Abstract
Conservation Units (CU) aim to contribute to the balance between human and environmental demand, by protecting natural resources and biological communities. In this study we examined the differences in the attributes of the fish community in four stretches of an urban stream, two inside and two outside the CU, without vegetation cover, and tested the hypothesis that the presence of riparian vegetation is positively reflected in the attributes of fish fauna. Five species were caught, distributed into four orders and five families. Attributes like richness, abundance, dominance, Shannon-Wiener diversity, and evenness were estimated and significant differences were detected for continuous stretches considering stream flow direction. The first stretches (URBI and UCI) presented a lower diversity that increased gradually until the last stretch, and an inverse result was found for dominance. These changes occurred regardless the location of the stretch, in- or outside the CU. The importance of Conservation Units within urban areas is severely affected by the lack of continuity of forested areas, especially riparian vegetation. Therefore, we suggest the effective recovery of permanent preservation areas and of riparian vegetation in order to mitigate the impacts of human activities.
Highlights
Riparian zones consist of areas with natural vegetation cover (KLEPKA, 2011) responsible for protecting the water bodies from siltation, leaching, and soil erosion (BAXTER et al, 2004)
This study aimed to analyze if the attributes of fish community are different between stretches of an urban stream with and without vegetation cover, in order to investigate the punctual effect of a conservation unit within an urban area, and propose measures to improve its function
Significant differences were detected for the values of Shannon-Wiener diversity (F = 31.70; p < 0.0100) between the stretches URB I/Unidades de Conservação (UC) I and UC II/URB II, with the highest values observed in the stretches UC II and URB II
Summary
Riparian zones consist of areas with natural vegetation cover (KLEPKA, 2011) responsible for protecting the water bodies from siltation, leaching, and soil erosion (BAXTER et al, 2004) They represent sites with continuous exchange between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (GREGORY et al, 1991) contributing to diversity and function of streams. Et al, 2000; HALL et al, 2001; MEYER; EDWARDS, 1990; VANNOTE et al, 1980), and in controlling the input of energy, organic and inorganic material into the aquatic ecosystem (PUSEY; ARTHINGTON, 2003) In this way, changes in these areas are prone to influence, direct or indirectly, the biological communities (GREGORY et al, 1991; TEIVE et al, 2008).
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