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Long-term responses of fish diversity to river regulation: a multi-metric approach

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Abstract

Large dams disrupt river ecosystems, causing negative effects on fish assemblages. Few studies, however, have investigated how Neotropical fish diversity responds to river regulation in longer temporal scales. In this study, we used a multi-metric approach to investigated temporal changes in taxonomic and functional fish diversity over 15 years-period following the construction of a large dam in the Upper Tocantins River, Amazon. We analyzed biological and environmental data collected in the impounded area before (2000–2002) and after (2003–2014) river regulation. Diversity metrics responded differently to the impoundment. Some metrics were not affected, as they showed little variation over years, such as fish abundance, species, and trait richness. Other metrics changed significantly between periods, such as taxonomic composition, temporal beta diversity, and trait abundance. Species with traits that are sensitive to hydrological alterations declined in the impoundment, while sedentary species were favored. Assemblage trajectories were variable, but community structure developed into a different state in the impoundment. Landscape variables explained changes in fish dissimilarity over time. In general, our study supports the notion that fish diversity in Amazonian rivers is vulnerable to river damming, but also indicates that different metrics show particular responses to this disturbance.

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Acknowledgments

Thank you for all the suggestions made by the professors from the Programa de Pós Graduação em Ciências Ambientais-PPGCA of Universidade de Brasília-UnB. This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior CAPES (Financing Code 001), a Brazilian public institution for the promotion of research. FBT, FMP and LCGV were supported by productivity fellowships of Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas Ambientais e Limnológicas – NEPAL, Faculdade UnB de Planaltina, Universidade de Brasília – UnB, Área Universitária 1, Vila Nossa Senhora de Fátima, CEP, Planaltina, DF, 73345-010, Brazil

    Hasley Rodrigo Pereira, Leonardo Fernandes Gomes, Pedro Ribeiro Martins & Ludgero Cardoso Galli Vieira

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, CEP, Campo Grande, MS, 79002-970, Brazil

    Philip Teles Soares

  3. Núcleo de Estudos Ambientais, Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Jardim dos Ipês, Porto Nacional, TO, 77500-000, Brazil

    Fernando Mayer Pelicice

  4. Universidade Estadual de Goiás (UEG), Campus Central, Br- 153, 3105, Fazenda Barreiro do Meio, CP 459, CEP, Anápolis, GO, 75132-903, Brazil

    Fabrício Barreto Teresa

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  1. Hasley Rodrigo Pereira
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Correspondence to Hasley Rodrigo Pereira.

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Pereira, H.R., Gomes, L.F., Soares, P.T. et al. Long-term responses of fish diversity to river regulation: a multi-metric approach. Environ Biol Fish 104, 71–84 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01056-0

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