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Impoverished fish assemblages of temperate Neotropical streams respond to environmental degradation and support a sensitive Index of Biotic Integrity

  • STREAM ECOLOGY
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Abstract

Fish as bioindicators are a widely used tool for environmental monitoring of freshwater ecosystems worldwide. However, its adaptation to temperate Neotropical streams constitutes a challenge due to the presence of pauperised ichthyofauna with high tolerance to environmental degradation. We designed, evaluated, and validated an Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) that uses fish as bioindicators of the ecological integrity of streams of the Pampa Plain, Argentina. An integral characterization of the environmental conditions (water quality, habitat structure, and riparian condition) and fish assemblages were performed in 17 study sites (natural grasslands, urban, and livestock reaches). The IBI was designed with 10 metrics and showed to be sensitive to different environmental conditions due to significant differences between study sites and land uses. The IBI also showed to be responsive due to its significant associations with water quality, habitat structure variables, and some multimetric indexes. Moreover, when validated against a recently fish database, it demonstrated to be sensitive for use in other temperate streams exposed to similar environmental conditions. An integral environmental assessment as the one designed can lead to optimized strategies for the management and conservation of these fragile ecosystems.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the owners and managers of the study sites for allowing access and Micaela Chindamo for help in georeferencing the study sites in their watersheds. Authors are indebted to Viviana Colasurdo (Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires UNCPBA) for several chemical analyses of water samples and Anahí Tabera (Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, UNCPBA) by microbiological analysis of water samples. JJR is indebted to Laboratorio Fares Taie for support provided in water samples analyses.

Funding

This work was supported by the financial support of a doctoral fellowship from the Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (CIC) and the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) awarded to Andrea Bertora and the support provided by CONICET to Juan José Rosso.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Multidisciplinario sobre Ecosistemas y Desarrollo Sustentable (UNCPBA-CIC), Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Andrea Bertora, Fabián Grosman & Pablo Sanzano

  2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Andrea Bertora & Juan José Rosso

  3. Grupo de Biotaxonomía Morfológica y Molecular de Peces, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Juan José Rosso

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  1. Andrea Bertora
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  2. Fabián Grosman
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  3. Pablo Sanzano
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  4. Juan José Rosso
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception, design and performed data collection. AB and JJR performed the data analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Andrea Bertora.

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Bertora, A., Grosman, F., Sanzano, P. et al. Impoverished fish assemblages of temperate Neotropical streams respond to environmental degradation and support a sensitive Index of Biotic Integrity. Hydrobiologia 851, 383–408 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-023-05211-9

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