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Societal perception, impacts and judgment values about invasive freshwater stingrays

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Abstract

We currently face a unique phase in the global biodiversity crisis because of massive introductions of non-native species into greatly altered ecosystems. These introductions frequently occur as a consequence of human constructions and structures such as dams that allow species to overcome historic established biogeographic barriers. There is a pressing need for study the socio-economic influence of invasive populations. Here we assessed the effects of one of the largest invasion events of elasmobranchs in the world. We investigated socio-economic impacts caused by invasive populations of freshwater stingrays in the upper Paraná River ecoregion (Brazil) using questionnaires to survey 125 artisanal fishers. The two study species are not tradable, may damage gear and cause accidents directly linked with their presence in the ecosystem, so are associated with economic losses for fishers. Thus, the local population perceives stingrays as a bycatch with strong negative socio-economic outcomes. Our results indicate that large-scale invasions triggered by enterprises (e.g. dams) can misguide conservation policies and management and cause multilevel damages to human well-being, especially if local information and local perception are not taken into account. The assessment of social perception demonstrated that invasive stingrays are not welcome or beneficial for the traditional resident human population.

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Credit: Valmir A. Teixeira – Porto Rico, PR

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Acknowledgements

We thank the State University of Maringá (UEM), PEA (Post-Graduation Program in Aquatic Ecology) and Nupélia Research Center staff who supported the field collections. We also thank the Porto Rico Fisheries Association who facilitated our contact with the fishers and supported all steps of this research. In addition, we thank RR Ota for reviewing species details in the Supplementary Material A. This study was financially supported by Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), with contributions to field research and a graduate scholarship for the first author. JRSV received research productivity grants from CNPq (302367/2018-7; 303776/2015-3).

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  1. Programa de pós-graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais (PEA), Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo, 5790, Bloco G-90, Maringá, PR, Brazil

    Daniel Alves dos Santos, Igor de Paiva Affonso, Hugo José Message & Luiz Carlos Gomes

  2. UNICESUMAR – Centro Universitário de Maringá, Av. Guedner, 1610, Maringá, PR, CEP 87050-900, Brazil

    Daniel Alves dos Santos

  3. Laboratório de Ecologia, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Campus Ponta Grossa, Av. Monteiro Lobato, S/N, km 04, Ponta Grossa, PR, Brazil

    Igor de Paiva Affonso

  4. Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupélia), Departamento de Biologia, PEA, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Av. Colombo, 5790, Blocos G-90 e H-90, Maringá, PR, Brazil

    Edson Kyioshi Okada & Luiz Carlos Gomes

  5. Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Pontal do Paraná, Brazil

    Hugo Bornatowski

  6. Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, Departamento de Engenharia Ambiental, Setor de Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

    Jean Ricardo Simões Vitule

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  1. Daniel Alves dos Santos
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  2. Igor de Paiva Affonso
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  3. Hugo José Message
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  4. Edson Kyioshi Okada
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Correspondence to Daniel Alves dos Santos.

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dos Santos, D.A., de Paiva Affonso, I., Message, H.J. et al. Societal perception, impacts and judgment values about invasive freshwater stingrays. Biol Invasions 21, 3593–3606 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-019-02071-0

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