Fish trophic guild responses to damming: Variations in abundance and biomass

Dams and associated reservoirs cause drastic changes in the composition and structure of ichthyofauna. Therefore, functional groups within a fish assemblage may respond distinctly to such human interventions in rivers. The objective of this study was to evaluate how fluctuations in fish abundance an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:River research and applications 2020-03, Vol.36 (3), p.430-440
Main Authors: Dias, Rosa Maria, Ortega, Jean Carlo Gonçalves, Strictar, Larissa, Santos, Natália Carneiro Lacerda, Gomes, Luiz Carlos, Luz‐Agostinho, Karla Danielle Gaspar, Agostinho, Carlos Sérgio, Agostinho, Angelo Antonio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
before–after and control‐impact design
Biomass
colonization in reservoirs
Dam effects
Design of experiments
Detritivores
Evaluation
Experimental design
Fish
Functional groups
Guilds
Herbivores
Ichthyofauna
neotropical reservoirs
patterns in reservoirs
Reservoirs
Rivers
Variation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Dams and associated reservoirs cause drastic changes in the composition and structure of ichthyofauna. Therefore, functional groups within a fish assemblage may respond distinctly to such human interventions in rivers. The objective of this study was to evaluate how fluctuations in fish abundance and biomass differ among trophic guilds. Fish were sampled before and after damming four reservoirs, in their inner areas (more heavily impacted areas) and upstream (less impacted areas). To evaluate possible changes, we used a before–after and control‐impact experimental design. Fish were classified into trophic guilds through diet analysis and based on information available from the literature. Six trophic guilds were identified. The effect of periods (before and after damming) and sites (more and less impacted) on abundance and biomass differed among the trophic guilds. Highly specialized trophic guilds, such as herbivores and detritivores, were negatively affected by damming. Invertivores were negatively affected in the impacted area and increased in abundance and biomass in the less impacted sites. The findings of this study show that modifications imposed by damming are reflected in the abundance and biomass of fish trophic guilds, but the degree of such impacts vary according to characteristics of the considered trophic guild.
ISSN:1535-1459
1535-1467
DOI:10.1002/rra.3591