The dynamism fish-plant association: Ontogenetic variations in assemblage attributes in neotropical floodplain lakes |
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| Authors: | Marcia Sayuri Iquematsu Eduardo Ribeiro Cunha Andréa Bialetzki |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), Maringá, Brazil;2. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA |
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| Abstract: | Structural habitat complexity provided by macrophytes is expected to increase richness and abundance of fish species. However, this topic is rarely investigated simultaneously at different periods of fish development. We sampled fish within macrophyte stands and in non-vegetated areas at floodplain lakes and tested the hypothesis that the presence of macrophytes increases abundance and species richness of fish, in addition to changes in species composition, at different periods of fish development. Our findings demonstrated that, in different period of fish development, the highest values of fish species richness and abundance were found at sites colonised by macrophytes. Similarly, changes in fish species composition were observed between habitats colonised by macrophytes and non-vegetated areas. Therefore, the results demonstrate that macrophyte presence plays an important role in regulating fish community structure at different periods of fish development. |
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| Keywords: | abundance aquatic macrophyte diversity habitat complexity ichthyoplankton ivinhema river |
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