Variations of trophic structure and niche space in fish community along a highly regulated subtropical large river.

Abstract

The trophic interactions between consumers and resources play a vital role in the stability of communities. In river systems, fragmentation of natural habitats and environmental changes alters the energy basis and community composition, consequently leading to variations in the community's trophic structure and niche space. However, our understanding of how the trophic structure responds to environmental changes is still very limited. Here, based on stable isotope data, we explored and compared trophic positions (TPs), community‐wide trophic metrics, and isotope niche space of fish communities in three reaches with different hydrogeomorphic conditions along a highly regulated subtropical river over three seasons. The community trophic structure and niche space showed notable spatiotemporal variations. Overall, the downstream reach had lower TPs, trophic diversity but higher trophic redundancy. The middle reach occupied a wider isotope niche space than other reaches, with the largest niche size during autumn. Furthermore, the niche overlap was relatively high in winter between reaches and in the downstream between seasons. The results implied a homogenization of feeding functional groups and energy flow pathways of species in the downstream community associated with the change of energy source and stability of hydrological conditions. The relationship between trophic structure and environmental factors suggested that the dam‐induced alteration in hydrological‐related aspects may drive the changes in the functional group composition, together with changes in energy basis, resulting in differences in the trophic structure of the community. The results of the present study deepen our understanding of how ecosystem functions respond to disturbance, thus contributing to improved ability to conserve river ecosystems.