Cumulative ecological effects of a Neotropical reservoir cascade across multiple assemblages

Santos, Natália Carneiro Lacerda dos; García‐Berthou, Emili; Dias, Juliana Déo; Lopes, Taise Miranda; Affonso, Igor de Paiva; Severi, William; Gomes, Luiz Carlos; Agostinho, Ângelo Antônio

doi:10.1007/s10750-018-3630-z

Cited by 59 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These results, corroborated with those found by Loures and Pompeu (), suggest that downstream sections of the Araguari cascade are the most impacted, probably due to cumulative effects observed over time along the cascade (e.g. dos Santos et al., ). Changes in fish assemblage diversity in an upstream–downstream gradient have been detected in other rivers worldwide, including in reservoir cascades (Agostinho et al., ; Miranda et al., ; Petesse & Petrere, ; dos Santos et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Despite the small spatial extent of some of the lotic stretches (<5 km) between reservoirs in the Araguari cascade, we observed that, in this environment, the decline in native fish species over time was lower than in the reservoirs. Some studies also demonstrate the temporal reduction of fish species in lotic stretches downstream of dams following reservoir formation (Granzotti et al., ; de Mérona et al., ); however, only a few studies have examined the lotic stretch between reservoirs (dos Santos et al., ). Physical habitat in streams is mainly determined by flow, which in turn is a major determinant of biotic composition (Bunn & Arthington, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…dos Santos et al., ). Changes in fish assemblage diversity in an upstream–downstream gradient have been detected in other rivers worldwide, including in reservoir cascades (Agostinho et al., ; Miranda et al., ; Petesse & Petrere, ; dos Santos et al., ). In addition, Kuczynski et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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%

See 3 more Smart Citations

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

Loures

2019

Freshwater Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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

Loures

2019

Freshwater Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Most of the large river systems worldwide are highly influenced by hydroelectric dams (Nilsson, Reidy, Dynesius, & Revenga, ; Winemiller et al, ). The construction of a dam on a river represents a major threat to aquatic ecosystems as it results in significant environmental modifications with critical consequences to biota (Agostinho, Gomes, Santos, Ortega, & Pelicice, ; Gubiani, Gomes, Agostinho, & Baumgartner, ; Santos et al, ). For instance, post‐dam limnological changes influence the composition and abundance of several biological groups, such as algae (Bertrand, Siauve, Fayolle, & Cazaubon, ), macrophytes (Thomaz, Carvalho, Padial, & Kobayashi, ), benthic invertebrates (Bredenhand & Samways, ), and fish (Agostinho, Pelicice, & Gomes, ; Granzotti, Miranda, Agostinho, & Gomes, ; Ngor, Legendre, Oberdorff, & Lek, ; Oliveira, Baumgartner, Gomes, Dias, & Agostinho, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dam reverse flow events influence limnological variables and fish assemblages of a downstream tributary in a Neotropical floodplain

Ferreira

Lopes

Affonso

et al. 2019

River Research & Apps

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We used a dam-free tributary (the Baía River) in the upper Paraná River floodplain downstream of a major dam in the Paraná River, Brazil to investigate the effects of dam-regulated reverse flow on limnological variables and fish. We tested the hypotheses that limnological variables in tributaries change based on flow direction and that fish assemblages respond to this variation. Sampling sites were determined considering flow direction (normal or reverse) and position (near or far from the river mouth).Limnological variables showed higher values for transparency, oxygen, pH, and electrical conductivity at sites near the mouth of the Baía River during reverse flow. Species richness and evenness differed significantly in relation to position, with higher values closer to the Paraná River. The average standard length of fish species was higher near the mouth of the Baía River and during the reverse flow period. No significant differences in species abundance were found. Reverse flow into the Baía River brought nutrient-poor water from the dammed Paraná River, thereby altering the limnological variables. This flow condition impelled the entry of species with higher average standard lengths. However, increased species richness and low evenness were due to the increase in species dispersal rates under all flow conditions. Our results emphasize that the effects of dams can extend several kilometres into the floodplain, provide basic knowledge on the effects of major dams on downstream pristine tributaries, and highlight the need for further studies to understand the wider influences. K E Y W O R D Saquatic macrophytes, fish assemblages, river level fluctuation, upper Paraná River floodplain

show abstract

Response of Fish Assemblages to Habitat Changes and Fishing Activity in a Tributary of the Jinsha River in Southwest China

Yang

Qing

Jin

et al. 2020

N American J Fish Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reservoir impoundment affects fish habitat condition, in turn likely influencing the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of fish assemblage structure in the impounded area. Fishing activity and instream gravel and sand mining are important anthropogenic factors, and flow discharge, water temperature, and precipitation are important natural environmental variables; both anthropogenic and natural factors likely have impacted fish assemblage structure in impounded and unimpounded waterbodies. We used multivariate analysis to evaluate the combined effects of two adjacent reservoir impoundments in the main stem of a large river (Jinsha River; the upper segments of the Yangtze River), overfishing, instream gravel and sand mining, the natural flow regime, and other environmental variables (water temperature and precipitation) on fish assemblage structure in the Heishui River, a small, free‐flowing tributary upstream of the mainstream reservoirs. Fish assemblage data and abiotic data collected over 10 years (2008, 2010, and 2011–2017) were analyzed. The results showed that fish assemblages of the Heishui River temporally clustered into two groups that were strongly associated with the two downstream cascade reservoirs (Xiangjiaba and Xiluodu reservoirs) in the main‐stem Jinsha River. The relationships between fish assemblage structure and abiotic factors were tested using a distance‐based linear model and were visualized using distance‐based redundancy analysis, showing that the main factors explaining the interannual and seasonal variation in fish assemblage structure were instream gravel and sand mining, mainstream reservoir impoundment, and seasonal flow regime. Among these, instream gravel and sand mining in this tributary played the most significant role in affecting the temporal variation of fish assemblage structure and explained 34.12% of the total variability. Mainstream reservoir impoundment and seasonal flow regime exerted secondary effects on the temporal variation of fish assemblage structure and together explained 13.39% (7.00% and 6.39%, respectively) of the total variability. This study suggests that the relevant administrative agencies should focus more on free‐flowing habitat maintenance in this tributary and the control of instream gravel and sand mining.

show abstract

Cumulative ecological effects of a Neotropical reservoir cascade across multiple assemblages

Cited by 59 publications

References 56 publications

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

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

Dam reverse flow events influence limnological variables and fish assemblages of a downstream tributary in a Neotropical floodplain

Response of Fish Assemblages to Habitat Changes and Fishing Activity in a Tributary of the Jinsha River in Southwest China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About