Fish beta diversity responses to environmental heterogeneity and flood pulses are different according to reproductive guild

Abstract

In floodplain communities, beta diversity is influenced by different factors; however, environmental heterogeneity and floods are believed to be particularly influential. The influence of environmental heterogeneity and floods on beta diversity may vary among guilds that present different ecological traits. This study evaluated the correlation between the environmental heterogeneity and flood periods and the beta diversity of trophic and reproductive guilds of fish assemblages. Sampling was conducted quarterly between 2000 and 2012 in the upper Paraná River floodplain. The environmental heterogeneity and period (i.e., dry or flood) were associated with the beta diversity of each guild based on the results of generalized least squares linear models. Only guilds with parental care were influenced by the interaction between environmental heterogeneity and period. The beta diversity of the other guilds presented no relationship between environmental heterogeneity and period. It is likely that species with parental care presented less dispersal capacity, which increased the dissimilarity among assemblages. The higher dispersion rates of the other guilds may be responsible for the lack of relationship between the beta diversity and the environmental heterogeneity and period. In sum, these results suggest that reproductive guilds influence how environmental heterogeneity and floods affect beta diversity variation.

Local environmental factors influence beta‐diversity patterns of tropical fish assemblages more than spatial factors

“…The annual flood pulse promotes fish dispersal, frequent restructuring of fish assemblages over variable spatial scales, homogenization of assemblage composition, and a decline in β diversity. Gutiérrez et al () evaluated the effects of environmental heterogeneity and floods on fish β diversity in a floodplain reach of the Upper Paraná River and found that for species with high dispersal capabilities, there was no clear relation between the flood pulse, environmental heterogeneity, and β diversity. Only those fishes with limited dispersal rates, especially substrate‐nesting species with brood care, revealed patterns associated with hydrological and environmental variation.…”

How does conversion from forest to pasture affect the taxonomic and functional structure of the fish assemblages in Amazonian streams?

“…The conversion of forest to pasture is also expected to have a negative impact on species with specific functional traits, such as parental care, benthic habits, and invertivorous or piscivorous diets (Casatti et al., 2012). Parental care, for example, may depend on the availability of allochthonous debris to provide shelter and is typical of species with a reduced dispersal capacity (Gutiérrez et al., 2018). The reduced heterogeneity in the substrate of the streambed may also be unfavourable to benthic species (Teresa et al., 2015), while many insect and fish prey may disappear due to the absence of riparian vegetation (Woodward & Hildrew, 2002).…”

Diversidad y estructura de los ensamblajes ícticos en los humedales, caños y esteros de la sabana inundable del río Ariporo, Casanare, Colombia

“…Asimismo, la secuencia hidrológica producto de los pulsos de inundación (Junk, et al, 1989) somete a las comunidades ícticas a sucesiones ecológicas regulares y repetidas y establece relaciones recíprocas entre las corrientes de agua y los cuerpos lénticos (Lewis, et al, 2000;Bozelli, et al, 2015). En consecuencia, estas comunidades logran dispersarse en todos los ambientes acuáticos disponibles a medida que los ecosistemas fluctúan (Lacambra & Pinilla, 2004;Gutiérrez, et al, 2018).…”