Abstract
Understanding the variation of fish assemblages in reservoirs is crucial for precise interpretations of ecological processes. However, representative samples in such environments are subjected both to spatial zonation (longitudinal and transversal gradients) and limitations of fishing gears. We used a large zoned reservoir (Itaipu, Brazil) to perform a quasi-experiment that assessed the relative role of spatial gradients and fishing methods on fish diversity and composition. Active (cast nets, electrofishing and seines) and passive (gillnets and longlines) fishing gears were employed in lotic, transitional and lentic habitats of the reservoir and three large tributaries. In total 6281 individuals of 101 species were captured. Sampling methods and spatial gradients had an influence on species composition, with significant interactions between these factors. In addition, results produced by a variation partitioning analysis suggested that 21 % of the species richness was explained by the sampling methods and 7 % by the longitudinal gradient; whereas for species composition, 12 and 3 % corresponded to sampling methods and transversal gradients, respectively. Overall, our results suggest that variations among fishing gears is greater than across strong spatial gradients, emphasizing the importance of using multiple and complementary fishing methods in reservoirs for characterization of fish assemblages. The interactions between spatial gradients and sampling methods were higher with transversal than with longitudinal gradients, suggesting that substantial differences in species richness and composition among sampling gears depend to some extent on habitat. The approach used here would be applicable to any large zoned inland waterscape.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Itaipu Binacional for funding this study. We thank the Nupélia field crew for their excellent and hard work. Fagner Souza and Renata Rúbia Ota revised the taxonomic identification of fish species and Jaime Luiz Pereira gently provided the map. We thank Horácio Júlio Júnior, Herick Santana and both anonymous reviewers for valuable suggestions on the manuscript. IPA and HJM held student scholarships by CAPES (Comissão de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Nível Superior). IPA is grateful to UniCesumar and was granted with the Ibero-American Program by Santander Universities for visiting the University of Girona. Further financial support was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (project CGL2013-43822-R), the Government of Catalonia (ref. 2014 SGR 484), and CAPES (Programa Pesquisador Visitante Especial, ref. 88881.068352/2014-01).
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de Paiva Affonso, I., Gomes, L.C., Agostinho, A.A. et al. Interacting effects of spatial gradients and fishing gears on characterization of fish assemblages in large reservoirs. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 26, 71–81 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-015-9402-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-015-9402-1