EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021
(Virtually the same conference, without elevators, airplane tickets, or hotel room keys)
6/07/2017 | 9:30 AM - 9:45 AM | MULTI-SCALE IMPACTS OF OVERFISHING ON SEED DISPERSAL BY FISH | 301B
MULTI-SCALE IMPACTS OF OVERFISHING ON SEED DISPERSAL BY FISH
Seed dispersal is an essential ecosystem service in a changing world. Wetlands are particularly threatened worldwide and fish can play a key role as seed dispersers in these ecosystems. Remarkably, large fish (both at the species scale and at the individual scale within-species) are better seed dispersers than small ones: they consume a higher amount of more diverse fruits and can disperse seeds further. However, overexploitation is a serious threat to frugivorous fish in the Neotropics, and predatory fisheries target expressly the largest organisms. Here we investigated in which extent the removal of the largest individuals and species impacts the diversity of seeds dispersed by fish. We inferred the structure of mutualistic fish-fruits interactions from consumer–resource size relationships and used simulations to quantify the impacts of altering the body size distribution of fruit-eating fishes on the degree distribution of networks. Our results indicate that even small reductions in the body size distribution of fruit-eating fishes have sharp negative impacts on the diversity of seeds dispersed, both at regional and local scales. Our findings can contribute to the current debate about the need for more restrictive fishing regulations in Neotropical region.
- C25 Food Webs
- C02 Fish and Other Aquatic Vertebrates
- C12 Conservation Ecology
Presentation:
This presentation has not yet been uploaded.
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Raul Costa-Pereira
(), Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Rio Claro, Brazil, raulcpereira@gmail.com;
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -