Gradients in stream fish assemblages across a Mediterranean landscape: contributions of environmental factors and spatial structure

Abstract

1. Despite wide recognition that fish assemblages are influenced by factors operating over a range of spatial scales, little effort has been devoted to quantifying large‐scale variation and the multiscale dependencies of assemblage patterns and processes. This is particularly true for Mediterranean streams, where seasonally predictable drying‐up may lead to a strong association between assemblage attributes and large‐scale factors affecting the distribution of population sources and extinction likelihood. 2. The contribution of large‐scale factors to stream fish assemblage variation was quantified across a Mediterranean landscape, in south‐west Portugal. Fish abundance and species composition were estimated at 166 sites across third‐ to sixth‐order streams, in March–July 1998. Variance partitioning by redundancy analyses was used to analyse assemblage variation against three sets of predictor variables: environmental (catchment position, and geomorphic and hydrological factors), large‐scale spatial trends and neighbourhood effects. 3. Environmental variables and spatial trends accounted for 34.6% of the assemblage variation across the entire region, and for 36.6 and 57.8% within the two largest catchments (Mira and Seixe). Neighbourhood effects were analysed at the catchment scale, increasing the explained variation to 56.1% (Mira) and 70.7% (Seixe). 4. A prevailing environmental gradient was reflected in an increase in the abundance of all species and size‐classes in relation to catchment position, with more fish present in larger streams and in downstream reaches. Variables describing geomorphic and hydrological settings were less important in explaining assemblage variation. 5. Spatial trends always accounted for the smallest fraction of assemblage variation, and they were probably associated with historical barriers to fish dispersal. The strong neighbourhood effects may be related to spatially autocorrelated habitat conditions, but they are also a likely consequence of fish emigration/extinction and colonisation processes. 6. These results emphasise that a substantial proportion of fish assemblage variation in Mediterranean streams may be explained by large‐scale factors, irrespective of microhabitats and local biotic interactions. It is suggested that this pattern results to a large extent from the seasonal drying‐up, with the summer shortage of surface water limiting fish occurrence in headwaters, and consequently the key core areas for fish concentrating in larger streams and tributaries adjacent to large streams because of neighbourhood effects.

Fish-based groups for ecological assessment in rivers: the importance of environmental drivers on taxonomic and functional traits of fish assemblages

“…Accordingly, similar pattern in species diversity was observed. These results are in accordance with numerous previous studies (Godinho et al, 1997(Godinho et al, , 2000Carmona et al, 1999;Pires et al, 1999Pires et al, , 2004Mesquita and Coelho, 2002;Magalhães et al, 2002aMagalhães et al, , 2002bMagalhães et al, , 2007Clavero et al, 2004;Ferreira and Oliveira, 2004;Clavero and Garcia-Berthou, 2006;Mesquita et al, 2006;Ferreira et al, 2007aFerreira et al, , 2007b. In fact, increasing local species richness along the longitudinal stream gradient is a very well known pattern (e.g.…”

“…communities sampled at a small spatial extent) are structured by a combination of historic, regional, and local factors operating at different spatial and temporal scales (Poff, 1997;Whittaker et al, 2001;Hoeinghaus et al 2007). Whether are large-scale (Schlosser, 1991;Marsh-Matthews and Matthews, 2000;Magalhães et al, 2002a;Hoeinghaus et al, 2007) or local environmental factors (Ricklefs and Schluter, 1993;Ricklefs, 2006), the principal determinants of community structure continuous to be a widely debated issue. At larger spatial scales, historic (e.g.…”

Seasonal changes in fish assemblages in the River Minho tidal freshwater wetlands, NW of the Iberian Peninsula

“…Differences between precipitation and river flow in autumn 2007, spring 2008 and autumn 2009 were evident, which seems related with dam operations. The marked seasonal and inter-annual variability of precipitation regime are key factors structuring freshwater fish assemblages in Mediterranean streams (Magalha˜es et al, 2002) which is also evident in Minho TFWs (this work). For example, higher water temperatures had a significant negative effect on the observed number of species, but a positive effect on the abundance and biomass of NIS.…”

Effects of land use on fish assemblages in Patagonian low order streams

“…Poff, 1997;Porter et al, 2000;Higgins and Strauss, 2008). Some of these studies indicated that fish assemblages can be structured not only by local processes, but also by large-scale environmental factors (Magalha˜es et al, 2002;Hoeinghaus et al, 2006). Thus, to understand the fish species-habitat relationships multiscale approaches are necessary (Ferreira et al, 2007).…”