Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a supraseasonal drought on the ecological attributes of Plagioscion squamosissimus. The fish were caught quarterly from February 2010 to November 2014 using gill nets in the reservoir of Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The abundance of the species was evaluated with the catch per unit effort (CPUE) metric and then correlated with the accumulated rainfall and water volume of the reservoir. The diet of the fish was evaluated using the feeding index (IAi). The proportional similarity index (PSi) was used to evaluate the variation in the niches of the fish. The body condition was inferred through the relative condition factor, and its variation was assessed with ANOVA. A reduction in the abundance of the species that were positively correlated with the reservoir water volume was observed. The diet of the fish comprised shrimp, gastropods, fish, insects, shrimp larvae, and vegetable matter, with shrimp being the major component. PSi showed the occurrence of individual specialization during November 2013 and November 2014. The relative condition factor was not correlated with a reduction in the water volume of the reservoir. The supraseasonal drought did not affect the relative condition factor, diet, and the trophic niche, but it did affect the species abundance.
Highlights
Disturbances are often abrupt and sometimes random and are responsible for major damage to ecosystems, causing changes in the availability of resources and an impact on biological communities, such as the mortality of individuals [1, 2]
Among the factors driving niche creation is the variation in the diet among individuals, which highlights the importance of ecological interactions to the development of niches [11]
The aim of this study was to evaluate the ecological responses of P. squamosissimus in a reservoir in the Brazilian semiarid region to drought conditions
Summary
Disturbances are often abrupt and sometimes random and are responsible for major damage to ecosystems, causing changes in the availability of resources and an impact on biological communities, such as the mortality of individuals [1, 2]. Disturbances can be of natural or anthropogenic origin, and their effects have repercussions from the individual to the ecosystem level [3]. Disturbances such as droughts are increasingly common in several regions of the world, in arid and semiarid regions [4]. One of the many factors influencing the intrapopulation variation of niches is individual specialization. Such specialization is found in a range of species, The Scientific World Journal including both vertebrates and invertebrates [10]. Among the factors driving niche creation is the variation in the diet among individuals, which highlights the importance of ecological interactions (e.g., intra- and interspecific competition, predation) to the development of niches [11]
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