Analysis of trophic gradient through environ-mental filter influencing fish assemblage structure of the river Teesta in Eastern Himalayas
Paper Details
Analysis of trophic gradient through environ-mental filter influencing fish assemblage structure of the river Teesta in Eastern Himalayas
Abstract
Factors controlling biodiversity and co-existence of species need immediate attention to maintain biodiversity. Co-existence between interacting species is based on their ecological niches or functional roles and can be assessed by niche assembly theory and construction of trophic guild. In the present study, the diet composition of fishes have been analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively to describe feeding patterns along environmental gradient towards linking biodiversity with functional diversity patterns to shape species assemblage. We evaluated the trophic guild structure of 92 fish species of the large, torrential river Teesta (within West Bengal) having its origin in eastern Himalayas. Stomach contents of 1515 fish specimens have been analyzed and fishes were ascertained 14 different trophic guilds. Canonical correspondence analysis was performed to study species associations with environmental parameters. Preliminary analysis showed a dietary shift of the respective fish assemblages from high to low altitude from specified feeders (aquatic insectivores) to omnivorous respectively. Aquatic insect larvae formed the most important prey in general, especially in high altitude zone followed by algae. The dietary preferences indicate that fish assemblage pattern seems to be guided by niche breadth and environment acting as the main filtering agent towards species sorting and survival. This study is an important step in structuring fish community of the River Teesta and to lay the foundation for subsequent future efforts on the conservation of aquatic communities and their feeding habitats.
Abelha MCF, Agostinho AA, Goulart E. 2001. Plasticidade trófica em peixes de água doce. Acta Scientiarum 23 (2), 425–434.
Allen DJ, Molur S, Daniel BA. 2010. The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in the eastern Himalaya. IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Publications Services, 28 Rue Mauverney, 1196 Gland, Switzerland.
Alvim MCC, Peret AC. 2004. Food resources sustaining the fish fauna in a section of the upper São Francisco River in Três Marias, MG, Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology 64 (2), 195–202.
Angermeier PL, Karr JR. 1983. Fish communities along environmental gradients in a system of tropical streams. Environmental Biology of Fishes 9,117–135.
Bonato KO, Delariva RL, da Silva JC. 2012. Diet and trophic guilds of fish assemblages in two streams with different anthropic impacts in the northwest of Paraná, Brazil. Zoologia 29 (1), 27–38.
Casatti L, Langeani F, Silva AM, Castro RMC. 2006. Stream fish, water and habitat quality in a pasture dominated basin, southeastern Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology 66 (2B), 681–69.
Casatti L, Ferreira CP, Langeani F. 2009. A fish–based biotic integrity index for assessment of lowland streams in southeastern Brazil. Hydrobiologia 623, 173–189.
Castro RMC. 1999. Evolução da ictiofauna de riachos sulamericanos: padrões gerais e possíveis processos causais, p. 139–155. In: E.P. Caramaschi; R. Mazzoni & P.R. Peres Neto (Eds). Ecologia de peixes de riachos: estado atual e perspectivas. Rio de Janeiro, PPGE–UFRJ, Série Oecologia Brasiliensis 6.
Clarke KR. 1993. Non–parametric multivariate analyses of changes in community structure. Australian Journal of Ecology 18, 117–143.
Clarke KR, Gorley RN. 2001. PRIMER v5: User Manual/Tutorial. Plymouth: PRIMER–E Ltd.
Clarke KR, Somerfielda PJ, Gorley RN. 2008. Testing of null hypotheses in exploratory community analyses: similarity profiles and biota–environment linkage. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 366, 56–69.
Costa de Azevedo MC, Araujo FG, Pessanha ALM, Silva MD. 2006. Co–occurrence a null model analysis. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 66, 315–322.
Day F. 1889. The fauna of British India: Fishes. Taylor and Francis, London, 1: i–xx + 1–548.
Dekar MP, Magoulick DD, Huxel GR. 2009. Shifts in the trophic base of intermittent stream food webs. Hydrobiologia 635, 263–277.
Esteves KE, Aranha JMR. 1999. Ecologia trófica de peixes de riachos, p. 157–182. In: EP Caramaschi, R Mazzoni, CRSF Bizerril, PR Peres–neto (Eds). Ecologia de peixes de riachos: estado atual e perspectivas. Rio de Janeiro, PPGE–UFRJ, Série Oecologia Brasiliensis 6.
Ferreira CP, Casatti L. 2006. Integridade biótica de um córrego na bacia do Alto Rio Paraná avaliada por meio da comunidade de peixes. Biota Neotropica 6(3), 1–25.
Hourston M, Platell ME, Valesini FJ, Potter IC. 2004. Factors influencing the diets of four morphologically divergent fish species in nearshore marine waters. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India 84, 805–817.
Jayaram KC. 2006. Catfishes of India. Delhi, Narendra Publishing House: xv + 383, xi pls.
Jayaram KC. 2010. The Freshwater Fishes of the Indian Region, Narendra Publishing House, Revised Second Edition, xxxii, 616 p, 39 Col. Plates, 348 b/w plates.
Karr JR. 1981. Assessment of biotic integrity using fish communities. Fisheries 6, 21–27.
Legendre P, Legendre L. 1998. Numerical ecology, 2nd English ed. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Lima–Junior SE, Goitein R. 2001. A new method for the analysis of fish stomach contents. Maringá 23(2), 421–424.
Lowe–mcconnel RH. 1999. Estudos ecológicos de comunidade de peixes tropicais. São Paulo, EDUSP, 535p
Menon AGK. 1987. Fauna of India and the Adjacent Countries: Pisces, Vol. IV; Teleostei – Cobitoidae, Part I, Homalopteridae, Zoological Survey of India, 259 pp.
Merona de B, Vigouroux R, Tejerina–Garro FL. 2005. Aleration of fish diversity downstream from Petit–Saut Dam in French Guiana. Implication of ecological strategies of fish species. Hydrobiologia 551, 33–47.
Motta RS, Uieda VS. 2004. Dieta de duas espécies de peixes do ribeirão do Atalho, Itatinga, SP. Revista Brasileira de Zoociências 6 (2), 191– 205.
Mouillot D, Dumay O, Tomasini JA. 2006. Limiting similarity, niche filtering and functional diversity in coastal lagoon fish communities. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 71, 443–456.
Rezende CF, Mazzoni R. 2005. Seasonal variation in the input of allochthonous matter in an Atlantic Rain Forest stream, Ilha Grande–RJ. Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia 17 (2), 167–175.
Rocha FC, Casatti L, Pereira DC. 2009. Structure and feeding of a stream fish assemblage in Southeastern Brazil: evidence of low seasonal influences. Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia 21(1), 123–134.
Rondineli G, Gomiero M, Caramassi AL, Braga FMS. 2011. Diet of fishes in Passa Cinco stream, Corumbataí River subbasin, São Paulo state, Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology 71 (1), 157–167.
Shaw GE, Shebbeare EO. 1937. The Fishes of North Bengal. Journal of Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Science 3(1), 1–137.
Talwar PK, Jhingran AG. 1991. Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries, Volume 1& 2. Oxford and IBH Publishing Company, New Delhi, 1158 pp.
Ter Braak CJF, Verdonschot PFM. 1995. Canonical correspondence analysis and related multivariate methods in aquatic ecology. Aquatic Sciences 57, 255–289.
Tófoli RM, Hahn NS, Alves GHZ, Novakowski GC. 2010. Uso do alimento por duas espécies simpátricas de Moenkhausia (Characiformes, characidae) em um riacho da Região Centro–Oeste do Brasil. Iheringia, Série Zoologia 100 (3), 201–206.
Uieda VS, Motta RL. 2007. Trophic organization and food web structure of southeastern Brazilian streams: a review. Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia 19(1), 15–30.
Vidotto–magnoni AP, Carvalho ED. 2009. Aquatic insects as the main food resource of fish the community in a Neotropical reservoir. Neotropical Ichthyology 7(4), 701–708.
Winemiller KO, Agostinho AA, Caramaschi PE. 2008. Fish Ecology in Tropical Streams, p. 336–346. In: Dudgeon, D. (Ed.). Tropical Stream Ecology. California, Academic Press 370p.
Zaret TM, Rand AS. 1971. Competition in tropical stream fishes: support for the competitive exclusion principle. Ecology 52, 336–342.
Zobel M. 1997. The relative role of species pools in determining plant species richness: an alternative explanation of species coexistence. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 12, 266–269.
Munmun Chakrabarty, Sumit Homechaudhuri (2014), Analysis of trophic gradient through environ-mental filter influencing fish assemblage structure of the river Teesta in Eastern Himalayas; JBES, V4, N4, April, P218-232
https://innspub.net/analysis-of-trophic-gradient-through-environ-mental-filter-influencing-fish-assemblage-structure-of-the-river-teesta-in-eastern-himalayas/
Copyright © 2014
By Authors and International
Network for Natural Sciences
(INNSPUB) https://innspub.net
This article is published under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0