10.5061/DRYAD.D5S4G
Arantes, Caroline C.
Texas A&M University
Winemiller, Kirk O.
Texas A&M University
Petrere, Miguel
University of California, Santa Barbara
Castello, Leandro
Virginia Tech
Hess, Laura L.
Federal University of Amazonas
Freitas, Carlos E.C.
Federal University of Amazonas
Freitas, Carlos E. C.
Federal University of Amazonas
Data from: Relationships between forest cover and fish diversity in the
Amazon River floodplain
Dryad
dataset
2018
Deforestation
assemblage structure
taxonomic diversity
tropics
2018-06-15T00:00:00Z
2018-06-15T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12967
184789 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
1.Habitat degradation leads to biodiversity loss and concomitant changes
in ecosystem processes. Tropical river floodplains are highly threatened
by land cover changes and support high biodiversity and important
ecosystems services, but the extent to which changes in floodplain land
cover affect fish biodiversity remains unknown. 2.We combined fish and
environmental data collected in situ and satellite-mapped landscape
features to evaluate how fish species with different ecological strategies
and assemblage structures respond to deforestation in floodplains of the
Amazon River. We surveyed 462 floodplain habitats distributed along a
gradient of land cover, from largely forested to severely deforested.
Rather than analyze only taxonomic metrics, we employed an integrative
approach that simultaneously considers different aspects of fish
biodiversity (i.e., beta diversity and taxonomic and functional assemblage
structure) to facilitate mechanistic interpretations of the influence of
land cover. 3.Spatial patterns of fish biodiversity in tropical floodplain
rivers were strongly associated with forest cover as well as local
environmental conditions linked to landscape gradients. Several species
and functional groups defined by life history, feeding,
swimming/microhabitat-use strategies were positively associated with
forest cover. Other species, including some that would usually be
considered habitat generalists and species directly dependent on
autochthonous resources (e.g., planktivores), were most common in areas
dominated by herbaceous vegetation or open-water habitats associated with
the opposite extreme of the forest cover gradient. Beta-diversity and the
degree of uniqueness of species combinations within habitats were also
positively associated with forest cover. 4.Synthesis and applications. Our
results, demonstrating that spatial patterns of fish biodiversity are
associated with forest cover, indicate that deforestation of floodplains
of the Amazon River results in spatial homogenization of fish assemblages
and reduced functional diversity at both local and regional scales.
Floodplains worldwide have undergone major land cover changes, with forest
loss projected to increase during the next decades. Conserving fish
diversity in these ecosystems requires protecting mosaics of both aquatic
habitats and floodplain vegetation, with sufficient forest cover being
critically important.
Arantes et al 2017 dataExcel file containing 450 × 60 site-by-species
matrix and geographic coordinates, land cover and environmental data for
the same sites (see Arantes et al. JAE for details).
Floodplain
Brazil
Amazon