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publicAug 2022View details →

Ecological outcomes of hybridization vary extensively in Catostomus fishes

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publicOct 2021View details →

Species ecology explains the various spatial components of genetic diversity in tropical reef fishes

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publicAug 2022View details →

Quantifying the ecological impacts of alien aquatic macrophytes: A global meta‐analysis of effects on fish, macroinvertebrate and macrophyte assemblages

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publicOct 2025View details →

Time-varying flow-ecology relationships for an endangered fish population: Longfin Smelt in the San Francisco Estuary

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opencc-zeroJan 2020View details →

Common barriers, but temporal dissonance: genomic tests suggest ecological and paleo-landscape sieves structure a coastal riverine fish community

Assessments of spatial and temporal congruency across taxa from genetic data provide insights into the extent to which similar processes structure communities. However, for coastal regions that are affected continuously by cyclical sea-level changes over the Pleistocene, congruent interspecific response will not only depend upon co-distributions, but also on similar dispersal histories among taxa. Here, we use SNPs to test for concordant genetic structure among four co-distributed taxa of freshwater fishes (Teleostei: Characidae) along the Brazilian Atlantic coastal drainages. Based on population relationships and hierarchical genetic structure analyses, we identify all taxa share the same geographic structure suggesting the fish utilized common passages in the past to move between river basins. In contrast to this strong spatial concordance, model-based estimates of divergence times indicate that despite common routes for dispersal, these passages were traversed by each of the taxa at different times resulting in varying degrees of genetic differentiation across barriers with most divergences dating to the Upper Pleistocene, even when accounting for divergence with gene flow. Interestingly, when this temporal dissonance is viewed through the lens of the species-specific ecologies, it suggests that an ecological sieve influenced whether species dispersed readily, with an ecological generalist showing the highest propensity for historical dispersal among the isolated rivers of the Brazilian coast (i.e., the most recent divergence times and frequent gene flow estimated for barriers). We discuss how our findings, and in particular what the temporal dissonance, despite common geographic passages, suggest about past dispersal structuring coastal communities as a function of ecological and paleo-landscape sieves.

opencc-zeroJan 2024View details →

Ecologically mediated differences in electric organ discharge drive evolution in a sodium channel gene in South American electric fishes

Active electroreception — the ability to detect objects and communicate with conspecifics via the detection and generation of electric organ discharges (EODs) — has evolved convergently in several fish lineages. South American electric fishes (Gymnotiformes) are a highly species-rich group, possibly in part due to evolution of an electric organ (EO) that produces diverse EODs. Neofunctionalization of a voltage-gated sodium channel accompanied the evolution of electrogenic tissue from muscle and resulted in a novel gene (scn4aa) uniquely expressed in the EO. Here, we investigate the link between variation in scn4aa and differences in EOD waveform. We combine gymnotiform scn4aa sequences encoding the C-terminus of the Nav1.4a protein with biogeographic data and EOD recordings. We test whether physiological transitions among EOD types accompany differential selection pressures on scn4aa. We found positive selection on scn4aa coincided with shifts in EOD types. Species that evolved in the absence of predators, which likely selected for reduced EOD complexity, exhibited increased scn4aa evolutionary rates. We model mutations in the protein that may underlie changes in protein function and discuss our findings in the context of gymnotiform signalling ecology. Together, this work sheds light on the selective forces underpinning major evolutionary transitions in electric signal production.

opencc-zeroApr 2024View details →

Data from: Historical field records reveal habitat as an ecological correlate of locomotor phenotypic diversity in the radiation of Neotropical Geophagini fishes

Phenotypic macroevolutionary studies provide insight into how ecological processes shape biodiversity. However, the complexity of phenotype-ecology relationships underscores the importance of also validating phenotype-based ecological inference with direct evidence of resource use. Unfortunately, macroevolutionary scale ecological studies are often hindered by the challenges of acquiring taxonomically and spatially representative ecological data for large and widely distributed clades. The South American cichlid fish tribe Geophagini represents a continentally distributed radiation whose early locomotor morphological divergence suggests habitat as one ecological correlate of diversification, but an association between locomotor traits and habitat preference has not been corroborated. Field notes accumulated over decades of collecting across South America provide first-hand environmental records that can be mined for habitat data in support of macroevolutionary ecological research. In this study, we applied a newly developed method to transform descriptive field note information into quantitative habitat data, and used it to assess habitat preference and its relationship to locomotor morphology in Geophagini. Field note-derived data shed light on geophagine habitat use patterns and reinforced habitat as an ecological correlate of locomotor morphological diversity. Our work emphasizes the rich data potential of museum collections, including often overlooked material such as field notes, for evolutionary and ecological research.

opencc-zeroAug 2022View details →

Data for: Social-ecological vulnerability of fishing communities to climate change: a U.S. West Coast case study

Climate change is already impacting coastal communities, and ongoing and future shifts in fisheries species productivity from climate change have implications for the livelihoods and cultures of coastal communities. Harvested marine species in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem support U.S. West Coast communities economically, socially, and culturally. Ecological vulnerability assessments exist for individual species in the California Current but ecological and human vulnerability are linked and vulnerability is expected to vary by community. Here, we present automatable, reproducible methods for assessing the vulnerability of U.S. West Coast fishing-dependent communities to climate change within a social-ecological vulnerability framework. We first assessed the ecological risk of marine resources, on which fishing communities rely, to 50 years of climate change projections. We then combined this with the adaptive capacity of fishing communities, based on social indicators, to assess the potential ability of communities to cope with future changes. Specific communities (particularly in Washington state) were determined to be at risk to climate change mainly due to economic reliance on at risk marine fisheries species, like salmon, hake, or sea urchins. But, due to higher social adaptive capacity, these communities were often not found to be the most vulnerable overall. Conversely, certain communities that were not the most at risk, ecologically and economically, ranked in the category of highly vulnerable communities due to low adaptive capacity based on social indicators (particularly in Southern California). Certain communities were both ecologically at risk due to catch composition and socially vulnerable (low adaptive capacity) leading to the highest tier of vulnerability. The integration of climatic, ecological, economic, and societal data reveals that factors underlying vulnerability are variable across fishing communities on the U.S West Coast, and suggests the need to develop a variety of well-aligned strategies to adapt to the ecological impacts of climate change.

opencc-zeroApr 2024View details →

Data from: Dine and dash: How trophic ecology and migration shape functional locomotory traits in Clupeiform fishes

Understanding how interactions between multiple selective forces influence traits at the macroevolutionary scale is key to understanding adaptive landscapes. Diadromy, an extreme form of migration between marine and freshwater environments, is thought to require locomotory traits conducive to long-distance migration. Yet, other selective forces, such as predator avoidance, habitat use, and prey acquisition, are also likely to shape locomotory adaptation in fishes. We examined how diadromy and trophic ecology together influenced locomotory trait diversity across Clupeiformes, a clade of fishes containing high trophic diversity and numerous transitions to diadromy. We found that both diadromy and trophic ecology influenced the pattern and pace of trait evolution. Diadromous taxa rapidly evolved traits characterized by high cruising efficiency, but the extent to which diadromous and non-diadromous taxa differed depended on their trophic ecology. Macropredators showed greater differences in locomotory traits between diadromous and non-diadromous taxa than phytodetritivores and micropredators, suggesting that traits conducive to migration might be most costly to consumers of evasive prey. This work shows that simultaneously characterizing the roles of multiple ecological or life-history factors in phenotypic evolution can bring the topography of adaptive landscapes into sharper focus and provide a more holistic view of the forces driving patterns of trait evolution.

opencc-zeroMay 2024View details →

Data from: Genetic divergence and one-way gene flow influence contemporary evolution and ecology of a partially migratory fish

Recent work has revealed the importance of contemporary evolution for shaping ecological outcomes. In particular, rapid evolutionary divergence between populations has been shown to impact the ecology of populations, communities, and ecosystems. While studies have focused largely on the role of adaptive divergence in generating ecologically-important variation among populations, much less is known about the role of gene flow in shaping ecological outcomes. After divergence, populations may continue to interact through gene flow, which may influence evolutionary and ecological processes. Here we investigate the role of gene flow in shaping the contemporary evolution and ecology of recently diverged populations of anadromous steelhead / resident rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Results show that resident rainbow trout introduced above waterfalls have diverged evolutionarily from downstream anadromous steelhead, which were the source of introductions. However, the movement of fish from above to below the waterfalls has facilitated gene flow, which has reshaped genetic and phenotypic variation in the anadromous source population. In particular, gene flow has led to an increased frequency of residency, which in turn has altered population density, size-structure, and sex ratio. This result establishes gene flow as a contemporary evolutionary process that can have important ecological outcomes. From a management perspective, anadromous steelhead are generally regarded as a higher conservation priority than resident rainbow trout, even when found within the same watershed. Our results show that anadromous and resident O. mykiss populations may be connected via gene flow, with important ecological consequences. Such eco-evolutionary processes should be considered when managing recently diverged populations connected by gene flow.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2018View details →

Figure 1 in Ecological and economic impacts of exotic fish species on fisheries in the Pearl River basin

Figure 1. Locations of the 10 sampling sites in the Pearl River basin, China.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2014View details →

Fig. 2 in Impact of ecotourism on the fish fauna of Bonito region (Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil): ecological, behavioural and physiological measures

Fig. 2. Image illustrating tourists at the beginning of the snorkeling excursion (Lima, 2008).

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2016View details →

Fig. 2 in Ecology of Mylesinus paucisquamatus Jégu & Santos, 1988, an endangered fish species from the rio Tocantins basin

Fig. 2. Number of individuals of Mylesinus paucisquamatus

opencc-by-4.0Oct 2024View details →

Integrating Local and Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Anadromous Waters Cataloging and Fish Inventories of select drainages of the Tanana and Yukon rivers 2021-2023

***Funded by the Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund #54007, a part of the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund Synopsis During 2021 and 2022, staff from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Division of Sport Fish, Alaska Freshwater Fish Inventory (AFFI) program and the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association (YRDFA) will collaborate to integrate Local and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (LTK) ethnographic interviews into a rapid systematic inventory of fish communities and associated habitats in select drainages of the lower Tanana River and Upper Yukon River in the area of Tanana and Fairbanks. First, in 2021, LTK surveys in the communities of Tanana, Manley Hot Springs and Nenana will locate important subsistence areas that will be overlain on our GIS-selected target streams to assist in filling gaps in coverage of the State of Alaska's Catalog of Waters Important for the Spawning, Rearing or Migration of Anadromous Fishes (AWC) in freshwater habitats expected to support anadromous fish populations likely to be impacted by human activities. Then, in 2022, this project will seasonally sample target streams and record observations in the Alaska Freshwater Fish Inventory database (AFFID), nominate water bodies to the AWC when anadromous fish are observed, and provide publicly available data via the AFFID internet mapping service. Anticipated benefits of this project are multiple hundreds of kilometers and/or dozens of water bodies added to the AWC as well as a broader understanding of the importance of this region’s fish species to local human communities. 1.      Introduction In Alaska, habitats that support migrating, spawning, or rearing anadromous fish are protected under multiple administrative jurisdictions, including state, federal, and local habitat protection standards. Alaska Statute (AS) 16.05.871 (the Anadromous Fish Act) is a keystone statutory protection for freshwater habitats of anadromous fish in Alaska, requiring the ADF&G to "specify the various rivers, lakes, and streams or parts of them" of the state that are important to the spawning, rearing, or migration of anadromous fish.  The resulting atlas is known as the Anadromous Waters Catalog (AWC) which is adopted as regulation under 5 AAC 95.011. Under the Anadromous Fish Act, activities and uses conducted in or otherwise affecting water bodies specified in the AWC require permitting from the ADF&G Habitat Section. Many other federal, state, and local government policies specify additional protections for anadromous fish habitat in Alaska. To be listed in the AWC, water bodies must have site-specific, direct, unambiguous observations of anadromous fish by a qualified observer. This is a major reason the AFFI program targets areas with high potential to add water bodies to the AWC. Beginning in spring 2021, YRDFA and AFFI staff will conduct LTK interviews and mapping in the communities of Tanana, Manley Hot Springs, and Nenana. By spring 2022, the LTK contributions will be mapped and added to our site selection criteria prior to field work. Based on seasonality of some fishes in this area, we will establish certain seasonal site locations that are road accessible to determine spatiotemporal patterns in the fish community used by area residents. This will include target streams sampled in June, the main summer season (see following paragraph), and September. From July 10 to August 1, 2022, 4 crews, each with 2 members, will sample fish communities using AFFI protocols in selected streams draining into the Tanana and Yukon rivers within a general area upstream of the Kokrines (a historical settlement downstream of Tanana) and downstream of the city of Fairbanks. Target sites will include wadeable headwater streams and un-wadeable streams. Summer surveys will maximize detection of juvenile and spawning Chinook salmon, juvenile coho salmon, as well as spawning summer chum salmon. More opportunistic seasonal sampling for 5 days, tentatively in late-spring (e.g., early June) and fall (September or October), could enhance the likelihood of detecting multiple life history stages of rearing, migrating, or spawning whitefishes, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and chum salmon.  Given the size and remoteness of the Yukon and Tanana river drainages, this AFFI proposal is for years 3 and 4 of a multiyear effort to sample the region and provides enough funding to conduct spring, summer, and fall sampling. AFFI staff will pursue additional funding sources to conduct more surveys if possible. Before this proposed study, AKSSF funded AFFI to survey the upper Yukon and Tanana River drainages in 2019 and 2020 (AKSSF projects 44375 and 53013, respectively). For example, 2019 surveys in the upper Yukon and Tanana river drainages documented >40 streams previously unlisted in the AWC for Chinook salmon. 2.      Location(s) Sampling will be done in select drainages of the Yukon and Tanana rivers bounded downstream near the old Yukon River village of Kokrines (N 64.9376, W -154.6944) and upstream to the Tanana River tributary Willow Creek (N 64.6719, W -148.2027). This includes the area and tributaries around the confluence of the Yukon and Tanana rivers (N 65.1682, W -151.9982) between the villages of Tanana and Manley Hot Springs. I.                   Objectives Objective 1: To maximize the spatial increase of documented anadromous fish habitats depicted in the AWC within the study area (sampling a minimum 80 headwater target streams, and 12 un-wadeable target streams) not including repeat sampling of select sites to document seasonal presence of some anadromous species. Objective 2: To use LTK to maximize the spatial increase of documented anadromous fish habitats depicted in the AWC within the study area while also corroborating and verifying the LTK with field surveys. Objective 3:  To record characteristics, using established protocols, of aquatic habitats (including riparian zone) at each sampling location. Objective 4:  To provide the fish distribution and associated aquatic habitat information to State & Federal agencies, participating communities, and the public. II.                Methods This collaborative project is designed to contribute to the AWC using social and biological methods. Prior to field work, a YRDFA anthropologist and ADF&G staff will contact the Tribal Councils of Tanana, Manley Hot Springs, and Nenana to schedule community meetings (in-person or online, as able) and ethnographic interviews between late spring 2021 and spring 2022. These interviews and mapping activities will establish what is known about the timing and distribution of resident and anadromous fishes and create maps that can be overlain on the AWC with other AFFI site selection criteria to identify streams to sample the following year. The next year, project staff will seek to verify LTK surveys and add to the AWC through seasonal sampling. The proposed study area for 2020 has a road system along the Tanana River which will allow access via truck and boat to certain streams during 5 days each in spring (June) and fall (September). This will likely raise the number of sites this project can sample while avoiding excess helicopter expenses. Additionally, this will allow better seasonal sampling efforts to maximize the ability to document seasonally variable fish distributions such as summer salmon spawning and fall whitefish spawning seasons. Summer sampling will be more expansive and follow ADF&G's AFFI protocols (Giefer and Cathcart 2019) where 4 crews, each with 2 members, will use helicopters to sample fish communities in selected study stream reaches for approximately 21 days in summer of 2022. Target survey sites will include wadeable headwater streams sampled with a backpack electrofisher, and un-wadeable streams sampled with a raft-mounted electrofisher. Sites within the study area that are identified as being anadromous fish rearing from LTK surveys and currently unlisted in the AWC will be prioritized for verification.           Study area selection The long-term goal of the AFFI program is to complete a statewide baseline inventory of fish assemblages and associated aquatic and riparian habitats. At its inception, the AFFI program developed a systematic approach to rank and prioritize Alaska’s 139 subbasin level hydrologic units. At the time of this proposal, the AFFI program has surveyed 81 of the 139 subbasins that were originally prioritized. This project’s 99,099 square kilometer study area includes subbasins of the lower Tanana River between the city Fairbanks and the mouth of the Tanana River, tributaries draining the south side of the Tanana upstream of Fairbanks but west of Clear Creek, and in select subbasins of the Yukon River near the community of Tanana but upstream of Kokrines.  Target stream selection Target stream selection will be performed by integrating LTK survey information with our conventional method of using GIS to identify previously unsampled (or not rigorously sampled) streams that can be safely accessed while maximizing potential additions to the AWC. The number of headwater streams in the study area will exceed the project’s limited sampling effort capacity; therefore, a subset of streams comprising the longest stream segments not listed in the AWC will be selected as targets. The headwater team will sample approximately six to eight headwater streams per day and, when operating, the raft or riverboat team will float and sample one un-wadeable stream per day. Based on past AFFI projects, it is estimated that a minimum of 80 headwater target streams will be sampled, and 12 un-wadeable target streams could be rafted and sampled during the 21 field days (not including the 5 field days in each of June and September).  However, these estimates are contingent upon weather and logistics. Reference sites for seasonal sampling will be prioritized depending on spatial and temporal observations from LTK surveys where we will select road or boat accessible locations to target fishes in spring, summer, and fall. We will seek to access all LTK-identified subbasins for subsistence fishes but they will be prioritized according to logistics (i.e., fuel and time needed to reach location) and potential addition to the AWC. Sampling methods Ideally, the fish community and habitat will be sampled with standardized methods per AFFI protocols. Fish will be collected by single-pass electrofishing standardized by stream width (i.e., 40 or 120 wetted-channel-widths in wadeable and un-wadeable target streams, respectively). Captured fish will be identified, measured, and released. Other gear types (such as beach seines, angling, or minnow traps) may be deployed if conditions prohibit electrofishing. Standard water chemistry, channel morphology, and riparian habitat parameters will be recorded at each sample site in addition to longer-term water temperature or eDNA sampling efforts in reference streams.   III.             Benefits Updated and more comprehensive AWC coverage will be the primary regulatory or fish habitat benefit of this project toward sustaining salmon habitat. Enhanced communication and partnerships with tribal communities will be established through interviews to gather LTK. Based on summer AFFI sampling since 2016, sampling at least 80 headwater target streams and 12 un-wadeable target streams, this project will add many (likely >300) previously unlisted kilometers of salmon habitat among several distinct streams to the AWC. Only anadromous fish habitat listed in the AWC receives protection under the Anadromous Fish Act and various other policies that provide additional protections to specified anadromous fish habitat. Also, providing more complete (e.g., seasonal) and accessible fish community and habitat information will benefit ADF&G, as well as help other federal, state, and local resource agencies better implement their respective fish habitat management, protection, and research missions.  Better protection and management of salmon habitat will benefit salmon fisheries and the communities they sustain by safeguarding critical salmon habitat thereby ensuring the long-term productivity of habitats and salmon populations.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2010View details →

Fig. 1. A in Scientific Note Feeding ecology of the leaf fish Monocirrhus polyacanthus (Perciformes: Polycentridae) in a terra firme stream in the Brazilian Amazon

Fig. 1. A freshly collected leaf fish Monocirrhus polyacanthus. Photo by F. P. Mendonça.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2008View details →

Fig. 3 in Ecology and life history of an Amazon floodplain cichlid: the discus fish Symphysodon (Perciformes: Cichlidae)

Fig. 3. Sampling of a small submerged tree crown or 'galhada'

opencc-zeroAug 2022View details →

Ecological and behavioural drivers of offspring size in marine teleost fishes

Aim: Our aim was to evaluate the role of ecological and life-history factors in shaping global variation in offspring size in a marine clade with a diverse range of parental care behaviours. Location: Global. Time period: Data sourced from literature published from 1953 until 2019. Major taxa studied: Marine teleost fishes. Methods: We compiled a species-level dataset of egg and hatchling size for 1,639 species of marine fish across 45 orders. We used Bayesian phylogenetic mixed models to evaluate the relationship between offspring size and environmental factors (i.e., mean temperature, chlorophyll-a and dissolved oxygen content together with their annual variation), as well as latitude, reproductive strategy, parental body size and fecundity. We also tested long-standing hypotheses about the co-evolution of offspring size and the presence of parental care in BayesTraits. Results: After controlling for parental body size and phylogenetic history, we find that increased egg size is associated with colder and oxygen-rich waters, while hatch size further depends on food supply and the reproductive strategy exhibited by the species. Irrespective of the initial investment in egg size, species with parental care or demersal egg development yield larger hatchlings compared to pelagic spawners. We also demonstrate that hatch size has co-evolved with advanced forms of care in association with parental body but fail to find a relationship with other types of care. Main conclusions: Our study shows that parental care behaviours, together with environmental context, influence the evolution of classic life-history trade-offs on a global scale. While the initial investment in eggs is driven primarily by temperature and oxygen content, hatchling size also reflects the impact of care an offspring has received throughout development. In support of the 'offspring-first' hypothesis, we find that an increase in hatch size drives the evolution of advanced care provision.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

The ecological memory of fish assemblages in agroecosystems with different history of landscape changes

Here, we presented the data (local, past and response) and R code (models_Zeni et al.) we used to investigate the relationship between past land use changes and instream habitat (explanatory variables) and fish biodiversity patterns (response variables) in streams from different regions in Brazil.