Abstract
We assessed the preference of 10 fish species for depth and velocity conditions in forested streams from southeastern Brazil using habitat suitability criteria (HSC curves). We also tested whether preference patterns observed in forested streams can be transferred to deforested streams. We used data from fish sampled in 62 five-meter sites in three forested streams to construct preference curves. Astyanax altiparanae, A. fasciatus, Knodus moenkhausii, and Piabina argentea showed a preference for deep slow habitats, whereas Aspidoras fuscoguttatus, Characidium zebra, Cetopsorhamdia iheringi, Pseudopimelodus pulcher, and Hypostomus nigromaculatus showed an opposite pattern: preference for shallow fast habitats. Hypostomus ancistroides showed a multimodal pattern of preference for depth and velocity. To evaluate whether patterns observed in forested streams may be transferred to deforested streams, we sampled 64 five-meters sites in three deforested streams using the same methodology. The preference for velocity was more consistent than for depth, as success in the transferability criterion was 86% and 29% of species, respectively. This indicates that velocity is a good predictor of species abundance in streams, regardless of their condition
Highlights
The recognition that species are distributed non-randomly in habitats, preferentially occupying suitable sites for feeding, reproduction, and survival (Grinnell, 1917; Hutchinson, 1957), constitutes the basis for developing predictive models of species distribution along environmental gradients (e.g., Ahmadi-Nedushan et al, 2006)
A. fasciatus, Knodus moenkhausii, and Piabina argentea had high suitability index (SI) values in slow-flowing and deep sites. Another four species showed an opposite pattern, with higher SI values associated with shallow and fast-flowing habitats. This was the case of Characidium zebra, Cetopsorhamdia iheringi, Pseudopimelodus pulcher, and Hypostomus nigromaculatus
In this study we established the preference of ten species of stream fishes for depth and velocity conditions
Summary
The recognition that species are distributed non-randomly in habitats, preferentially occupying suitable sites for feeding, reproduction, and survival (Grinnell, 1917; Hutchinson, 1957), constitutes the basis for developing predictive models of species distribution along environmental gradients (e.g., Ahmadi-Nedushan et al, 2006) This approach has a broad application for natural resources management, since it allows prediction of changes in biological communities from changes in environmental conditions caused by human activities. Efforts to develop HSC for multiple species have increased, owing to the degradation of water resources and growing concern over biodiversity loss (e.g., Lamouroux et al, 1999; Vadas & Orth, 2001; Strakosh et al, 2003) This approach has not been applied in Neotropical environments, limiting the use of predictive models and the ability to quantitatively predict the biological impacts from changes in hydraulic variables of aquatic environments. This is especially alarming because changes in the natural flow regime are among the major anthropogenic threats for fish conservation in Neotropical lotic environments (Barletta et al, 2010)
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