Abstract
The present study examined the influence of the availability of riparian vegetation and C3 emergent aquatic macrophytes on carbon assimilation by Prochilodus lineatus. The vegetal cover of these producers, available at 30 m of the bank, for the terrestrial ecosystem of the rivers Baia, Ivinheima and Parana, was quantified with the image processing Landsat 5 TM, of the year 2000, period of sampling of the biological material at each river. The assimilation of the energy sources (riparian vegetation and C3 aquatic macrophytes, C4 aquatic macrophytes, periphyton, and phytoplankton) by P. lineatus was determined by analysis of stable carbon isotopes (δ 13 C). The area of vegetal cover was estimated at 1,017 km 2 in the Ivinheima river, 669 km 2 in the Parana river, and 268 km 2 in the Baia river. The assimilation of the carbon from riparian vegetation and aquatic macrophytes was proportional to the availability in the environment, but these producers were not the main source of carbon for P. lineatus. Thus, in the rivers with greater vegetation cover, consequently, these items had higher availability in the water body becoming an important carbon source for the species maintenance.
Highlights
Detritivorous fish can dominate Neotropical aquatic ecosystems, with high presence of the family Prochilodontidae in South American rivers (BOWEN, 1983)
The largest area of riparian vegetation and emergent aquatic macrophytes (52%) was registered in the Ivinheima river as well as the highest biomass (49%) of P. lineatus; the smallest vegetation cover was verified at Baia river (14%); the lowest fish biomass was found in Paraná river (14%) (Table 2)
A significant spatial variation was detected in the δ13C values of P. lineatus muscle, with higher values for the Paraná river (ANOVA, F2, 25 = 12.7166; p = 0.00016; Tukey p = 0. 000446) (Figure 2)
Summary
Detritivorous fish can dominate Neotropical aquatic ecosystems, with high presence of the family Prochilodontidae in South American rivers (BOWEN, 1983). Biological Sciences known as curimba, represented the sixth most important species in 2004, the seventh in 2005, and increased 330% in 2008, yielding 101.3 tons (OKADA et al, 2008). Due to this high yield, P. lineatus is an important commercial species and source of protein to human population (AGOSTINHO; GOMES, 2005). This species profitability influences all the fishing production, mainly of the carnivorous fish that feed. The conservation of natural stocks of P. lineatus is essential to preserve biodiversity and human food supply
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