Fish community turnover in a dammed Andean River over time

ABSTRACT: We describe the change in the fish community of the Porce River in Magdalena River Basin, Colombia, following the construction of the Porce III hydropower reservoir based on 13 years of monitoring data. The results show a clear reduction of the number of native species, which have been sup...

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Autores:
Valencia Rodríguez, Daniel
Herrera Pérez, Juliana
Restrepo Santamaría, Daniel
Galeano Moreno, Andrés Felipe
Robert Winton, Scott
Jiménez Segura, Luz Fernanda
Tipo de recurso:
Article of investigation
Fecha de publicación:
2022
Institución:
Universidad de Antioquia
Repositorio:
Repositorio UdeA
Idioma:
eng
OAI Identifier:
oai:bibliotecadigital.udea.edu.co:10495/30271
Acceso en línea:
https://hdl.handle.net/10495/30271
Palabra clave:
Freshwater biodiversity
Fish communities
Energía hidroeléctrica
Hydroelectric power
Peces de agua dulce
Freshwater fishes
Ecología de agua dulce
Freshwater ecology
Vigilancia ambiental
Environmental monitoring
Río Magdalena
Magdalena River
Beta diversity
Ichthyofauna
Long-term monitoring
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_25612
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3105
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3104
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_37876
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_49971
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2004001290
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh95003207
Rights
openAccess
License
Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 2.5 Colombia (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 CO)
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT: We describe the change in the fish community of the Porce River in Magdalena River Basin, Colombia, following the construction of the Porce III hydropower reservoir based on 13 years of monitoring data. The results show a clear reduction of the number of native species, which have been supplanted by colonizing non-native species, especially in the reservoir. Four native species detected prior to dam construction have apparently disappeared, but 12 new species were registered post-construction. We analyzed spatial changes in beta diversity in the aquatic environments surrounding the dam. The new environment generated by the reservoir presents a unique species composition and contributes significantly to the total beta diversity of the system. Altogether three distinct new fish assemblages emerged following reservoir formation and there are now six assemblages where there had previously been three. This dramatic change, already visible within a decade of construction, highlights just how strong of an impact dam construction has on habitats and how rapidly fish communities react in this hotspot for endemic fish diversity. Our findings demonstrate the importance of monitoring fish communities for revealing the impact of damming on river ecosystems and informs potential complementary fish diversity inventories elsewhere in the Magdalena River basin.