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Beta diversity of stream fish communities along anthropogenic environmental gradients at multiple spatial scales

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Abstract

Despite the importance of assessing beta diversity to understand the effects of human modifications on biological communities, there are almost no studies that properly addressed how beta diversity varies along anthropogenic gradients. We developed an algorithm to calculate beta diversity among a set of sites included in a moving window along any given environmental gradient. This allowed us to assess beta diversity among sites with similar conditions in terms of human modifications (e.g., land use or instream degradation). We investigated beta diversity using stream fish community data and indicators of human modification quantified at four spatial scales (whole catchment, riparian, local, and instream). Variation in beta diversity was dependent on the scale of human modifications (catchment, riparian, local, instream, and all four scales combined) and on the type of diversity considered (taxonomic or functional). We also found evidence for non-linear responses of both taxonomic and functional beta diversity to human-induced environmental alterations. Therefore, the response of beta diversity was more complex than expected, as it depended on the scale used to quantify human impact and exhibited opposite responses depending on the location along the environmental impact gradient and on whether the response was taxonomic or functional diversity. Anthropogenic modifications can introduce unexpected variability among stream communities, which means that low beta diversity may not necessarily indicate a degraded environmental condition and high beta diversity may not always indicate a reference environmental condition. This has implications for how we should consider beta diversity in environmental assessments.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to C Hartmann, M Camana, M Dalmolin, L de Fries, BA Meneses, LR Podgaiski, V Bastazini, V Lampert, M Santos, KO Bonato, and RA Silveira for their fieldwork assistance. We also thank J Ferrer, T Carvalho, and LR Malabarba (Laboratório de Ictiologia of the UFRGS) for assistance with species identification. This research was funded by CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico; 457503/2012-2). This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001 (doctorate scholarships to RB Dala-Corte and LF Sgarbi). AS Melo received a research fellowship from CNPq (proc. 309412/2014-5).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade Animal, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Campus Samambaia, Av. Esperança, S/N, PO Box 131, Goiânia, GO, 74001-970, Brazil

    Renato B. Dala-Corte

  2. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, 91501-970, Brazil

    Renato B. Dala-Corte & Fernando G. Becker

  3. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, 74001-970, Brazil

    Luciano F. Sgarbi

  4. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, 74001-970, Brazil

    Adriano S. Melo

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  1. Renato B. Dala-Corte
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Correspondence to Renato B. Dala-Corte.

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Dala-Corte, R.B., Sgarbi, L.F., Becker, F.G. et al. Beta diversity of stream fish communities along anthropogenic environmental gradients at multiple spatial scales. Environ Monit Assess 191, 288 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7448-6

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