemblages should focus on sustaining flows that maintain a sufficient density and size of habitats needed for successful spawning and recruitment. The occupancy estimation and modeling methods employed here will be useful in developing comprehensive, unbiased programs to monitor the reproductive success of Great Plains stream fishes.

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