The arrival of a non-native species to a new environment threatens local biological diversity, causing instability in the functioning of the ecosystem. The adverse ecological effects caused by these species have been scarcely documented for the Magdalena basin. By studying predator-prey interactions, we characterized the trophic niche of three non-native species (Micropterus salmoides, Oncorhynchus mykiss, and Cyprinus carpio) that dominate a high Andean reservoir in the Magdalena basin. To understand whether non-native species are preying on native fish, or if they present specific feeding behaviors that facilitate their establishment in lentic environments, we evaluated the diversity of the prey they consume, their feeding strategy, and possible differences in the feeding scheme. Forty individuals were analyzed, and twenty categories of prey were identified for these species. The consumed prey corresponds to the native biota; however, no native fish were found in the stomach contents evaluated. The diversity of prey consumed is similar amongst species, however, M. salmoides behaves like an important predator, as it consumes a larger amount of prey. We observed that the variation in diet composition amongst the non-native species is different, which favors their coexistence as it reduces the competition amongst them. Analyzing the type of diet of this non-native fish is a useful tool that provides a description of some trophic interactions in this aquatic environment. Our results contribute information on the existing interactions amongst non-native species to the Magdalena basin, which is important for the development of strategies to manage and promote impact mitigation.
Las sabanas inundables son un bioma importante para la diversidad y funcionalidad de lascomunidades ícticas del Orinoco. Estas sabanas tienen gran conectividad y diversidad ecosistémica,incluida la conformación de diferentes tipos de humedales, por lo que comprender la forma en quesus comunidades de peces se estructuran en los diversos ambientes es clave para la conservaciónbiológica. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la diversidad, la composición y la estructura delos ensamblajes ícticos en los humedales, caños del sistema río-planicie de inundación y esteros delsistema periférico en la sabana inundable del río Ariporo (Casanare). Para ello se analizaron sietesitios distribuidos en ambos tipos de humedales muestreados durante dos periodos hidrométricos enaguas en descenso y aguas bajas. Los peces se recolectaron utilizando una red de arrastre de 10 mx 1,5 m y ojo de malla de 2 mm. La estructura y diversidad de los ensamblajes ícticos se analizaronmediante los modelos de distribución-abundancia, los números de Hill, el análisis de escalamientomultidimensional no-métrico (EMNM) y el índice de especies indicadoras (IndVal). Los resultadosindicaron que los caños albergan la mayor riqueza y diversidad de especies. Asimismo, el EMNM(stress=0,00009) evidenció la conformación de dos ensamblajes ícticos según el tipo de humedal. Enel ensamblaje íctico de caños, se registraron especies especialistas como indicadoras a diferencia delos esteros. Se sugiere que los caños albergan comunidades más complejas y diversas, en tanto quelos esteros son dominados por especies generalistas.
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