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The importance of forest cover for fish richness and abundance on the Amazon floodplain

  • TRENDS IN AQUATIC ECOLOGY
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Abstract

Flooded forest is one of the most important fish habitats in Neotropical rivers, and one that is increasingly subjected to negative impacts from logging, agriculture, and other human activities. The purpose of our study was to test quantitatively whether fish richness and abundance in Amazonian floodplain lakes are associated with the area of flooded forest. We sampled fish and several other variables in 35 Amazonian floodplain lakes during the high-water season. Our results highlighted that fish richness and abundance were directly related to flooded forest, inversely related to distance from the river, and influenced by dissolved oxygen concentration <1 mg l−1. The same result applied to fish richness and abundance landed by fisheries. Other variables such as depth and area of open water habitat were also related but the results were less consistent and apparently reliant on sampling methodology. Our results suggest that conservation of the flooded forest is critical for the maintenance of fish assemblages in the Amazon, and that removal of flooded forest will reduce fish richness, fish abundance, and fisheries yield.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Spanish CYTED program and additional funds from Brazil’s CNPq and NASA. JERS-1 SAR imagery was provided through the Global Rain Forest Mapping Project of NASDA, the National Space Development Agency of Japan (now JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). Thanks to C. Granado-Lorencio and A.Varella for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript, to Michael Goulding for recent references and comments about migratory species, to C. da Silva, Yossa, F. Chu Koo, J. Sanchéz-Botero, M. Picanço, J. Penna, W. Dias, and J. Marinho for their assistance during fish sampling and to the crew of boats Veloz-I and Cap. Dario.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), C/ Jose Gutierrez Abascal, 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Javior Lobón-Cerviá

  2. Earth Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, USA

    Laura L. Hess & John M. Melack

  3. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil

    Carlos A. R. M. Araujo-Lima

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  1. Javior Lobón-Cerviá
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  2. Laura L. Hess
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  3. John M. Melack
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  4. Carlos A. R. M. Araujo-Lima
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Correspondence to John M. Melack.

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Carlos A. R. M. Araujo-Lima—deceased.

Guest editor: Koen Martens / Emerging Trends in Aquatic Ecology

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Lobón-Cerviá, J., Hess, L.L., Melack, J.M. et al. The importance of forest cover for fish richness and abundance on the Amazon floodplain. Hydrobiologia 750, 245–255 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-2040-0

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