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Short-term effects of inshore restoration measures on early stages, benthic species, and the sublittoral fish assemblage in a large river (Danube, Austria)

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Abstract

The rip-rap along an approx. 3-km-long shore in the main channel of the River Danube in Austria was completely removed to initiate the formation of a river bank through natural erosional and depositional processes. This study aimed to determine the short-term effect of this restoration measure on species composition and abundance of different developmental stages of fish at two spatial scales (micro- and mesohabitat). For this purpose, changes in abundance of early stages, as well as assemblage structure and species diversity of the benthic and the sub-littoral fish community were studied before and after restoration. No significant effects of restoration measures on the benthic fish assemblage were found. Significant and contradictory effects of the measures on the early stages and on the sub-littoral assemblage were observed. The abundance of fish larvae decreased after restoration, and this change could be attributed to the generally higher flow velocities in the new inshore microhabitats. Simultaneously, the species number and the abundance of fishes from the sub-littoral assemblage increased after restoration. This study has found that the main channel of the Danube still contain a high fish species diversity, and potentially plays a crucial role in recruitment of characteristic fluvial fishes.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financed by the LIFE Project LIFE02 NAT/A/008518 “Donauufer-Restoration of Danube river banks” and coordinated by the Nationalpark Donau-Auen GmbH and the viaDonau. I am grateful to Simon Götsch and Vinzenz Bammer for their help in the field work. T. Kaminskas improved the English. This article was improved by suggestions of P. Humphries, A. Lechner, and two anonymous reviewers.

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  1. Department of Limnology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Hubert Keckeis

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  1. Hubert Keckeis
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Correspondence to Hubert Keckeis.

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Guest editors: H. Habersack, S. Muhar & H. Waidbacher / Impact of human activities on biodiversity of large rivers

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Keckeis, H. Short-term effects of inshore restoration measures on early stages, benthic species, and the sublittoral fish assemblage in a large river (Danube, Austria). Hydrobiologia 729, 61–76 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1485-x

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