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Fish larvae diversity in a conservation area of a neotropical floodplain: influence of temporal and spatial scales

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Abstract

The diversity of fish larvae in floodplain environments exhibits spatial and temporal variations since fish have different ontogenetic requirements, and is influenced by their reproductive period. In order to evaluate how the diversity of fish larvae is structured in different temporal and spatial scales in the sub-basin of the Ivinhema River, Upper Paraná River floodplain (MS, Brazil), we performed monthly samplings in two reproductive periods (2010/2011 and 2011/2012). Variation in alpha (α) diversity was evaluated through a nested ANOVA, while beta (β) diversity was evaluated with distance-based tests for the homogeneity of multivariate dispersions (PERMDISP). Additive partitioning of diversity was used to verify the relative contribution of each scale to gamma (γ) diversity. The first reproductive period showed higher intensity and duration of flooding, which favored a higher γ diversity. Alpha and beta diversities also varied among the different habitats, each one being occupied by species with distinct reproductive strategies. Components β1 (variation among months) and β3 (variation among habitats) significantly explained γ diversity in both reproductive periods, indicating that more intense floods favor reproduction and increase diversity of fish larvae. This study reinforces the importance of temporal and spatial scales in the maintenance of fish larvae diversity in floodplains.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Long Term Ecological Research (PIAP-PELD/CNPq) program for the opportunity to develop this study, the Center of Research in Limnology, Ichthyology and Aquaculture of State University of Maringá (Nupélia/UEM) for logistical support and CAPES and CNPq for a post-graduate scholarship. J. D. Dias acknowledges CNPq for a post-doctoral scholarship. We also wish to thank all the people from the Ichthyoplankton Laboratory (Nupélia/UEM) who helped in field collection, sorting and identification. The project was approved by the Committee for Animal Ethics and Experimental in this institution under protocol 123/2010.

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  1. Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Núcleo de Pesquisa em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupélia), Universidade Estadual de Maringá, av. Colombo, 5790, Maringá, PR, CEP 87020-900, Brazil

    Camila Barbosa Silva, Juliana Déo Dias & Andréa Bialetzki

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  1. Camila Barbosa Silva
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  2. Juliana Déo Dias
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Silva, C.B., Dias, J.D. & Bialetzki, A. Fish larvae diversity in a conservation area of a neotropical floodplain: influence of temporal and spatial scales. Hydrobiologia 787, 141–152 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2953-x

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