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Amazon floodplain fish diversity at different scales: do time and place really matter?

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Abstract

Amazonian floodplain lakes, which are of different types based on their proximity to the main river channels, are subjected to a strong seasonal hydrologic cycle and have different habitat types within them. We hypothesized that these two spatial scales (lake type, and habitat type within lakes), and the temporal scale associated with hydrological seasons help explain the high fish diversity of the Amazon basin. We sampled three lake types categorized by proximity and connectivity with the Solimões River (island, coastal, and mainland) in 2011 during both high and low water seasons. Within these lakes, we sampled three habitat types (open water, flooded forest, and macrophyte banks). Although comparisons of diversity indices revealed few differences with respect to overall species numbers, actual species composition, which is not included in calculation of diversity indices, differed markedly at all three scales. Although many species (86) were common to all three types of lakes, each type also had many unique species (11–20), as did within-lake habitat type (10–15) and hydrologic season (26 each). Thus, these temporal and spatial scales are important to the detection and understanding of fish species diversity in this region, and will be important to keep in mind when designing preserves.

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Acknowledgements

We thank I. Santos, W. Dias, J. Pena, and L. Santos for help in field work and J. Zuanon (INPA) and K. Yamamoto (UFAM) for contribution in identification of fish. The first author was supported by a CAPES PhD scholarship: Process BEX: 9706/11-9. Additional support came from Project CNPq No. 563073/2010-1, Piatam Project (FINEP) and from a Brazilian research fellowship from CAPES and Lenfest grants from Washington and Lee University to LEH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Av. Gen. Rodrigo Otávio, 3000, Manaus, AM, 69077-000, Brazil

    Flávia K. Siqueira-Souza & Carlos E. C. Freitas

  2. Department of Biology, Washington and Lee University, 301 Howe Hall, Lexington, VA, 24450, USA

    Lawrence E. Hurd

  3. UFSCar – PPG em Diversidade Biológica e Conservação, Rodovia João Leme dos Santos (SP 264), km 110, Sorocaba, SP, 18052-780, Brazil

    Miguel Petrere Jr.

  4. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sustentabilidade de Ecossistemas Costeiros e Marinhos, UNISANTA, Rua Oswaldo Cruz, 277 (Boqueirão), Santos, SP, 11045-907, USA

    Miguel Petrere Jr.

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  1. Flávia K. Siqueira-Souza
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Siqueira-Souza, F.K., Freitas, C.E.C., Hurd, L.E. et al. Amazon floodplain fish diversity at different scales: do time and place really matter?. Hydrobiologia 776, 99–110 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2738-2

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