Local environmental variables are the best beta diversity predictors for fish communities from the Brazilian Cerrado streams

Environmental characteristics, spatial structures, and landscape features are ecological factors that drive beta diversity in stream communities, but the effects of these factors, considering multiple spatial scales on beta diversity in aquatic communities, still remain a goal of community ecology....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aquatic sciences 2024, Vol.86 (1), p.19-19, Article 19
Main Authors: Lima, Luciano B., Oliveira, Fagner Junior M., De Marco Júnior, Paulo, Lima-Junior, Dilermando P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic communities
Biological diversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
cerrado
Community
Community ecology
Ecology
Environmental factors
Environmental Management
Fish
Fishes
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
landscapes
Life Sciences
Local communities
Marine & Freshwater Sciences
Oceanography
Redundancy
Research Article
Rivers
species
species diversity
Streams
variance
Variance analysis
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Summary:Environmental characteristics, spatial structures, and landscape features are ecological factors that drive beta diversity in stream communities, but the effects of these factors, considering multiple spatial scales on beta diversity in aquatic communities, still remain a goal of community ecology. Using the distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA) and variance partitioning, we evaluated the contribution of the local environment, regional, and spatial variables to total beta diversity and its components (i.e., species replacement and richness difference) for fish communities in 59 streams from the Brazilian Cerrado. The influence of local environmental, regional, and spatial variables on beta diversity was distinct along different spatial scales. Specifically, local environmental variables were the main drivers of dissimilarity between streams. We suggest that the environmental filter is the primary structuring mechanism of local communities in stream fishes in the Cerrado, regardless of the spatial scale. Together, spatial and regional variables may be considered complementary mechanisms to explain the variation in the beta diversity pattern. Thus, based on high beta diversity values and the number of unique species, our findings suggest that the preservation of stream structural features is necessary to maintain regional diversity.
ISSN:1015-1621
1420-9055
DOI:10.1007/s00027-023-01032-z