Differential use of artificial habitats by native and non-native fish species in Neotropical reservoirs

Frehse, Fabrício de Andrade; Weyl, Olaf L. F.; Vitule, Jean Ricardo Simões

doi:10.1007/s10750-021-04564-3

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Hydrological alterations including changes in flow regime (dams, reservoirs) and water abstraction are some of the key stressors affecting native freshwater biodiversity, and these alterations often favor invasive species and lead to homogenization of freshwater faunas (e.g., Havel et al, 2015). Reservoirs increase establishment and dominance of AIS (e.g., Havel et al, 2015), and some types of artificial structures used to enhance fish habitat in reservoirs seem to preferentially benefit invasive fish (Frehse et al, 2021). A comparison of natural and anthropogenically modified (by damming, channelization and drained floodplains) stretches of a coastal river in Brazil found that non-native species occurred mainly in the disturbed stretches (Santos et al, 2021a).…”

Section: Impacts Of Aismentioning

confidence: 99%

Aquatic invasive species: introduction to the Special Issue and dynamics of public interest

et al. 2021

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Section: Impacts Of Aismentioning

confidence: 99%

Aquatic invasive species: introduction to the Special Issue and dynamics of public interest

et al. 2021

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“…This species has omnivorous habits, sedentary behaviour and an equilibrium life‐history strategy (Bastos et al, 2011), which explain its success in colonising habitats with more stable flows. Other studies in southern Brazil also have reported major increases in abundances of G. brasiliensis after dam closures (Borba et al, 2019; Frehse et al, 2021; Hirschmann et al, 2008), reinforcing its high affinity with artificial lentic habitats.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Effects of small hydropower dams on macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages in southern Brazil

et al. 2023

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Hydropower dams affect freshwater biodiversity by virtue of modifying flow regimes and degrading habitat conditions both above and below the water impoundment and diversion structure. In recent decades, there has been a global proliferation of Small Hydropower Plants (SHPs) propelled by incentive policies and a general perception that small dams are less harmful to the environment. However, limited science is available on the effects of SHPs on freshwater biodiversity, which is concerning considering their sheer numbers and the high variability in the size and operation of dams classified as SHPs. We investigated the ecological effects of 12 SHPs on macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages of the Chapecó River Basin, Brazil. Our study included sites located upstream of the SHPs and sites directly affected by their operations (i.e., reservoir, dewatering section and downstream of the powerhouse). This design allowed us to quantify shifts in taxonomic composition and examine the relative role of different SHP attributes (e.g., dam height, reservoir area, age) in explaining these changes. Our results reveal that SHPs modify the composition of both macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages, but the magnitude of such changes vary widely among dams. Both assemblages exhibited directionality in taxonomic shifts, resulting in a gradual replacement of taxa associated with fast‐flowing habitats by other groups more commonly associated with standing waters. We also found that changes in assemblage structureare related to structural (dam height, reservoir area) and spatial attributes (distance from headwaters) of SHPs, although the predictive power of these attributes varied taxonomically and among reservoir, dewatering and downstream sites. Overall, our results demonstrate that SHPs have important and heterogeneous effects on freshwater assemblages, which may manifest individually or cumulatively across the riverscape. This suggests that it is unlikely that a priori classifications of dams based on their structural attributes can replace site‐specific and cumulative impact assessments. The results also shed light on the need for better understanding of how SHP attributes shape their ecological effects, so that a full assessment of the potential environmental impacts of the wide range of "small" dams is possible.

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“…More careful management of habitat in modified lowland regions is required, but is poorly understood (Chester & Robson, 2013; Schürings et al, 2022) and considerations for fish habitat are lacking in pumped artificial drains. Elsewhere, artificial habitats have been introduced to supplement degraded natural habitats (Allen et al, 2014) and increase local abundance of fish (Frehse et al, 2021). Thus, introducing artificial habitats in artificial drains could provide fish with refuge from resident aquatic and avian predators when pumps do not operate and provide flow refuge during pump operation (Lemmens et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of extreme flood‐relief pump operations on resident fish in an artificial drain and the potential for artificial habitat introduction

Norman

Reeds

Wright

et al. 2023

Fisheries Management Eco

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Fish are ubiquitous in pumped artificial drains but channel maintenance exposes fish to high flows and predators, and fish communities may experience population‐level threats if they are unable to access refuge during extreme flood‐relief pump operations. We assessed the impact of an extreme flood‐relief pump operation and effects of artificial habitat introduction on a resident fish community in an artificial drain in Great Britain using side‐scan and multi‐beam sonar. Sonar surveys before the flood found abundant aggregations of resident fish, whereas no fish were found after the flood, which suggested flood‐relief pump operations significantly altered resident fish populations. Fish abundance near artificial habitats monitored before the flood were highest during crepuscular periods and was similar among three different artificial habitat designs. Our findings improve the understanding of extreme flood impacts on fish in artificial drains and demonstrate the usefulness of sonar techniques for surveying abundance and spatial distribution of fish populations before and after floods.

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Differential use of artificial habitats by native and non-native fish species in Neotropical reservoirs

Cited by 8 publications

References 44 publications

Aquatic invasive species: introduction to the Special Issue and dynamics of public interest

Aquatic invasive species: introduction to the Special Issue and dynamics of public interest

Effects of small hydropower dams on macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages in southern Brazil

The impact of extreme flood‐relief pump operations on resident fish in an artificial drain and the potential for artificial habitat introduction

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