Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Responses of fish assemblages to subtle elevations in headwater streams in southwestern Amazonia

  • Primary Research Paper
  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize species composition and abundance of fish assemblages of low-order streams of the Machado River Basin and to identify the main environmental factors associated to fish assemblages along the elevational gradient. Fishes were collected by seine and dip nets, along an 80-m stretch of 71 streams. In each site, we recorded physical, chemical, and land–water ecotone variables. We collected 22,702 specimens of 91 species. Species richness and abundance varied negatively with elevation. Ordination and similarity analyses detected that streams located in higher and middle elevation ranges differed in species composition from those in the lower elevation range. Almost one-third of the recorded species were selected as indicator species. Species of the families Trichomycteridae, Cichlidae, Gymnotidae, and Characidae were closely associated with the land–water ecotone and structural characteristics of lower elevation range, whereas several other Characidae species were more abundant in middle elevation range, where aquatic vegetation cover and conductivity values were higher. By assuming that composition and relative abundance of fish respond to environmental changes, hydrological characteristics may be viewed as environmental filters for stream assemblages by ultimately selecting the pool of species able to reach for specific elevation ranges and meet their biological requirements.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abell, R., M. L. Thieme, C. Revenga, M. Bryer, M. Kottelat, N. Bogutskaya, B. Coad, N. Mandrak, S. C. Balderas, W. Bussing, M. L. J. Stiassny, P. Skelton, G. R. Allen, P. Unmack, A. Naseka, R. Ng, N. Sindorf, J. Robertson, E. Armijo, J. V. Higgins, T. J. Heibel, E. Wikramanayake, D. Olson, H. L. Lopez, R. E. Reis, J. G. Lundberg, M. H. S. Perez & P. Petry, 2008. Freshwater ecoregions of the world: a new map of biogeographic units for freshwater biodiversity conservation. Bioscience 58: 403–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albert, J. S., P. Petry & R. E. Reis, 2011. Major biogeographic and phylogenetic patterns. In Albert, J. S. & R. E. Reis (eds), Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes. University of California Press, Berkeley: 21–57.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Anjos, M. B. D. & J. Zuanon, 2007. Sampling effort and fish species richness in small terra firme forest streams of central Amazonia, Brazil. Neotropical Ichthyology 5: 45–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belliard, J., P. Boët & E. Tales, 1997. Regional and longitudinal patterns of fish community structure in the Seine River Basin, France. Environmental Biology of Fishes 50: 133–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benda, L. E. E., N. L. Poff, D. Miller, T. Dunne, G. Reeves, G. Pess & M. Pollock, 2004. The network dynamics hypothesis: how channel networks structure riverine habitats. Bioscience 54: 413–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bistoni, M. A. & A. C. Hued, 2002. Patterns of fish species richness in rivers of the central region of Argentina. Brazilian Journal of Biology 62: 753–764.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carvajal-Quintero, J. D., F. Escobar, F. Alvarado, F. A. Villa-Navarro, Ú. Jaramillo-Villa & J. A. Maldonado-Ocampo, 2015. Variation in freshwater fish assemblages along a regional elevation gradient in the northern Andes, Colombia. Ecology and Evolution 5: 2608–2620.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho, L. N., J. Zuanon & I. Sazima, 2008. Natural history of Amazon fishes. In Claro, P. S. O. & V. Rico-Gray (eds), Tropical Biology and Conservation Management. Eolss Publishers, Oxford: 1–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casatti, L., 2010. Alterações no Código Florestal Brasileiro: impactos potenciais sobre a ictiofauna. Biota Neotropica 10: 1–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casatti, L., M. A. Pérez-Mayorga, F. R. Carvalho, G. L. Brejão & I. D. Costa, 2013. The stream fish fauna from the Rio Machado Basin, Rondônia State, Brazil. Check List 9: 1496–1504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casatti, L., F. B. Teresa, Z. J. Oliveira, M. D. Ribeiro, G. L. Brejao & M. Ceneviva-Bastos, 2015. More of the same: high functional redundancy in stream fish assemblages from tropical agroecosystems. Environmental Management 55: 1300–1314.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, K. R. & R. H. Green, 1988. Statistical design and analysis for a “biological effects” study. Marine Ecology Progress Series 46: 213–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dufrêne, M. & P. Legendre, 1997. Species assemblages and indicator species: the need for a flexible asymmetrical approach. Ecological Monographs 67: 345–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes, L. C. & S. C. P. Guimarães, 2002. Atlas geoambiental de Rondônia. SEDAM, Porto Velho.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finn, D. S., N. Bonada, C. Múrria & J. M. Hughes, 2011. Small but mighty: headwaters are vital to stream network biodiversity at two levels of organization. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 30: 963–980.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fu, C., J. Wu, X. Wang, G. Lei & J. Chen, 2004. Patterns of diversity, altitudinal range and body size among freshwater fishes in the Yangtze River Basin, China. Global Ecology and Biogeography 13: 543–552.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerhard, P., 2005. Comunidade de peixes de riachos em função da paisagem da bacia do rio Corumbataí, estado de São Paulo. USP, São Paulo.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Goulding, M., 1980. The Fishes and the Forest: Explorations in Amazonian Natural History. University of California Press, Los Angeles.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goulding, M., 1981. Man and Fisheries on an Amazon Frontier. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, E. H. C., W. H. Lowe & W. F. Fagan, 2007. Living in the branches: population dynamics and ecological processes in dendritic networks. Ecology Letters 10: 165–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heino, J., J. Parviainen, R. Paavola, M. Jehle, P. Louhi & T. Muotka, 2005. Characterizing macroinvertebrate assemblage structure in relation to stream size and tributary position. Hydrobiologia 539: 121–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoeinghaus, D. J., K. O. Winemiller & J. S. Birnbaum, 2007. Local and regional determinants of stream fish assemblage structure: inferences based on taxonomic vs. functional groups. Journal of Biogeography 34: 324–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huston, A. H., 1994. Biological Diversity, the Coexistence of Species on Changing Landscapes. Cambridge University Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen, D., 2004. Contrasting patterns in local and zonal family richness of stream invertebrates along an Andean altitudinal gradient. Freshwater Biology 49: 1293–1305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen, D., 2008. Tropical high-altitude streams. In Dudgeon, D. (ed.), Tropical Stream Ecology. Academic, London: 219–256.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo-Villa, U., J. A. Maldonado-Ocampo & F. Escobar, 2010. Altitudinal variation in fish assemblage diversity in streams of the central Andes of Colombia. Journal of Fish Biology 76: 2401–2417.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krusche, A. V., M. V. R. Ballester, R. L. Victoria, M. C. Bernardes, N. K. Leite, L. Hanada & B. M. Gomes, 2005. Efeitos das mudanças do uso da terra na biogeoquímica dos corpos d’água da bacia do rio Ji-Paraná, Rondônia. Acta Amazonica 35: 197–205.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Legendre, P. & L. Legendre, 1998. Numerical Ecology. Elsevier Science, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Legendre, P., X. Mi, H. Ren, K. Ma, M. Yu, I. Sun & F. He, 2009. Partitioning beta diversity in a subtropical broad-leaved forest of China. Ecology 90: 663–674.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lomolino, M. V., 2001. Elevation gradients of species-density: historical and prospective views. Global Ecology and Biogeography 10: 3–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lujan, N. K., K. A. Roach, D. Jacobsen, K. O. Winemiller, V. M. Vargas, V. R. Ching & J. A. Maestre, 2013. Aquatic community structure across an Andes-to-Amazon fluvial gradient. Journal of Biogeography 40: 1715–1728.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin-Smith, K. M., 1998. Relationships between fishes and habitat in rainforest streams in Sabah, Malaysia. Journal of Fish Biology 52: 458–482.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oksanen, J., F. G. Blanchet, R. Kindt, P. Legendre, P. R. Minchin, R. B. O’Hara, G. L. Simpson, P. Solymos, M. H. H. Stevens & H. Wagner, 2015. Vegan: Community Ecology Package. R package Version 2.3-0. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan.

  • Ormerod, S. J., S. D. Rundle, S. M. Wilkinson, G. P. Daly, K. M. Dale & I. Juttner, 1994. Altitudinal trends in the diatoms, bryophytes, macroinvertebrates and fish of a Nepalese river system. Freshwater Biology 32: 309–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peres-Neto, P. R., 2004. Patterns in the co-occurrence of fish species in streams: the role of site suitability, morphology and phylogeny versus species interactions. Oecologia 140: 352–360.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Poff, N. L., 1997. Landscape filters and species traits: towards mechanistic understanding and prediction in stream ecology. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 16: 391–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team, 2016. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Core Team, Vienna. http://www.R-project.org.

  • Rahel, F. J. & W. A. Hubert, 1991. Fish assemblages and habitat gradients in a Rocky Mountain–Great Plains stream: biotic zonation and additive patterns of community change. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 120: 319–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, D. W., 2016. Ordination and Multivariate Analysis for Ecology. R Package Version 1.8-0. http://ecology.msu.montana.edu/labdsv/R.

  • Roper, B. B. & D. L. Scarnecchia, 2001. Patterns of diversity, density, and biomass of ectothermic vertebrates in ten small streams along a North American river continuum. Northwest Science 75: 168–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, A. L., 1968. Species diversity and longitudinal succession in stream fishes. Ecology 49: 193–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Súarez, Y. R., M. M. D. Souza, F. S. Ferreira, M. J. Pereira, E. A. D. Silva, L. Q. L. Ximenes & S. E. Lima Júnior, 2011. Patterns of species richness and composition of fish assemblages in streams of the Ivinhema River Basin, Upper Paraná River. Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia 23: 177–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, C. M. & M. L. Warren Jr., 2001. Dynamics in species composition of stream fish assemblages: environmental variability and nested subsets. Ecology 82: 2320–2330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tejerina-Garro, F. L., M. Maldonado, C. Ibañez, D. Pont, N. Roset & T. Oberdorff, 2005. Effects of natural and anthropogenic environmental changes on riverine fish assemblages: a framework for ecological assessments of rivers. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology 48: 91–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teresa, F. B. & L. Casatti, 2010. Importância da vegetação ripária em região intensamente desmatada no sudeste do Brasil: um estudo com peixes de riacho. Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences 5: 444–453.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teresa, F. B. & L. Casatti, 2012. Influence of forest cover and mesohabitat types on functional and taxonomic diversity of fish communities in neotropical lowland streams. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 21: 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terra, B. F., R. M. Hughes & F. G. Araújo, 2016. Fish assemblages in Atlantic Forest streams: the relative influence of local and catchment environments on taxonomic and functional species. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 25: 527–544.

  • Tondato, K. K. & Y. R. Súarez, 2010. Temporal changes in fish species composition of headwater streams of the upper Paraguay and Paraná Basins, Brazil. Acta Scientiarum Biological Sciences 32: 179–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uieda, V. S. & R. M. C. Castro, 1999. Coleta e fixação de peixes de riacho. In Caramaschi, E. P. (ed.), Ecologia de peixes de riachos. Série Oecologia Brasiliensis, Rio de Janeiro: 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vannote, R. L., G. W. Minshall, K. W. Cummins, J. R. Sedell & C. E. Cushing, 1980. The river continuum concept. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 37: 130–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J., J. Soininen, Y. Zhang, B. Wang, X. Yang & J. Shen, 2011. Contrasting patterns in elevational diversity between microorganisms and macroorganisms. Journal of Biogeography 38: 595–603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study is a part of the Thesis of I. D. da Costa in the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Monica P. de Araújo of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and undergraduate students of the Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia assisted with designing Fig. 1 and the fieldwork, respectively. We are grateful to Dr. Francisco Langeani of the Universidade Estadual Paulista, campus de São José do Rio Preto, MSc. Willian Ohara of the Universidade de São Paulo, and Dr. João Alves de Lima Filho of the Universidade Federal de Rondônia for their help with taxonomic identification of the specimens, Dr. Lilian Casatti of the Universidade Estadual Paulista, campus de São José do Rio Preto, for providing suggestions on an earlier version of the manuscript and financial support (FAPESP: 2010/17494-8), and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. License for fish collections was provided by the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA # 4355-1).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca, Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR), Rua da Paz 4376, Presidente Médici, RO, CEP 76916-000, Brazil

    Igor David da Costa

  2. Núcleo em Ecologia e, Desenvolvimento Socioambiental de Macaé (NUPEM/UFRJ), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CP 119331, Macaé, RJ, CEP 27910-970, Brazil

    Ana Cristina Petry

  3. Laboratório de Ecologia de Peixes, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), IBRAG, Rua São Francisco Xavier 524 Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 20550-011, Brazil

    Rosana Mazzoni

Authors
  1. Igor David da Costa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ana Cristina Petry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rosana Mazzoni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Igor David da Costa.

Additional information

Handling editor: John M. Melack

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 27 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (PDF 226 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Costa, I.D., Petry, A.C. & Mazzoni, R. Responses of fish assemblages to subtle elevations in headwater streams in southwestern Amazonia. Hydrobiologia 809, 175–184 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3463-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3463-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation