Fish community response to the longitudinal environmental gradient in Czech deep-valley reservoirs: Implications for ecological monitoring and management |
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| Institution: | 1. Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43212, USA;2. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada;3. Department of Civil Engineering, Queen''s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada;4. Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Ocean Sciences Division, Post Office Box 1006, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 4A2, Canada;5. Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, Solomons, MD 20688, USA;6. Sandusky Fisheries Research Unit, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, 305 East Shoreline Drive, Sandusky, OH 44870, USA;7. Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, 2514 Cleveland Road East, Huron, OH 44839, USA;8. Département de sciences biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7, Canada;10. Department of Forestry and Natural Resources and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program, Purdue University, 195 Marstellar Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA;11. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA;12. Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA;13. Department of Meteorology, The Pennsylvania State University, 503 Walker Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA;14. Cornell Biological Field Station, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Bridgeport, NY 13030, USA;15. Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, P.O. Box 15000, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada;p. Water and Science Technology Directorate, Environment Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6, Canada;1. U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;2. U.S. Geological Survey, Wisconsin Water Science Center, 8505 Research Way, Middleton, WI 53562, USA;3. Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 317 West Prospect Rd., Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA;4. U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA 95620, USA |
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| Abstract: | Ecological quality assessment of non-natural water bodies is, in contrast to natural systems, less developed and requires determining biological indicators that reliably reflect environmental conditions and anthropogenic pressures. This study was motivated to propose fish indicators appropriate for assessment of reservoir ecosystems in central Europe. We analysed changes in water quality, total biomass and the taxonomic, trophic and size composition of fish communities along the longitudinal axes of four elongated, deep-valley reservoirs. Due to high nutrient inputs from their catchments, the reservoirs exhibited pronounced within-system gradients in primary productivity and water transparency. Although fish communities were similar among the reservoirs and dominated by few native species, the community structure and biomass systematically changed along the longitudinal axes of the reservoirs. The biomass and proportion of planktivores/benthivores in the fish community were highest at eutrophic sites near the river inflow and declined substantially towards deep, more oligotrophic sites close to the dam. The biomass and proportion of piscivores significantly increased downstream within the reservoirs alongside improving water quality. At species level, perch Perca fluviatilis and bream Abramis brama responded most sensitively, although in opposite directions, to the longitudinal environmental gradient. The major longitudinal changes in fish community characteristics were found to be consistent between pelagic and benthic habitats. The results of this study suggest that fish communities are appropriate indicators of eutrophication and can be used for ecological quality assessment of non-natural lentic water bodies, such as reservoirs. Moreover, our results underline the necessity to consider within-system gradients in water quality and the fish community when planning sampling programmes for deep-valley reservoirs. |
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| Keywords: | Artificial ecosystem Ecological quality Eutrophication Fish community Gradients Water management |
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