Fish Community Characteristics Research Articles

Structural change in an exploited fish community: a consequence of differential fishing effects on species with contrasting life histories

1.An understanding of the links between life histories and responses to exploitation could provide the basis for predicting shifts in community structure by identifying susceptible species and linking life‐history tactics with population dynamics.2.We examined long‐term trends in the abundance of species in the North Sea bottom‐dwelling (demersal) fish community. Between 1925 & 1996 changes in species composition led to an increase in mean growth rate, while mean maximum size, age at maturity and size at maturity decreased. The demersal fish community was increasingly heavily fished during this period.3.Trends in mean life‐history characteristics of the community were linked to trends in abundance of component species. An approach based on phylogenetic comparisons was used to examine the differential effects of fishing on individual species with contrasting life histories.4.Those species that decreased in abundance relative to their nearest relative, matured later at a greater size, grew more slowly towards a greater maximum size and had lower rates of potential population increase. The phylogenetically based analyses demonstrated that trends in community structure could be predicted from the differential responses of related species to fishing.5.This is the first study to link exploitation responses of an entire community to the life histories of individual species. The results demonstrate that fishing has greater effects on slower growing, larger species with later maturity and lower rates of potential population increase. The comparative approach provides a basis for predicting structural change in other exploited communities.

Hypoxic wetland tributaries as faunal refugia from an introduced predator

Abstract– The introduction of Nile perch (Lates niloticus) into the Lake Victoria basin of East Africa has coincided with the decline or disappearance of hundreds of indigenous species. To mitigate additional biodiversity loss, we must learn what limits the spread of Nile perch and what habitats serve as refugia for prey species. Heavily vegetated wetlands may protect fishes from Nile perch predation by providing both structural and low‐oxygen refugia for prey species tolerant of hypoxia. To examine the potential of wetlands as refugia we quantified the composition, persistence, and stability of fish assemblages in a wetland tributary of Lake Nabugabo, a satellite lake of Lake Victoria in which Nile perch have been introduced. Nile perch were extremely rare in the wetland, and nine of the 18 species that have disappeared from the open waters of the satellite lake were captured in the tributary in this study. Dissolved oxygen was chronically low in the river and may be important in shaping fish community characteristics. Faunal attenuation occurred as the dry season progressed and oxygen levels dropped; however, the most common species remained through seasonal changes. The chronically low oxygen conditions in the werland tributary may permit persistence of only hypoxia‐tolerant species. However, wetland conditions seem to limit exploitation by Nile perch providing critical refugia for a subset of the basin fauna.

Insular characteristics of freshwater fish communities in the island of Corsica, comparison with French continental coastal rivers

A set of 410 river sections were studied to assess Corsican freshwater fish communities affinities with insular characteristics. Coastal rivers in the French Mediterranean region served as a mainland reference. On a large geographic scale Corsican communities show a species impoverishment of about 52% with the lack of all primary freshwater species such as cyprinids in the native community. The number of species in the watershed surface waters is not significantly different from the mainland, however, the low intercept of the relationship species/area relationship is indicative of differences observed between mainland and Corsica. On a local scale, the upstream Corsican community appears similar to the mainland community. But, as distance from the source grows, the presence of euryhaline species become more important in Corsica. These species, coming from the sea compensate the rarity of primary freshwater species. On the aspect of habitat extension, because of the absence of competitors on the island, trout Salmo trutta has clearly enlarged its downstream habitatniche.

Unsaturated Fish Communities in African Rivers

Unsaturated Fish Communities in African Rivers

Identification and spatial stratification of tropical fish concentrations using acoustic populations

Resume Gerlotto F. Aquat. Living Resour., 1993, 6, 243-254. One of the main limitations in acoustic stock assessment is fish identification. We propose here a new method for identifying several communities of tropical fish within a surveyed area. This method, called “Acoustic Populations”, consists in splitting a study area in systematic regular strata such as geographical rectangles, and calculating for each stratum a set of acoustic parameters that can be easily obtained with conventional acoustic equipment, and have a discriminant power, such as target strength, mean density, confidence interval and dispersion indexes. It is based on the fact that the biological (specific diversity, physiology) and ethological (gregarism, migrations, etc.) characteristics of fish communities have a particular influence on the echoes recorded, which become characteristical and thus are able to discriminate acoustically several populations. An example of application of the method is given for Eastern Venezuela, and the use of the results for mapping, evaluation and stratification of acoustic data is discussed.

The effects of flood regime and fishing effort on the overall abundance of an exploited fish community in the Amazon floodplain

Freshwater fishing is highly developed in the Amazonian basin, and the problems of managing the fish resource are becoming increasingly acute. The global model of exploited stock dynamics has proved inadequate for explaining the variations observed in catches from one year to the next. Following the results of recent studies in maritime fishing, this work aims to identify the contribution of environmental variables (hydrological parameters have been selected) to the explanation of variations in the abundance of the exploited fish community. An abundance index is calculated based on the catch per unit of effort statistics and the surface of the considered basin. Using a 12-year time series, the results show that the effect of the fishing effort on the index of abundance is negligible when viewed alongside the flood regime parameters for the years prior to the catch. The effects revealed are, in chronological order of appearance: 1) a positive effect of the water level during the flood regime peak three years previous to the catch, probably associated with recruitment for a number of species; 2) the effect of the water level during its rise two years before the catch, which may well be related to competition phenomena; and 3) the effect of severe low-water levels two years before the catch, possibly due to mass natural mortality during the severest periods of low-water. Because there are complex migratory movements of fish populations either side of low-water periods, only the estimated biomass during the flood appears to be an accurate reflection of the mean biomass in the environment. Linear models are presented, where the abundance index is a function of the hydrological parameters previously identified. The model with 3 variables corresponding to the 3 evidenced effects, explains more than 83% of the variations in the annual abundance indices.

Ecology of a saline stream: community responses to spatial gradients of environmental conditions

Spatial changes in structural and functional characteristics of fish and macroinvertebrate communities in eastern Kentucky were investigated in a drainage system chronically exposed to high levels of chloride salts from nearby oilfield operations. Salinity levels at biological monitoring stations ranged from 0.12–31.3‰. Lotic regions with salinities greater than 10‰ were dominated by larvae of the dipterans Ephydra and Culicoides. In regions with salinities less than 10‰ species richness increased more or less linearly with decreasing levels of chloride salts. Ephemeropterans appeared to be one of the major invertebrate groups least tolerant of elevated NaCl levels and were absent in regions with salinities greater than 2‰ Availability of food resources, such as periphyton and particulate organic matter, did not appear to be grossly altered in disturbed regions, and it is suggested that the observed distribution of macroinvertebrate fauna was largely in response to taxonomic differences in salt tolerance. Fish seemed to be more tolerant of highly saline conditions, and several species were observed in regions experiencing salinities as high as 15‰. Accordingly, assemblages of fish taxa along the salinity gradient may have been influenced by trophic factors, such as spatial limitations in availability of invertebrate prey.

Changes of Structure and Stock in Exploited Fish Communities in Estuaries of the Southern Baltic Coast (Mecklenburg‐Vorpommern, Germany)

AbstractBy means of analyses of catch values of selected fish species possible effects of eutrophication on the estuaries are described. Although the registered stock changes are not only a result of eutrophication a stock increase in pikeperch could be verified at the end of the first half of this century.With progressive eutrophication a great decline of migratory fish stocks took place at the end of the sixties/beginning of the seventies.The decline of eel stocks is not caused by eutrophication. Afterwards pike stocks show an aggravating decline in hypertrophic estuaries which are related to the decline of macrophytes. Baltic whitefish has still kept up its stock level under these conditions.Symptoms for a growing danger of an unexpected disaster are increasing to the whole fish community of extremely polluted waters.

The Fish Community of the Swartvlei Estuary and the Influence of Food Availability on Resource Utilization

Structural and functional characteristics of the Swartvlei estuary fish community are described. The detritivore group of fishes comprised 49% of the total catch biomass, zoobenthivores 25%, herbivores 18%, piscivores 6%, and epifauna/zooplanktivores 2%. The diets of 18 fish species, based on the analysis of 1,648 stomach contents, are presented. Selection by Swartvlei estuary fishes for zoobenthic invertebrates and aquatic macrophytes in different habitats was calculated using the linear index of selection. Results indicated a strong positive selection for epifaunal invertebrates and poor utilization of infauna and plants. Plant consumption by herbivorous fishes in the estuary centered around filamentous algae and diatoms growing onZostera capensis, rather than seagrass leaf material. The detrital base for both eelgrass- and sand-dominated areas in the Swartvlei estuary is emphasized, and most of the fish biomass was supported directly or indirectly by detritus. Large catches (mass per unit effort) in the macrophyte-free upper reaches site were attributed to the tidal input ofZostera leaves and associated algae to the area and its subsequent utilization by fishes through the detrital food chain.