Spatial heterogeneity affecting fish fauna in cascade reservoirs of the Upper Paraná Basin, Brazil

Ferrareze, Mateus; Casatti, Lílian; Nogueira, Marcos Gomes

doi:10.1007/s10750-014-1922-5

Cited by 31 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Species sorting by environmental filtering could result in differences in species composition between Paraná River and its tributaries and between the tributaries themselves. Hence, species filtering may account for the relationship between species replacement and environmental variables (Ferrareze et al, 2014;Heino et al, 2015). In addition, the detection of this relationship may be a consequence of the size of the sample area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental heterogeneity explains species turnover but not nestedness in fish assemblages of a Neotropical basin

2017

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Aim: Heterogenous environments can contribute to maintain biodiversity. Traditionally beta diversity studies have focused on determining the effect of environmental variables on the total dissimilarity of species composition. However, decomposing beta diversity in species replacement and nestedness could give new insights on mechanisms affecting spatial patterns of biodiversity. We aimed to answer two main questions about spatial patterns of fish diversity in a Neotropical basin: 1) whether some regions contribute differently to fish diversity, and 2) whether species turnover and nestedness are explained by environmental gradients. Methods Sampling sites in the main channel and tributaries of the Upper Paraná River were sampled between 2013 and 2015. We partitioned beta diversity and tested the relationship of turnover and nestedness with environmental variables. Results 74 species were captured. Some of these species were restricted to different sites, contributing to variation in species composition. Hill numbers showed a trend for higher diversity in the tributaries than in Paraná River sampling sites, and the partition of beta diversity revealed that species replacement drove dissimilarity in species composition. Only total beta diversity and turnover were related to environmental variables, mainly conductivity and turbidity. Conclusions Species diversity and composition of fish assemblages in the Upper Paraná River could be related to environmental gradients. Overall, our results suggest that Paraná River tributaries contribute to increase environmental heterogeneity, and hence to maintain a high diversity and variation in species composition. For that reason, we strongly recommend preserving highly heterogeneous habitats in the region.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental heterogeneity explains species turnover but not nestedness in fish assemblages of a Neotropical basin

2017

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“…When there are no lotic remnants between reservoirs built in series along a river (this varies according to the water level of the next reservoir in the cascade), the possibilities to compare lotic and lentic environments in a cascade are more limited. Nevertheless, a few studies have demonstrated fish diversity impacts in lotic stretches between dams in a reservoir cascade (Ferrareze, Casatti, & Nogueira, ; Ferrareze, Nogueira, et al., ; Miranda & Dembkowski, ; Miranda et al., ; Silva et al., ). Moreover, there are indications that lotic stretches associated with lentic environments are important for the maintenance of fish diversity (Agostinho et al., ; Marques et al., ; Miranda & Dembkowski, ; dos Santos et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal changes in fish diversity in lotic and lentic environments along a reservoir cascade

Loures

2019

Freshwater Biology

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Long‐term modifications in hydrological conditions due to river damming result in varied effects on fish diversity, which can be stronger in a reservoir cascade. Therefore, we assessed changes in fish diversity over a 28‐year period, in a series of reservoirs along the Araguari River Basin, a Neotropical drainage in Brazil, in both lentic environments (reservoirs) and the lotic stretches between them. We used linear mixed models to assess long‐term changes in fish diversity. Diversity was measured as α diversity (fish species richness) and β diversity (Jaccard's and Raup–Crick's dissimilarity index). Beta diversity was then partitioned into turnover (species replacement) and nestedness (species loss). To understand fish species replacement along the cascade, we modelled turnover with four covariates: age, richness of native and non‐native fish species, and longitudinal position of sampling site along the cascade. The reduction of total richness and the increase in non‐native richness were related to reservoir age. These effects were similar in both lotic and lentic environments, with no significant difference between them. We also observed a decrease in native fish richness over time, with a slight tendency for lentic environments to lose more species than lotic environments. Dissimilarity in fish assemblage increased over time and β Raup–Crick results corroborated those derived from β Jaccard, yielding similar significant temporal trends. Changes in fish species composition occurred predominantly due to turnover, compared to nestedness. We observed a greater species loss in reservoirs, suggesting that the transformation from a lotic environment into a lentic had greater impact on fish assemblages than the flow regulation of the lotic stretches downstream of the dams. Our results suggest that species replacement can be explained mainly by the increase of non‐native fish richness, followed by the longitudinal position along the cascade in an upstream–downstream direction, and reservoir age. This study reveals that, even after 2 decades of monitoring, we still observe important changes in fish assemblages, demonstrating the importance of long‐term monitoring to assess biodiversity. Our findings reinforce the importance of long‐term fish monitoring schemes for the investigation of the effects of non‐native fish species on native fish assemblages.

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“…However, the chlorophyll values in the aquatic systems of the Paranapanema basin are consistently low, generally around or lower than 3 µg·L −1 . This pattern has been observed for the entire reservoir cascade [42], including both storage and run-of-river reservoirs [58,59]. Even in lateral lagoons where phytoplankton development is favored, the chlorophyll values remain between 2 and 3 µg·L −1 [60].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Indirect Assessment of Sedimentation in Hydropower Dams Using MODIS Remote Sensing Images

et al. 2019

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In this study, we used moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite images to quantify the sedimentation processes in a cascade of six hydropower dams along a 700-km transect in the Paranapanema River in Brazil. Turbidity field measurement acquired over 10 years were used to calibrate a turbidity retrieval algorithm based on MODIS surface reflectance products. An independent field dataset was used to validate the remote sensing estimates showing fine accuracy (RMSE of 9.5 NTU, r = 0.75, N = 138). By processing 13 years of MODIS images since 2000, we showed that satellite data can provide robust turbidity monitoring over the entire transect and can identify extreme sediment discharge events occurring on daily to annual scales. We retrieved the decrease in the water turbidity as a function of distance within each reservoir that is related to sedimentation processes. The remote sensing-retrieved turbidity decrease within the reservoirs ranged from 2 to 62% making possible to infer the reservoir type and operation (storage versus run-of-river reservoirs). The reduction in turbidity assessed from space presented a good relationship with conventional sediment trapping efficiency calculations, demonstrating the potential use of this technology for monitoring the intensity of sedimentation processes within reservoirs and at large scale.

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Spatial heterogeneity affecting fish fauna in cascade reservoirs of the Upper Paraná Basin, Brazil

Cited by 31 publications

References 30 publications

Environmental heterogeneity explains species turnover but not nestedness in fish assemblages of a Neotropical basin

Environmental heterogeneity explains species turnover but not nestedness in fish assemblages of a Neotropical basin

Temporal changes in fish diversity in lotic and lentic environments along a reservoir cascade

Indirect Assessment of Sedimentation in Hydropower Dams Using MODIS Remote Sensing Images

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