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Grass-dominated stream sites exhibit low fish species diversity and dominance by guppies: an assessment of two tropical pasture river basins

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Abstract

This study investigates whether (1) structural configuration (considering substrate composition, wood debris, marginal and riparian vegetation) of streams suggests habitat simplification on a basin scale and (2) fish assemblage structure follows stream habitat configurations. Ninety-five sites in two pasture basins in southeastern Brazil were randomly selected. Two passes of electro-fishing were done in a 75-m reach at each site. Ten habitat descriptors related to in-stream and riparian physical structures were evaluated at each stream reach. Two groups of streams were identified by principal component analysis: a grassy and a non-grassy group. In comparison to non-grassy sites, grass-dominated streams exhibited a more homogenous fish fauna due to lower species diversity and higher dominance, especially by the guppy Poecilia reticulata, a highly generalist exotic species. The grassy group had not only the most simplified habitat but also the most simplified fish fauna, and the combination of grass-dominated, completely deforested, heavily silted conditions with recent land use conversion may cause a future habitat homogenization followed by a fish fauna homogenization on a regional scale.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the colleagues at the Laboratório de Ictiologia for their help during field work and IBILCE-UNESP for facilities, IBAMA for collecting license (001/2003), landowners for allowing to conduct research on their properties, Mônica Ceneviva-Bastos and Luis H. Z. Branco for comments, anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions, Francisco Langeani for fish identification, David R. Mercer for language revision, “BIOTA/FAPESP Program” (www.biota.org/br) of the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico for financial support.

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  1. Laboratório de Ictiologia, Departamento de Zoologia e Botânica, IBILCE, UNESP-Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rua Cristóvão Colombo, 2265, Sao Jose do Rio Preto, SP, 15054-000, Brazil

    Lilian Casatti & Cristiane de Paula Ferreira

  2. Laboratório de Ictiologia, Departamento de Zoologia e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biociências, UFRGS-Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Avenida Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Bloco IV, Prédio 43435, Porto Alegre, RS, 91501-970, Brazil

    Fernando Rogério Carvalho

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  1. Lilian Casatti
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Correspondence to Lilian Casatti.

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Casatti, L., de Paula Ferreira, C. & Carvalho, F.R. Grass-dominated stream sites exhibit low fish species diversity and dominance by guppies: an assessment of two tropical pasture river basins. Hydrobiologia 632, 273–283 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-9849-y

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