Aquatic Biodiversity in the Amazon: Habitat Specialization and Geographic Isolation Promote Species Richness
The Neotropical freshwater ichthyofauna has among the highest species richness and density of any vertebrate fauna on Earth, with more than 5,600 species compressed into less than 12% of the world’s land surface area, and less than 0.002% of the world’s total liquid water supply. How have so many sp...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2011-04-01
|
| Series: | Animals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/1/2/205/ |
| _version_ | 1819141618461048832 |
|---|---|
| author | Roberto E. Reis Hernan Ortega Blanca Rengifo Roberto Quispe Jessica Espino Isabel Corahua Emmanuel L. Maxime Meghan A. Holder Paulo Petry Tiago P. Carvalho James S. Albert |
| author_facet | Roberto E. Reis Hernan Ortega Blanca Rengifo Roberto Quispe Jessica Espino Isabel Corahua Emmanuel L. Maxime Meghan A. Holder Paulo Petry Tiago P. Carvalho James S. Albert |
| author_sort | Roberto E. Reis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Neotropical freshwater ichthyofauna has among the highest species richness and density of any vertebrate fauna on Earth, with more than 5,600 species compressed into less than 12% of the world’s land surface area, and less than 0.002% of the world’s total liquid water supply. How have so many species come to co-exist in such a small amount of total habitat space? Here we report results of an aquatic faunal survey of the Fitzcarrald region in southeastern Peru, an area of low-elevation upland (200–500 m above sea level) rainforest in the Western Amazon, that straddles the headwaters of four large Amazonian tributaries; the Juruá (Yurúa), Ucayali, Purús, and Madre de Dios rivers. All measures of fish species diversity in this region are high; there is high alpha diversity with many species coexisting in the same locality, high beta diversity with high turnover between habitats, and high gamma diversity with high turnover between adjacent tributary basins. Current data show little species endemism, and no known examples of sympatric sister species, within the Fitzcarrald region, suggesting a lack of localized or recent adaptive divergences. These results support the hypothesis that the fish species of the Fitzcarrald region are relatively ancient, predating the Late Miocene-Pliocene (c. 4 Ma) uplift that isolated its several headwater basins. The results also suggest that habitat specialization (phylogenetic niche conservatism) and geographic isolation (dispersal limitation) have contributed to the maintenance of high species richness in this region of the Amazon Basin. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T11:57:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e094b0ec7a054b04a31440c148ed5c3f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T11:57:19Z |
| publishDate | 2011-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-e094b0ec7a054b04a31440c148ed5c3f2022-12-21T18:26:44ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152011-04-011220524110.3390/ani1020205Aquatic Biodiversity in the Amazon: Habitat Specialization and Geographic Isolation Promote Species RichnessRoberto E. ReisHernan OrtegaBlanca RengifoRoberto QuispeJessica EspinoIsabel CorahuaEmmanuel L. MaximeMeghan A. HolderPaulo PetryTiago P. CarvalhoJames S. AlbertThe Neotropical freshwater ichthyofauna has among the highest species richness and density of any vertebrate fauna on Earth, with more than 5,600 species compressed into less than 12% of the world’s land surface area, and less than 0.002% of the world’s total liquid water supply. How have so many species come to co-exist in such a small amount of total habitat space? Here we report results of an aquatic faunal survey of the Fitzcarrald region in southeastern Peru, an area of low-elevation upland (200–500 m above sea level) rainforest in the Western Amazon, that straddles the headwaters of four large Amazonian tributaries; the Juruá (Yurúa), Ucayali, Purús, and Madre de Dios rivers. All measures of fish species diversity in this region are high; there is high alpha diversity with many species coexisting in the same locality, high beta diversity with high turnover between habitats, and high gamma diversity with high turnover between adjacent tributary basins. Current data show little species endemism, and no known examples of sympatric sister species, within the Fitzcarrald region, suggesting a lack of localized or recent adaptive divergences. These results support the hypothesis that the fish species of the Fitzcarrald region are relatively ancient, predating the Late Miocene-Pliocene (c. 4 Ma) uplift that isolated its several headwater basins. The results also suggest that habitat specialization (phylogenetic niche conservatism) and geographic isolation (dispersal limitation) have contributed to the maintenance of high species richness in this region of the Amazon Basin.http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/1/2/205/freshwater fishesgeodispersalspecies diversityspecies richnessstream capturetropical rainforestvicariance |
| spellingShingle | Roberto E. Reis Hernan Ortega Blanca Rengifo Roberto Quispe Jessica Espino Isabel Corahua Emmanuel L. Maxime Meghan A. Holder Paulo Petry Tiago P. Carvalho James S. Albert Aquatic Biodiversity in the Amazon: Habitat Specialization and Geographic Isolation Promote Species Richness Animals freshwater fishes geodispersal species diversity species richness stream capture tropical rainforest vicariance |
| title | Aquatic Biodiversity in the Amazon: Habitat Specialization and Geographic Isolation Promote Species Richness |
| title_full | Aquatic Biodiversity in the Amazon: Habitat Specialization and Geographic Isolation Promote Species Richness |
| title_fullStr | Aquatic Biodiversity in the Amazon: Habitat Specialization and Geographic Isolation Promote Species Richness |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aquatic Biodiversity in the Amazon: Habitat Specialization and Geographic Isolation Promote Species Richness |
| title_short | Aquatic Biodiversity in the Amazon: Habitat Specialization and Geographic Isolation Promote Species Richness |
| title_sort | aquatic biodiversity in the amazon habitat specialization and geographic isolation promote species richness |
| topic | freshwater fishes geodispersal species diversity species richness stream capture tropical rainforest vicariance |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/1/2/205/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertoereis aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness AT hernanortega aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness AT blancarengifo aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness AT robertoquispe aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness AT jessicaespino aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness AT isabelcorahua aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness AT emmanuellmaxime aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness AT meghanaholder aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness AT paulopetry aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness AT tiagopcarvalho aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness AT jamessalbert aquaticbiodiversityintheamazonhabitatspecializationandgeographicisolationpromotespeciesrichness |