2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference

March 13 - 15, 2022

5/23/2018 | 9:45 AM - 10:00 AM | RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FOREST COVER AND FISH DIVERSITY IN THE AMAZON RIVER | 330 A

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FOREST COVER AND FISH DIVERSITY IN THE AMAZON RIVER

Floodplains are threatened by land cover changes, but the extent to which changes in floodplains land cover affect fish biodiversity remains unknown. We combined fish data collected in situ and satellite-mapped landscape features to evaluate how fish species with different ecological strategies and assemblage structure respond to deforestation in floodplains of the Amazon River. We surveyed 462 floodplain habitats distributed along a gradient of land cover conditions, from nearly pristine to severely deforested. Spatial patterns of fish biodiversity were strongly associated with forest cover as well as local environmental conditions associated with landscape gradients. Several species and functional groups based on life history, feeding, swimming/microhabitat-use strategies were positively associated with forest cover. Other species, including some that would be considered habitat generalists and species directly dependent on autochthonous resources (e.g., planktivores), were most common in areas dominated by herbaceous vegetation or open water habitats associated with the opposite extreme of the forest cover gradient. Beta diversity and the degree of uniqueness in species combinations within habitats also were associated with forest cover. Our results suggest that deforestation of floodplains results in spatial homogenization of fish assemblages and reduced functional diversity.

Floodplain
Landuse
Trait

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Presenters/Authors

Caroline Arantes (), Michigan State University, arantes1@msu.edu;