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Early dry-season community structure and habitat use of young fish in tributaries of the River Sinnamary (French Guiana, South America) before and after hydrodam operation

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Abstract

We examined fish community structure and habitat use at the start of the dry seasons: (1) in 10 tributaries of the River Sinnamary (French Guiana) before and after the start of dam operation, and (2) in 10 upstream tributaries and at 10 littoral sites in the newly-created reservoir after the start of operation to assess the impact on fish juveniles of a hydroelectric dam built on the river's lower section. After the first year of dam operation, juvenile fish communities downstream of the dam showed an important decrease of the relative abundance of Characiformes, and Perciformes dominated. Principal components analysis revealed a distinct upstream-to-downstream progression in the juvenile fish communities with post-reservoir downstream and reservoir sites representing transitions between the upstream and pre-reservoir downstream sites. Canonical correspondence analysis and electivity indices of fish-habitat associations revealed three relatively distinct groups of sites, corresponding to the downstream, reservoir and upstream taxa. The proportion of juveniles presenting higher-than expected frequencies (Fisher's exact test) towards local environmental variables was higher for taxa more often caught in upstream sites. Inversely, juvenile taxa more frequently observed in downstream and reservoir sites appeared less selective towards local environmental characteristics. In the downstream reaches of the river, hydrodam operation is expected to drive the fish community towards a new biologically accommodated state where tolerant species will dominate and sensitive species will be lacking.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre ORSTOM de Cayenne, B.P. 165, 97323, Cayenne Cedex, French Guiana, France

    Dominique Ponton

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hartfield, Herts, AL10 9AB, UK

    Gordon H. Copp

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  1. Dominique Ponton
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  2. Gordon H. Copp
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Ponton, D., Copp, G.H. Early dry-season community structure and habitat use of young fish in tributaries of the River Sinnamary (French Guiana, South America) before and after hydrodam operation. Environmental Biology of Fishes 50, 235–256 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007301510288

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