Environmental factors associated with fish assemblage patterns in a high gradient river of the Gulf of Mexico slope

Abstract

Using multivariate analyses of fish community and environmental data, we explored associations among 13 fish species and 9 ecological guilds and identified ecological gradients that explain patterns in the fish community of the La Antigua River (Veracruz, Mexico). Altitude, distance to ocean, stream width, and water temperature were the most important variables explaining community composition. Sites with high altitudes (> 1 393 m), cold water (< 17ºC), located far from the ocean (> 100 km) and less than 5 m wide were dominated by non-native Onchorhynchus mykiss. Many sites exclusively inhabited by native poeciliids were also narrow (< 2 m), but were located at intermediate altitudes (1 039-1 400 m) and distances to the ocean (> 80 km, < 100 km) and had warmer water temperatures (> 20ºC). Because 7 guilds were exclusive to a single species, results from the guild analysis were very similar to species-specific analyses. Higher species and guild diversity were found in wider sites (> 5 m), sites with lower altitudes (< 600 m), and sites closer to the ocean (< 71 km). Variables related to human influence did not explain trends found in the fish communities.

Competition from sea to mountain: Interactions and aggregation in low‐diversity monogenean and endohelminth communities in twospot livebearerPseudoxiphophorus bimaculatus(Teleostei: Poeciliidae) populations in a neotropical river

“…The upper watershed of the La Antigua River covers a wide altitudinal range, from 480 to 4,200 m a. s. l. before the river arrives at the coastal plain. The river runs approximately 100 km east of the Gulf of Mexico (Mercado-Silva, Lyons, Díaz-Pardo, Navarrete, & Gutiérrez-Hernández, 2012).…”

Diversity and longitudinal distribution of freshwater fish in Klawing River, Central Java, Indonesia

“…Such differences in land use result in different fish macro-and microhabitats. According to Mercado-Silva et al (2012), the vegetation, land use, and topographic conditions in a basin determine the hydrology and chemistry of receiving waters and exert direct effects on resident organisms. However, other factors such as water temperature, channel depth, and biological interactions determine the species present in a particular river region.…”

Patterns of fish species distributions replicated across three parallel rivers suggest biotic zonation in response to a longitudinal temperature gradient

“…For many species, the difference between their optimal thermal preference and the temperature where lethality or severe functional impairment occurs (critical upper temperature) is only a few degrees (Jobling, 1981). Nonetheless, abundant evidence suggests that distributions of fishes are often determined by a combination of several physicochemical variables, including temperature, and ecological interactions (e.g., Blanchet, Helmus, Brosse, & Grenouillet, 2014;Braaten & Guy, 1999;Brazner et al, 2005;Carvalho & Tejerina-Garro, 2015;Furlan, Esteves, & Quinaglia, 2013;Jackson, Peres-Neto, & Olden, 2001;Jaramillo-Villa, Maldonado-Ocampo, & Escobar, 2010;Lin, Tsai, Lin, Jong, & Wang, 2014;McCleary & Hassan, 2008;McGarvey, 2011;Mercado-Silva, Lyons, Diaz-Pardo, Navarrete, & Gutierrez-Hernandez, 2012;Murray & Innes, 2009;Rahel & Hubert, 1991;Smith & Kraft, 2005;Stevenson, Schnell, & Black, 1974;Troia & Gido, 2013).…”

“…A pattern of species addition, with greater species richness at lower elevation, but no discrete changes in species assemblages or associations with particular environmental factors, would be expected due to increased space, productivity and temporal stability at lower elevations. Our study is an improvement on previous attempts to elucidate these patterns (Jaramillo-Villa et al, 2010;Mercado-Silva et al, 2012;Rahel & Hubert, 1991) because we modelled longitudinal species distributions using extensive fine-scaled sampling along the full length of three replicate parallel mainstem rivers and, thereby, we were better able to draw general conclusions about patterns of species assemblage and the importance of particular environmental variables on species distributions. Also, unlike other studies conducted over similar geographic scales (e.g., Buisson, Blanc, & Grenouillet, 2008;Grenouillet, Pont, & Herisse, 2004;Pont, Hugueny, & Oberdorff, 2005), our aim was not merely to describe species distribution models and local species richness, but to specifically relate species diversity and assemblage to temperature in the context of predicting and preparing for the effects of climate change.…”