Geomorphology variables predict fish assemblages for forested and endorheic rivers of two continents

Shields, Robert C.; Pyron, Mark; Arsenault, Emily R.; Thorp, James H.; Minder, Mario; Artz, Caleb; Costello, John H.; Otgonganbat, Amarbat; Mendsaikhan, Bud; Altangerel, Solongo; Maasri, Alain

doi:10.1002/ece3.8300

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…These disturbances have likely contributed to a landscape legacy of increased connectivity, which we observe in the spatial signals in the lowland metacommunity across each diversity dimension (Robinson et al, 2002;Wenger et al, 2008). When comparing rivers, geomorphic variables including the width and gradient of streams dictated community structure with constrained river valleys having more varied rocky substrate and log jams to provide fish cover and wide river valleys showing increased riparian vegetation, slower water velocities, and less woody debris (Walters et al, 2003;Shields et al, 2021). In contrast to the lowlands, beta diversity in the upstate was affected more by anthropogenic and natural environmental factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Effects of environment and metacommunity delineation on multiple dimensions of stream fish beta diversity

et al. 2023

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IntroductionBeta diversity represents changes in community composition among locations across a landscape. While the effects of human activities on beta diversity are becoming clearer, few studies have considered human effects on the three dimensions of beta diversity: taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic. Including anthropogenic factors and multiple dimensions of biodiversity may explain additional variation in stream fish beta diversity, providing new insight into how metacommunities are structured within different spatial delineations.MethodsIn this study, we used a 350 site stream fish abundance dataset from South Carolina, United States to quantify beta diversity explainable by spatial, natural environmental, and anthropogenic variables. We investigated three spatial delineations: (1) a single whole-state metacommunity delineated by political boundaries, (2) two metacommunities delineated by a natural geomorphic break separating uplands from lowlands, and (3) four metacommunities delineated by natural watershed boundaries. Within each metacommunity we calculated taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic beta diversity and used variation partitioning to quantify spatial, natural environmental, and anthropogenic contributions to variations in beta diversity.ResultsWe explained 25–81% of the variation in stream fish beta diversity. The importance of these three factors in structuring metacommunities differed among the diversity dimensions, providing complementary perspectives on the processes shaping beta diversity in fish communities. The effect of spatial, natural environmental, and anthropogenic factors varied among the spatial delineations, which indicate conclusions drawn from variation partitioning may depend on the spatial delineation chosen by researchers.DiscussionOur study highlights the importance of considering human effects on metacommunity structure, quantifying multiple dimensions of beta diversity, and careful consideration of user-defined metacommunity boundaries in beta diversity analyses.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Effects of environment and metacommunity delineation on multiple dimensions of stream fish beta diversity

et al. 2023

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“…Sites were selected as part of a larger macrosystem ecology project using the GIS‐based tool RESonate to characterize river segments using valley‐scale hydrogeomorphic variables (Williams et al, 2013 ). Specific stream metrics for all of our sample sites can be found in Appendix A , and geomorphologic variables for these areas can be found in more detail in Shields et al ( 2021 ), a related project that was conducted under the same broader macrosystems project.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary overlap and selectivity among mountain steppe river fish in the United States and Mongolia

Minder

Arsenault

Pyron

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Lotic systems in mountain regions have historically provided secure habitat for native fish populations because of their relative isolation from human settlement and lack of upstream disturbances. However, rivers of mountain ecoregions are currently experiencing heightened levels of disturbance due to the introduction of nonnative species impacting endemic fishes in these areas. We compared the fish assemblages and diets of mountain steppe fishes of the stocked rivers in Wyoming with rivers in northern Mongolia where stocking is absent. Using gut content analysis, we quantified the selectivity and diets of fishes collected in these systems. Nonnative species had more generalist diets with lower levels of selectivity than most native species and native species had high levels of dietary specificity and selectivity. High abundances of nonnative species and high levels of dietary overlaps in our Wyoming sites is a cause of concern for native Cutthroat Trout and overall system stability. In contrast, fish assemblages characterizing Mongolia mountain steppe rivers were composed of only native species with diverse diets and higher selectivity values, suggesting low probability for interspecific competition.

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Understanding ecological response to physical characteristics in side channels of a large floodplain-river ecosystem

Bouska

Sobotka

Slack

et al. 2023

Science of The Total Environment

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Geomorphology variables predict fish assemblages for forested and endorheic rivers of two continents

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 7 publications

References 70 publications

Effects of environment and metacommunity delineation on multiple dimensions of stream fish beta diversity

Effects of environment and metacommunity delineation on multiple dimensions of stream fish beta diversity

Dietary overlap and selectivity among mountain steppe river fish in the United States and Mongolia

Understanding ecological response to physical characteristics in side channels of a large floodplain-river ecosystem

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