Fish fauna and fisheries of large European rivers: examples from the Volga and the Danube

Globally, multiple stressors acting on large rivers strongly influence their ecosystem functions. They do so by altering both their biodiversity and integrity, which may in turn degrade the available ecosystem services. We present the catchment characteristics and discuss different management strate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrobiologia 2018-06, Vol.814 (1), p.45-60
Main Authors: Schletterer, Martin, Kuzovlev, V. V., Zhenikov, Y. N., Tuhtan, J. A., Haidvogl, G., Friedrich, T., Górski, K., Füreder, L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Additives
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Catchment area
Communities
Ecological function
Ecology
Ecosystem services
Ecosystems
Fauna
Fish
Fisheries
Fishery conservation
Fishes
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Life Sciences
Multifunctionality of Large Rivers
River systems
Rivers
Species composition
Species diversity
Strategic planning (Business)
Surveys
Sustainable fisheries
Zoology
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Summary:Globally, multiple stressors acting on large rivers strongly influence their ecosystem functions. They do so by altering both their biodiversity and integrity, which may in turn degrade the available ecosystem services. We present the catchment characteristics and discuss different management strategies for the two longest European rivers, the Volga (3531 km) and the Danube (2850 km). Subsequently, we analyze patterns and characteristics of fish fauna of the two rivers based on a review of historical and recent fish surveys. The native fish community of the Danube is characterized by rheophilic species, whereas the Volga has a similar proportion of rheophilic and eurytopic fish, with increasing portions of rheophilic species in the Lower Volga and the Volga Delta. We analyzed the species composition of certain regions of the Volga and the Danube and found a range of 0.515–0.667 for the Jaccard distance. Our review and comparison of fish communities and fisheries between these two largest river systems in Europe indicate that the additive effects of multiple stressors cause impacts on their fish communities. Integrated management taking into account these stressors is needed in order to preserve riverine fish diversity and enhance sustainable fisheries.
ISSN:0018-8158
1573-5117
DOI:10.1007/s10750-017-3370-5