Effect of the riparian vegetation removal on the trophic network of Neotropical stream fish assemblage

The study of the diet of fish is an important tool to assess different levels of environmental degradation, since the availability of food in the environment is a key factor for the fish occurrence. The removal of riparian vegetation usually degrades environmental quality, as this vegetation has an...

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Main Authors: Pedro Sartori Manoel, Virginia Sanches Uieda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais em Bacias Hidrográficas (IPABHi) 2018-02-01
Series:Revista Ambiente & Água
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-993X2018000100304&lng=pt&nrm=iso&tlng=en
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author Pedro Sartori Manoel
Virginia Sanches Uieda
author_facet Pedro Sartori Manoel
Virginia Sanches Uieda
author_sort Pedro Sartori Manoel
collection DOAJ
description The study of the diet of fish is an important tool to assess different levels of environmental degradation, since the availability of food in the environment is a key factor for the fish occurrence. The removal of riparian vegetation usually degrades environmental quality, as this vegetation has an important role in providing energy to the ecosystem. This study investigates the effects of the removal of riparian vegetation on the fish assemblage trophic network. The study was carried out in two stretches of a southeastern Brazilian stream, one in a forest fragment and another in a pasture, during the wet and dry seasons of 2014. We analyzed the items consumed by each fish species using the frequency of occurrence and area of each item, which were combined to calculate the alimentary index, which was used to determine the food niche overlap of the fish and the specialization index of the trophic network. Aquatic Hexapoda, vegetal debris and organic matter dominated the trophic network of the two stretches. We detected higher values of food niche overlap in the forested stretch and more complex trophic networks in the pasture stretch. We found few seasonal variations in the items consumed and calculated indices in both stretches studied. The presence of grass on the banks in the pasture stretch and the importation of food resources from the upstream area may have provided a higher diversity of resources and consequently showed a more complex trophic network when compared to the forested stretch.
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spelling doaj.art-034c375e3d1f402cac8e53e78c359c082022-12-21T17:33:14ZengInstituto de Pesquisas Ambientais em Bacias Hidrográficas (IPABHi)Revista Ambiente & Água1980-993X2018-02-0113111110.4136/ambi-agua.2088Effect of the riparian vegetation removal on the trophic network of Neotropical stream fish assemblagePedro Sartori Manoel0Virginia Sanches Uieda1Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brasil Departamento de ZoologiaUniversidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Botucatu, SP, Brasil Departamento de ZoologiaThe study of the diet of fish is an important tool to assess different levels of environmental degradation, since the availability of food in the environment is a key factor for the fish occurrence. The removal of riparian vegetation usually degrades environmental quality, as this vegetation has an important role in providing energy to the ecosystem. This study investigates the effects of the removal of riparian vegetation on the fish assemblage trophic network. The study was carried out in two stretches of a southeastern Brazilian stream, one in a forest fragment and another in a pasture, during the wet and dry seasons of 2014. We analyzed the items consumed by each fish species using the frequency of occurrence and area of each item, which were combined to calculate the alimentary index, which was used to determine the food niche overlap of the fish and the specialization index of the trophic network. Aquatic Hexapoda, vegetal debris and organic matter dominated the trophic network of the two stretches. We detected higher values of food niche overlap in the forested stretch and more complex trophic networks in the pasture stretch. We found few seasonal variations in the items consumed and calculated indices in both stretches studied. The presence of grass on the banks in the pasture stretch and the importation of food resources from the upstream area may have provided a higher diversity of resources and consequently showed a more complex trophic network when compared to the forested stretch.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-993X2018000100304&lng=pt&nrm=iso&tlng=enfish dietfood niche overlaptrophic organization
spellingShingle Pedro Sartori Manoel
Virginia Sanches Uieda
Effect of the riparian vegetation removal on the trophic network of Neotropical stream fish assemblage
Revista Ambiente & Água
fish diet
food niche overlap
trophic organization
title Effect of the riparian vegetation removal on the trophic network of Neotropical stream fish assemblage
title_full Effect of the riparian vegetation removal on the trophic network of Neotropical stream fish assemblage
title_fullStr Effect of the riparian vegetation removal on the trophic network of Neotropical stream fish assemblage
title_full_unstemmed Effect of the riparian vegetation removal on the trophic network of Neotropical stream fish assemblage
title_short Effect of the riparian vegetation removal on the trophic network of Neotropical stream fish assemblage
title_sort effect of the riparian vegetation removal on the trophic network of neotropical stream fish assemblage
topic fish diet
food niche overlap
trophic organization
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-993X2018000100304&lng=pt&nrm=iso&tlng=en
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