Ensamblajes de peces en embalses altoandinos: El caso de los embalses Quebradona y Riogrande II en la cuenca Magdalena

• Published in: Caldasia 2022-08, Vol.44 (2), p.442-452
• Main Authors: Martínez-Toro, Lina María, Restrepo-Santamaría, Daniel, Valencia-Rodríguez, Daniel, Jiménez-Segura, Luz Fernanda
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; spa
• Subjects: Aquatic environment; BIOLOGY; Creeks & streams; ECOLOGÍA; Endemic species; especies no nativas; Fish; Fish conservation; Geographical distribution; Hemibrycon; Hydroelectric power; Indigenous species; Information management; Introduced species; Micropterus salmoides; Native species; Nonnative species; peces del neotrópico; Reservoirs; Rivers; ríos andinos; Seasonal distribution; Seasonal variations; Streams; Trichomycterus; Variables; Wildlife conservation
• ISSN: 0366-5232; 2357-3759; 2357-3759
• DOI: 10.15446/caldasia.v44n2.93495

The development of hydropower production in the north of the Andes of South America has focused on the Magdalena basin. For this basin, it is reported that 68 % of the fish species are endemic and the effects that these structures produce on their assemblages in high mountain rivers have not been studied. This work answers the questions associated with the characteristics that describe the fish assemblage and the influence that some environmental variables influence on their distribution during the dry and rainy hydrological periods in the area of influence of two reservoirs. Seven fish species were caught, four of these are not native from the basin. No significant differences in abundances were found between aquatic systems and between climatic seasonality. The richness was higher in the streams and rivers. The assemblages changed according to the aquatic system; in reservoirs, the non-native species Micropterus salmoides and Cyprinus carpio dominated, while in streams and rivers, the assemblage consisted mainly of Hemibrycon caucanus and Trichomycterus sp. There were no statistical differences in the assemblages according to the climatic period. We observed that physicochemical variables such as oxygen and transparency are important for the distribution of non-native species in reservoirs, and for species distributed in rivers and streams, the conductivity was the most influential variable. The information provided in this study will serve as a basis for fish conservation management in the Andes. El desarrollo de producción hidro-energética al norte de los Andes de Sudamérica se ha centrado en la cuenca Magdalena. Para esta cuenca se reporta que el 68 % de las especies de peces son endémicas y no se han estudiado los efectos que producen estas estructuras sobre sus ensamblajes en los ríos de alta montaña. Este trabajo responde preguntas asociadas a las características que describen el ensamblaje de peces y la influencia que ejercen algunas variables ambientales sobre su distribución en el transcurso de los periodos hidrológicos de sequía y lluvias en el área de influencia de dos embalses. Se capturaron siete especies de peces, cuatro de ellas no nativas de la cuenca. No se encontraron diferencias significativas de las abundancias entre los sistemas acuáticos y entre la temporalidad climática. La riqueza fue mayor en las quebradas y ríos. Los ensamblajes cambiaron según el sistema acuático, en embalses dominaron las especies no nativas Micropterus salmoi