Hierarchy in factors affecting fish biodiversity in floodplain lakes of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Abstract

River-floodplain ecosystems offer some of the most diverse and dynamic environments in the world. Accordingly, floodplain habitats harbor diverse fish assemblages. Fish biodiversity in floodplain lakes may be influenced by multiple variables operating on disparate scales, and these variables may exhibit a hierarchical organization depending on whether one variable governs another. In this study, we examined the interaction between primary variables descriptive of floodplain lake large-scale features, suites of secondary variables descriptive of water quality and primary productivity, and a set of tertiary variables descriptive of fish biodiversity across a range of floodplain lakes in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley of Mississippi and Arkansas (USA). Lakes varied considerably in their representation of primary, secondary, and tertiary variables. Multivariate direct gradient analyses indicated that lake maximum depth and the percentage of agricultural land surrounding a lake were the most important factors controlling variation in suites of secondary and tertiary variables, followed to a lesser extent by lake surface area. Fish biodiversity was generally greatest in large, deep lakes with lower proportions of watershed agricultural land. Our results may help foster a holistic approach to floodplain lake management and suggest the framework for a feedback model wherein primary variables can be manipulated for conservation and restoration purposes and secondary and tertiary variables can be used to monitor the success of such efforts.

Links between riparian landcover, instream environment and fish assemblages in headwater streams of south‐eastern Brazil

“…; Marsh‐Matthews & Matthews ; Anderson ; Villéger et al. ; Dembkowski & Miranda ; Teresa & Casatti ). Penczak et al.…”

Environmental Factors Structuring Fish Communities in Floodplain Lakes of the Undisturbed System of the Biebrza River

“…They observed greater species richness in connected floodplain water bodies than in isolated water bodies. Also Dembkowski and Miranda [13], based on the monitoring of fish assemblages in two segments of an oxbow lake, one connected to and the other isolated from the Yazoo River, stated that greater species richness, diversity, and evenness were observed in the connected segment than isolated one.…”

“…Due to the variation in the connectivity, laterally across the floodplain, a distinct zonation of the habitats has been widely reported both for tropical [6][7][8] and temperate rivers [9,10]. Differences in the connection of floodplain lakes with the river channel determine the availability of nutrients and the degree to which processes such as primary productivity and decomposition are controlled by the river [11][12][13]. Floodplain ecosystems connected to the river are particularly open to exchange of matter with the river which leads to higher concentrations of macroelements, while ecosystems isolated from the nearby river for most of the year acquire a lentic character that promotes autogenic, mainly organic, matter cycling.…”

The influence of habitat structure on fish assemblages in Amazonian streams of Machado river basin

“…Their biological and physicochemical features are therefore greatly influenced by the surrounding vegetation (Mendonça, Magnusson, & Zuanon, 2005). They are also considered to be extremely vulnerable to environmental impacts, such as land-use change by agricultural purposes, which may cause environmental degradation (Dembkowski & Miranda, 2012) and influence aquatic vertebrate fauna (Miserendino et al, 2011).Physicochemical habitat characteristics are considered to be highly relevant factors affecting the distribution of species and the organization of communities in streams (Hoeinghaus, Winemiller, & Birnbaum, 2007). Variations in species composition, structure and distribution in fish assemblages has been attributed to area (i.e.…”

“…Their biological and physicochemical features are therefore greatly influenced by the surrounding vegetation (Mendonça, Magnusson, & Zuanon, 2005). They are also considered to be extremely vulnerable to environmental impacts, such as land-use change by agricultural purposes, which may cause environmental degradation (Dembkowski & Miranda, 2012) and influence aquatic vertebrate fauna (Miserendino et al, 2011).…”