Influences of natural acidity and introduced fish on faunal assemblages in California alpine lakes

1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (11) ◽  
pp. 2478-2491 ◽  
Author(s):  
David F Bradford ◽  
Scott D Cooper ◽  
Thomas M Jenkins, Jr. ◽  
Kim Kratz ◽  
Orlando Sarnelle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Taxon Richness ◽  
Introduced Fish ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Acidic Lakes ◽  
Introduced Fishes ◽  
Daphnia Middendorffiana ◽  
Decreasing Ph ◽  
Natural Acidity ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Species

In an alpine area of the Sierra Nevada of California, naturally acidic waters and introduced fishes both strongly affect the distributions of native amphibians, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrates. The study area in Kings Canyon National Park contains 104 lakes with pH values between 5.0 and 9.3, including 10 lakes with pH < 6.0 (defined here as acidic lakes) and 18 lakes with introduced trout. We surveyed 33 of these lakes (8 acidic, 7 non-acidic with trout, 18 non-acidic without trout) for water chemistry and faunal assemblages. Yellow-legged frog tadpoles (Rana muscosa), common microcrustaceans (Daphnia, Hesperodiaptomus, Diaptomus), and larvae of a caddisfly (Hesperophylax) were rare or absent in acidic lakes but common in non-acidic lakes, and microcrustacean and macroinvertebrate species richness decreased with decreasing pH. Large and (or) mobile, conspicuous taxa, including tadpoles, large-bodied microcrustaceans (Hesperodiaptomus, Daphnia middendorffiana), and many epibenthic or limnetic macroinvertebrates (baetid and siphlonurid mayfly nymphs, notonectids, corixids, limnephilid caddis larvae, and dytiscid beetles), were rare or absent in trout lakes but were relatively common in lakes lacking trout, and the taxon richness of macroinvertebrates was reduced by trout.

scholarly journals Intensive removal of signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) from rivers increases numbers and taxon richness of macroinvertebrate species

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 494-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom P. Moorhouse ◽  
Alison E. Poole ◽  
Laura C. Evans ◽  
David C. Bradley ◽  
David W. Macdonald
Keyword(s):  
Pacifastacus Leniusculus ◽  
Taxon Richness ◽  
Signal Crayfish ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Species

scholarly journals Spatial variation in the structure of overwintering, remnant Saccorhiza polyschides sporophytes and their associated assemblages

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Nora Salland ◽  
Dan Smale
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Structure ◽  
Wave Exposure ◽  
Marine Ecology ◽  
Taxon Richness ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Faunal Abundance ◽  
Saccorhiza Polyschides ◽  
Fundamental Goal ◽  
Internal Volume ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Understanding the structure and richness of natural communities is a fundamental goal of marine ecology, and foundation species such as large macroalgae have a disproportionate role in structuring biodiversity. However, high-resolution information on assemblages associated with macroalgae is lacking for many species and regions. Saccorhiza polyschides is a warm-temperate kelp with a relatively short lifespan (12–18 months), large thallus and bulbous holdfast offering habitat for diverse assemblages. In the UK, S. polyschides populations are thought to have proliferated recently. Here, we quantified the density and habitat structure provided by S. polyschides along a gradient of wave exposure within Plymouth Sound, and examined the composition and diversity of associated faunal assemblages. Density varied significantly between sites but not by wave exposure, while biometric measurements were generally highly variable. Senescing holdfasts from sporophytes offered valuable habitat, with high abundance and richness of associated assemblages, although these varied markedly between sporophytes and sites. Faunal abundance, taxon richness and diversity were significantly higher at fully exposed sites than at moderately exposed sites. Internal volume of holdfasts was positively correlated with faunal abundance and taxon richness. We recorded more than 27 distinct taxa and up to ~600 individuals within a single holdfast. Taxa included three fish species, including a novel observation of the pipefish Nerophis lumbriciformis. Further work is needed to examine seasonality in habitat structure and associated diversity patterns but our study demonstrates that even remnant holdfasts from decaying sporophytes represent a valuable microhabitat that may provide shelter, protection and food during winter.

scholarly journals Ichthyofauna of Alas River, around Soraya Research Station, Leuser Ecosystem Area, Subulussalam, Aceh

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 361
Author(s):  
Furqan Maghfiriadi ◽  
Ilham Zulfahmi ◽  
Epa Paujiah ◽  
M. Ali Sarong
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Sampling Location ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Introduced Fish ◽  
Introduced Fishes ◽  
Policy Decision Making ◽  
A New Species

The ichthyofaunal study is needed to reveal the diversity of fish, investigate the existence of native and introduced fish, inventory some species that are potential as consumed and ornamental fishes, and to be a part of the effort to find new species. This study aimed to determine the composition of freshwater fish in the Alas River around Soraya Research Station, Leuser Ecosystem Area, Subulussalam, Aceh. Research was conducted from July to September 2018. Fish sampling was carried out at six research stations using selective gill nets, throwing net, hook, tray net, and scoop net. A total of 339 individual’s fish belonging to 20 species, eight families and three orders was collected from sampling location. Cyprinidae was the predominant family found in the Alas River. As many of 16 fish species has the potential as consumption fish. Two introduced fishes were collected, namely tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and Amazon sailfin catfish (Pterygoplichthys pardalis). One fish species is thought to have the potential as a new species, i.e. catfish (Hemibagrus sp.). The result of this study can be used as a basic data for policy decision making in order to develop management program of Leuser ecosystem in the future.

scholarly journals Contrasting effects of anthropogenic and natural acidity in streams: a meta-analysis

2008 ◽  
Vol 275 (1639) ◽  
pp. 1143-1148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zlatko Petrin ◽  
Göran Englund ◽  
Björn Malmqvist
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Water Chemistry ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Small Streams ◽  
Natural Acidity ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Species ◽  
Ecological Functioning

Large-scale human activities including the extensive combustion of fossil fuels have caused acidification of freshwater systems on a continental scale, resulting in reduced species diversity and, in some instances, impaired ecological functioning. In regions where acidity is natural, however, species diversity and functioning seem to be less affected. This contrasting response is likely to have more than one explanation including the possibility of adaptation in organisms exposed to natural acidity over evolutionary time scales and differential toxicity due to dissimilarities in water chemistry other than pH. However, empirical evidence supporting these hypotheses is equivocal. Partly, this is because previous research has mainly been conducted at relatively small geographical scales, and information on ecological functioning in this context is generally scarce. Our goal was to test whether anthropogenic acidity has stronger negative effects on species diversity and ecological functioning than natural acidity. Using a meta-analytic approach based on 60 datasets, we show that macroinvertebrate species richness and the decomposition of leaf litter—an important process in small streams—tend to decrease with increasing acidity across regions and across both the acidity categories. Macroinvertebrate species richness, however, declines three times more rapidly with increasing acidity where it is anthropogenic than where it is natural, in agreement with the adaptation hypothesis and the hypothesis of differences in water chemistry. By contrast, the loss in ecological functioning differs little between the categories, probably because increases in the biomass of taxa remaining at low pH compensate for losses in functionality that would otherwise accompany losses of taxa from acidic systems. This example from freshwater acidification illustrates how natural and anthropogenic stressors can differ markedly in their effects on species diversity and one aspect of ecological functioning.

scholarly journals Large-scale recovery of an endangered amphibian despite ongoing exposure to multiple stressors

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (42) ◽  
pp. 11889-11894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland A. Knapp ◽  
Gary M. Fellers ◽  
Patrick M. Kleeman ◽  
David A. W. Miller ◽  
Vance T. Vredenburg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Amphibian Declines ◽  
Active Management ◽  
Introduced Fish

Amphibians are one of the most threatened animal groups, with 32% of species at risk for extinction. Given this imperiled status, is the disappearance of a large fraction of the Earth’s amphibians inevitable, or are some declining species more resilient than is generally assumed? We address this question in a species that is emblematic of many declining amphibians, the endangered Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog (Rana sierrae). Based on >7,000 frog surveys conducted across Yosemite National Park over a 20-y period, we show that, after decades of decline and despite ongoing exposure to multiple stressors, including introduced fish, the recently emerged disease chytridiomycosis, and pesticides, R. sierrae abundance increased sevenfold during the study and at a rate of 11% per year. These increases occurred in hundreds of populations throughout Yosemite, providing a rare example of amphibian recovery at an ecologically relevant spatial scale. Results from a laboratory experiment indicate that these increases may be in part because of reduced frog susceptibility to chytridiomycosis. The disappearance of nonnative fish from numerous water bodies after cessation of stocking also contributed to the recovery. The large-scale increases in R. sierrae abundance that we document suggest that, when habitats are relatively intact and stressors are reduced in their importance by active management or species’ adaptive responses, declines of some amphibians may be partially reversible, at least at a regional scale. Other studies conducted over similarly large temporal and spatial scales are critically needed to provide insight and generality about the reversibility of amphibian declines at a global scale.

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