2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference

March 13 - 15, 2022

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5/21/2018  |   11:00 AM - 11:15 AM   |  DROUGHT-INDUCED SYNCHRONY IN DESERT FISH METACOMMUNITIES: AN EXAMINATION OF THE MORAN EFFECT   |  310 B

DROUGHT-INDUCED SYNCHRONY IN DESERT FISH METACOMMUNITIES: AN EXAMINATION OF THE MORAN EFFECT

Investigating metacommunity dynamics in the face of hydrologic alteration is important because anomalous floods and droughts can prevent thriving populations and communities from subsidizing those that are declining. Moreover, disturbances can have a synchronizing effect on spatially-structured populations and communities, a phenomenon known as the Moran effect. Here we used spectral methods to study long-term (1976-2015) change in streamflow regimes across the American Southwest, and reveal that yearly streamflow periodicity has been decreasing due to an increased frequency and duration of supraseasonal droughts. We then analyzed the response of desert fish metacommunities to variation in supraseasonal drought intensity. To this end, we used dynamic linear models on multidecadal fish time series, and we quantified drought-induced covariation in abundance at the metapopulation (intraspecific) and metacommunity (interspecific) levels. Anomalous low flows synchronized the metacommunity via strong effects on some—but not all—species. We discuss patterns in responses in the light of species life history adaptations that are disfavored (or favored) under the novel flow regimes. Because spatial synchrony increases system-wide extirpation risk, it is critical to understand how ongoing and future droughts may disrupt compensatory dynamics in riverine networks.

  • Climate Change
  • Fish
  • Dispersal

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Presenters/Authors

Albert Ruhi (), Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California Berkeley, albert.ruhi@berkeley.edu;


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Julian Olden (), University of Washington, olden@uw.edu;


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