Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Genetic diversity and species diversity of stream fishes covary across a land-use gradient

  • Population ecology - Original Paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Genetic diversity and species diversity are expected to covary according to area and isolation, but may not always covary with environmental heterogeneity. In this study, we examined how patterns of genetic and species diversity in stream fishes correspond to local and regional environmental conditions. To do so, we compared population size, genetic diversity and divergence in central stonerollers (Campostoma anomalum) to measures of species diversity and turnover in stream fish assemblages among similarly sized watersheds across an agriculture–forest land-use gradient in the Little Miami River basin (Ohio, USA). Significant correlations were found in many, but not all, pair-wise comparisons. Allelic richness and species richness were strongly correlated, for example, but diversity measures based on allele frequencies and assemblage structure were not. In-stream conditions related to agricultural land use were identified as significant predictors of genetic diversity and species diversity. Comparisons to population size indicate, however, that genetic diversity and species diversity are not necessarily independent and that variation also corresponds to watershed location and glaciation history in the drainage basin. Our findings demonstrate that genetic diversity and species diversity can covary in stream fish assemblages, and illustrate the potential importance of scaling observations to capture responses to hierarchical environmental variation. More comparisons according to life history variation could further improve understanding of conditions that give rise to parallel variation in genetic diversity and species diversity, which in turn could improve diagnosis of anthropogenic influences on aquatic ecosystems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Angermeier PL, Schlosser IJ (1989) Species-area relationships for stream fishes. Ecology 70:1450–1462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angermeier PL, Winston MR (1999) Characterizing fish community diversity across Virginia landscapes: prerequisites for conservation. Ecol Appl 9:335–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antonovics J (1976) The input from population genetics: "the new ecological genetics". Syst Bot 1:233–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagley MJ, Franson SE, Christ SA, Waits ER, Toth GP (2002) Genetic diversity as an indicator of ecosystem condition and sustainability: utility for regional assessments of stream condition in the eastern United States. EPA/600/R-03/056. US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagley MJ, Jackson SA, Franson SE, Waits ER (2004) Genetic diversity of stream fish in the Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment Area: implications for ecological monitoring and assessment programs. EPA/600/R-04/175. US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateman DS, Grasswell RE, Torgeson CE (2005) Evaluating single-pass catch as a tool for identifying spatial pattern in fish distribution. J Freshw Ecol 20:335–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blum MJ, Neely DA, Harris PM, Mayden RL (2008) Molecular systematics of the cyprinid genus Campostoma (Actinopterygii: Cypriniformes): disassociation between morphological and mitochondrial differentiation. Copeia 2:360–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cleary DFR, Fauvelot C, Genner MJ, Menken SBJ, Mooers AØ (2006) Parallel responses of species and genetic diversity to El Niño Southern Oscillation-induced environmental destruction. Ecol Lett 9:304–310

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costello AB, Down TE, Pollard SM, Pacas CJ, Taylor EB (2003) The influence of history and contemporary stream hydrology on the evolution of genetic diversity within species: an examination of microsatellite DNA variation in bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus (Pisces: Salmonidae). Evolution 57:328–344

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Crispo E, Bentzen P, Reznick DN, Kinnison MT, Hendry AP (2006) The relative influence of natural selection and geography on gene flow in guppies. Mol Ecol 15:49–62

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Daniel FB, Griffith MB, Troyer ME (2010) Influences of spatial scale and soil permeability on relationships between land cover and baseflow stream nutrient concentrations. Environ Manag 45:336–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derry AM, Arnott SE, Shead JA, Hebert PDN, Boag PT (2009) Ecological linkages between community and genetic diversity in zooplankton among boreal shield lakes. Ecology 90:2275–2286

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dieringer D, Schlötterer C (2002) Microsatellite analyser (MSA): a platform independent analysis tool for large microsatellite data sets. Mol Ecol Notes 3:167–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dimsoski P, Toth GP, Bagley MJ (2000) Microsatellite characterization in central stoneroller Campostoma anomalum (Pisces: Cyprinidae). Mol Ecol 9:2187–2189

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Etienne RS, Olff H (2004) A novel genealogical approach to neutral biodiversity theory. Ecol Lett 7:170–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evanno G, Castella E, Antoine C, Paillat G, Goudet J (2009) Parallel changes in genetic diversity and species diversity following a natural disturbance. Mol Ecol 18:1137–1144

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fagan WF (2002) Connectivity, fragmentation and extinction risk in dendritic metapopulations. Ecology 83:3243–3249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankham R (1996) Relationship of genetic variation to population size in wildlife. Conserv Biol 10:1500–1508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foré SA, Guttman SI, Bailer AJ, Altfeter DJ, Counts BV (1995) Potential use of genetic diversity as an indicator of water quality. II. Campostoma anomalum. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 30:36–46

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gorman OT, Karr JR (1978) Habitat structure and stream fish communities. Ecology 59:507–515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffith MB, Daniel FB, Morrison MA, Troyer ME, Lazorchak JM, Schubauer-Berigan JP (2009) Linking excess nutrients, light, and fine bedded sediments to impacts on faunal assemblages in headwater agricultural streams. J Am Water Resour Assoc 45:1475–1492

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guegan JF, Lek S, Oberdorff T (1998) Energy availability and habitat heterogeneity predict global riverine fish diversity. Nature 391:382–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gugerli F, Englisch T, Niklfeld H, Tribsch A, Mirek Z, Ronikier M, Zimmermann NE, Holderegger R, Taberlet P, IntraBioDiv Consortium (2008) Relationships among levels of biodiversity and the relevance of intraspecific diversity in conservation—a project synopsis. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 10:259–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hadfield JD (2010) MCMC methods for multi-response generalized linear mixed models: the MCMCglmm R package. J Stat Softw 33:1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadfield JD, Nutall A, Osorio D, Owens IPF (2007) Testing the phenotypic gambit: phenotypic, genetic and environmental correlations of colour. J Evol Biol 20:549–557

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hänfling B, Weetman D (2006) Concordant genetic estimators of migration reveal anthropogenetically enhanced source-sink population structure in the river sculpin, Cottus gobio. Genetics 173:1487–1501

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harding JS, Benfield EF, Bolstad PV, Helfman GS, Jones EBD (1998) Stream biodiversity: the ghost of land use past. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:14843–14847

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • He T, Lamont BB, Krauss SL, Enright NJ, Miller BP (2008) Covariation between intraspecific genetic diversity and species diversity within a plant functional group. J Ecol 96:956–961

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbell SP (2001) The unified neutral theory of biogeography and biodiversity. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes RM, Noss RF (1992) Biological diversity and biological integrity: current concerns for lakes and streams. Fisheries 17:11–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karr JK (1981) Assessment of biotic integrity using fish communities. Fisheries 6:21–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura M (1983) The neutral theory of molecular evolution. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruse CG, Hubert WA, Rahel FJ (1998) Single-pass electrofishing predicts trout abundance in mountain streams with sparse habitat. North Am J Fish Manag 18:940–946

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kruuk LEB, Hadfield JD (2007) How to separate genetic and environmental causes of similarity between relatives. J Evol Biol 20:1890–1903

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones ML, Stockwell JD (1995) A rapid assessment procedure for the enumeration of salmonine populations in streams. North Am J Fish Manag 15:551–562

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lankau RA, Strauss SY (2007) Mutual feedbacks maintain both genetic and species diversity in a plant community. Science 317:1561–1563

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lazorchak JM, Klemm DJ, Peck DV (1998) Environmental monitoring and assessment program- surface waters: field operations and methods for measuring the ecological condition of wadeable streams. EPA/620/R-94/004F. US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Levins R (1968) Evolution in changing environments. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone DA, Rowland M, Bailey PE (1982) On the size of African riverine fish faunas. Am Zool 22:361–369

    Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur RH, Wilson EO (1967) The theory of island biogeography. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Maret TR, MacCoy DE (2002) Fish assemblages and environmental variables associated with hard-rock mining in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin, Idaho. Trans Am Fish Soc 131:865–884

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayden RL (1987) Pleistocene glaciation and historical biogeography of North American highland fishes. Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence, Kansas Guidebook 5:41–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Mundahl ND, Ingersol CG (1989) Home range, movements and density of the central stoneroller, Campostoma anomalum, in a small Ohio stream. Environ Biol Fish 24:307–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy BR, Willis DW (1996) Fisheries Techniques, 2nd edn. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda

    Google Scholar 

  • Neuhauser C, Andow DA, Heimpel GE, May G, Shaw RG, Wagenius S (2003) Community genetics: expanding the synthesis of ecology and genetics. Ecology 84:545–558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noss RF (1990) Indicators for monitoring biodiversity: a hierarchical approach. Conserv Biol 4:355–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odat N, Jetschke G, Hellwig FH (2004) Genetic diversity of Ranunculus acris L. (Ranunculaceae) populations in relation to species diversity and habitat type in grassland communities. Mol Ecol 13:1251–1257

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Odat N, Hellwig FH, Jetschke G, Fischer M (2010) On the relationship between plant species diversity and genetic diversity of Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae) within and between grassland communities. J Plant Ecol 3:41–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osborne LL, Kohler SL, Bayley PB, Day DM, Bertrand WA, Wiley MJ, Sauer R (1992) Influence of stream location in a drainage network on the index of biotic integrity. Trans Am Fish Soc 121:635–643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton PC, Baker VR (1976) Morphometry and floods in small drainage basins subject to diverse hydrogeomorphic controls. Water Resour Res 12:941–952

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poff NL (1997) Landscape filters and species traits: towards mechanistic understanding and prediction in stream ecology. J North Am Benthol Soc 16:391–409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Power ME, Matthews WJ, Stewart AJ (1985) Grazing minnows, piscivorous bass, and stream algae: dynamics of a strong interaction. Ecology 66:1448–1456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Puşcaş M, Taberlet P, Choler P (2008) No positive correlation between species and genetic diversity in European alpine grasslands dominated by Carex curvula. Divers Distrib 14:852–861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raymond M, Rousset F (1995) GENEPOP (version 1.2): population genetics software for exact tests and ecumenicism. J Hered 86:248–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson JD, Diaz-Ferguson E, Poelchau MF, Pennings S, Bishop TD, Wares JP (2010) Multiscale diversity in the marshes of the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER. Estuaries Coasts 33:865–877

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider S, Roessli D, Excoffier L (2000) Arlequin ver. 2.001: a software for population genetics data analysis. Genetics and Biometry Laboratory, University of Geneva, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • Seehausen O, van Alphen JM, Witte F (1997) Cichlid fish diversity threatened by eutrophication that curbs sexual selection. Science 277:1808–1811

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seehausen O, Takimoto G, Roy D, Jokela J (2008) Speciation reversal and biodiversity dynamics with hybridization in changing environments. Mol Ecol 17:30–44

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sei M, Lang BK, Berg DL (2009) Genetic and community similarities are correlated in endemic-rich springs of the northern Chihuahuan Desert. Global Ecol Biogeogr 18:192–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherwin WB, Jabot F, Rush R, Rossetto M (2006) Measurement of biological information with applications from genes to landscapes. Mol Ecol 15:2857–2869

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silvertown J, Biss PM, Freeland J (2009) Community genetics: resource addition has opposing effects on genetic and species diversity in a 150-year experiment. Ecol Lett 12:165–170

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder DE (2003) Electrofishing and its harmful effects on fish, Information and Technology. Report USGS/BRD/ITR–2003–0002: US. Government Printing Office, Denver

    Google Scholar 

  • Struebig M, Kingston T, Petit EJ, Zubaid A, Mohd-Adnan A, Rossiteri SJ (2011) Parallel declines in species and genetic diversity in tropical forest fragments. Ecol Lett 14:582–590

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland AB, Meyer JL, Gardiner EP (2002) Effects of land cover on sediment regime and fish assemblage structure in four southern Appalachian streams. Freshw Biol 47:1791–1805

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland WJ (2006) Ecological census techniques: a handbook. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tilman D (1982) Resource competition and community structure. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • US Environmental Protection Agency (1979) Methods for chemical analysis of water and wastes. EPA/600/4–79-020. US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • US Geological Survey (1998) Occurrence and distribution of fish species in the Great and Little Miami River Basins, Ohio and Indiana, pre-1900 to 1998. Water Resource Investigations Report 99-4198. US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey, Columbus

    Google Scholar 

  • van Oosterhout C, Hutchinson WF, Wills DPM, Shipley P (2004) Micro-checker: software for identifying and correcting genotyping errors in microsatellite data. Mol Ecol Notes 4:535–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vellend M (2003) Island biogeography of genes and species. Am Nat 162:358–365

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vellend M (2004) Parallel effects of land-use history on species diversity and genetic diversity of forest herbs. Ecology 85:3043–3055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vellend M (2005) Species diversity and genetic diversity: parallel processes and correlated patterns. Am Nat 166:199–215

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vellend M, Geber MA (2005) Connections between species diversity and genetic diversity. Ecol Lett 8:767–781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waits ER, Bagley MJ, Blum MJ, McCormick FH, Lazorchak JM (2008) Source-sink dynamics sustain central stonerollers (Campostoma anomalum) in a heavily urbanized catchment. Freshw Biol 53:2061–2075

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters DM, Leigh DS, Bearden AB (2003) Urbanization, sedimentation, and the homogenization of fish assemblages in the Etowah River Basin, USA. Hydrobiologia 494:5–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wehenkel C, Bergmann F, Hans-Rolf G (2006) Is there a trade-off between species diversity and genetic diversity in forest tree communities? Plant Ecol 185:151–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willis KJ, Birks HJB (2006) What is natural? The need for a long-term perspective in biodiversity conservation. Science 314:1261–1265

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wright S (1940) Breeding structure of populations in relation to speciation. Am Nat 74:232–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank A. Roth, T. Goyke, T. Wessendarp, and S. Franson for their assistance with preparing tissue samples for genetic analysis, and M. Troyer and M. Griffith for providing access to fish assemblage and physical habitat data. J. Darling, F. McCormick, A. Roy, and two anonymous reviewers provided useful comments and editorial advice that greatly improved this manuscript, and K. Blocksom assisted with multivariate statistics. Field collections of specimens and water samples were completed under US EPA contract # 68D01048 with Sobran, Incorporated. Although this work was reviewed by US EPA and approved for publication, it may not necessarily reflect official Agency policy.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA

    Michael J. Blum

  2. National Exposure Research Laboratory, Ecological Exposure Research Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, 45268, USA

    Michael J. Blum, Mark J. Bagley, David M. Walters, Suzanne A. Jackson & F. Bernard Daniel

  3. US Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO, 80525, USA

    David M. Walters & Brian S. Cade

  4. National Exposure Research Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, NV, 89193, USA

    Deborah J. Chaloud

Authors
  1. Michael J. Blum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mark J. Bagley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David M. Walters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Suzanne A. Jackson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. F. Bernard Daniel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Deborah J. Chaloud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Brian S. Cade
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael J. Blum.

Additional information

Communicated by Steven Kohler.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 34 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (DOC 76 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Blum, M.J., Bagley, M.J., Walters, D.M. et al. Genetic diversity and species diversity of stream fishes covary across a land-use gradient. Oecologia 168, 83–95 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2078-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2078-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation