Dammed river: Short‐ and long‐term consequences for fish species inhabiting a river in a Mediterranean climate in central Chile

Vega‐Retter, Caren; Muñoz‐Rojas, Pablo; Rojas‐Hernández, Noemí; Copaja, Sylvia V.; Flores‐Prado, Luis; Véliz, David

doi:10.1002/aqc.3425

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 83 publications

(109 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The current genetic structure indicates that M . germanica can partially overcome both natural canyons and man-made check dams along Isel and its tributaries, although limitations in gene flow might only be detectable after a certain time 26 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neutral genetic markers allow to investigate if gene flow and therefore functional connectivity is still present along river networks 24 , 25 , if there is local population decline 26 , or ongoing migration 27 despite fragmented habitat. This information is crucial to assess the importance of tributaries and the contribution of single populations to genetic diversity further up- or downstream 28 , 29 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Gene flow in a pioneer plant metapopulation (Myricaria germanica) at the catchment scale in a fragmented alpine river system

Fink

Hoppler-Wiedmer

Zengerer

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

River alterations for natural hazard mitigation and land reclamation result in habitat decline and fragmentation for riparian plant species. Extreme events such as floods are responsible for additional local species loss or population decline. Tributaries might provide refugia and subsequent source populations for the colonization of downstream sites in connected riverine networks with metapopulations of plant species. In this study, we analyzed the metapopulation structure of the endangered riparian shrub species Myricaria germanica along the river Isel, Austria, which is part of the Natura 2000 network, and its tributaries. The use of 22 microsatellite markers allowed us to assess the role of tributaries and single populations as well as gene flow up- and downstream. The analysis of 1307 individuals from 45 sites shows the influence of tributaries to the genetic diversity at Isel and no overall isolation by distance pattern. Ongoing bidirectional gene flow is revealed by the detection of first-generation migrants in populations of all tributaries as well as the river Isel, supporting upstream dispersal by wind (seeds) or animals (seeds and pollen). However, some populations display significant population declines and high inbreeding, and recent migration rates are non-significant or low. The genetic pattern at the mouth of river Schwarzach into Isel and shortly thereafter river Kalserbach supports the finding that geographically close populations remain connected and that tributaries can form important refugia for M. germanica in the dynamic riverine network. Conservation and mitigation measures should therefore focus on providing sufficient habitat along tributaries of various size allowing pioneer plants to cope with extreme events in the main channel, especially as they are expected to be more frequent under changing climate.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gene flow in a pioneer plant metapopulation (Myricaria germanica) at the catchment scale in a fragmented alpine river system

Fink

Hoppler-Wiedmer

Zengerer

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Deviations from the null models may be detected when there are biotic or abiotic forces disrupting patterns of unidirectional genetic accumulation, differentiation, and/or IBD. Various abiotic barriers that have been reported as drivers of genetic divergence in riverine fishes include high-energy rapids (Alter et al, 2015(Alter et al, , 2017Markert et al, 2010;Schwarzer et al, 2011), waterfalls (Kanno et al, 2011;Lujan et al, 2020), environmental gradients (Brauer et al, 2018;Tobler et al, 2008), and artificial barriers such as dams (Hansen et al, 2014;Samarasin et al, 2017;Vega-Retter et al, 2020). Such features in riverscapes often generate genetic structure in freshwater fishes (Lundberg et al, 2000;Thomaz et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riverscape genomics of cichlid fishes in the lower Congo: Uncovering mechanisms of diversification in an extreme hydrological regime

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Freshwater fishes are notably diverse, given that freshwater habitat represents a tiny fraction of the earth's surface, but the mechanisms generating this diversity remain poorly understood. Rivers provide excellent models to understand how freshwater diversity is generated and maintained across heterogeneous habitats. In particular, the lower Congo River (LCR) consists of a dynamic hydroscape exhibiting extraordinary aquatic biodiversity, endemicity, morphological and ecological specialization. Previous studies have suggested that the numerous high‐energy rapids throughout the LCR form physical barriers to gene flow, thus facilitating diversification and speciation, generating ichthyofaunal diversity. However, this hypothesis has not been fully explored using genome‐wide SNPs for fish species distributed across the LCR. Here, we examined four lamprologine cichlids endemic to the LCR that are distributed along the river without range overlap. Using genome‐wide SNP data, we tested the hypotheses that high‐energy rapids serve as physical barriers to gene flow that generate genetic divergence at interspecific and intraspecific levels, and that gene flow occurs primarily in a downstream direction. Our results are consistent with the prediction that powerful rapids sometimes act as a barrier to gene flow but also suggest that, at certain temporal and spatial scales, they may provide multidirectional dispersal opportunities for riverine rheophilic cichlid fishes. These results highlight the complexity of diversification processes in rivers and the importance of assessing such processes across different riverscapes.

show abstract

“…Several studies have evaluated the effects of dams on fish population structure (Baggio et al., 2018; Esguícero & Arcifa, 2010; Ferreira et al., 2017; Underwood et al., 2016), as well as genetic diversity (Blanchet et al., 2010; Faulks et al., 2011; Horreo et al., 2011; Pavlova et al., 2017; Van Leeuwen et al., 2018). However, to the best of our knowledge, how genetic diversity levels are affected over time is understudied (Vega‐Retter et al., 2020). While a spatial understanding of the consequences of extensive habitat loss and fragmentation is essential, a multitemporal approach that considers these same consequences is also relevant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Damming shapes genetic patterns and may affect the persistence of freshwater fish populations

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

River damming threatens freshwater biodiversity worldwide by isolating populations, reducing both gene flow and genetic variation, and affecting the ability of a given population to adapt to environmental changes. Herein, we employed a microsatellite DNA marker panel and a multitemporal approach to assess the effects of damming on the genetic diversity of a long‐lived species from both contemporary and historical perspectives. To accomplish this, we used the migratory catfish Pseudoplatystoma corruscans as a model and sampled it in two South American basins. We tested whether: (1) populations from dammed and undammed environments would display different levels of genetic diversity; (2) ecosystem size would influence the level of genetic diversity; and (3) projected whether fish populations would maintain their current genetic diversity in the long term. Our findings reveal that P. corruscans populations from dammed landscapes with smaller ecosystems showed smaller estimated effective population size, lower genetic diversity, and higher relatedness coefficient than in intermediate ecosystem size in both dammed and undammed environments. We also noticed changes in estimated gene flow and effective population size from both contemporary and historical perspectives, probably because of dams. Predictive genetic diversity analysis revealed a critical scenario for the long‐term persistence of P. corruscans in dammed environments with smaller ecosystem sizes. Our study suggests that anthropogenic barriers have substantially impacted genetic diversity and genetic structuring of the migratory fish P. corruscans. Thus, the formation of conservation policies is urgently needed to avoid local extinctions of this species in fragmented riverscapes. We highlighted the effectiveness of large ecosystems and connectivity between populations in conserving genetic diversity of migratory fishes.

show abstract

Dammed river: Short‐ and long‐term consequences for fish species inhabiting a river in a Mediterranean climate in central Chile

Cited by 9 publications

References 83 publications

Gene flow in a pioneer plant metapopulation (Myricaria germanica) at the catchment scale in a fragmented alpine river system

Gene flow in a pioneer plant metapopulation (Myricaria germanica) at the catchment scale in a fragmented alpine river system

Riverscape genomics of cichlid fishes in the lower Congo: Uncovering mechanisms of diversification in an extreme hydrological regime

Damming shapes genetic patterns and may affect the persistence of freshwater fish populations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About