Impacts of damming on the trophic structure of the fish community in two Neotropical reservoirs

• Grant number: 23/03407-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: July 01, 2023
• End date: November 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Igor Paiva Ramos
• Grantee: Julia Kaori Kuriyama Ramos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Ilha Solteira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The construction of reservoirs for the production of electricity is the activity with the greatest potential to cause structural changes in the ichthyofauna. Since such constructions have the potential to cause changes in the supply of food resources, studies that consider the trophic ecology of fish are of paramount importance to support environmental monitoring and management. Specifically, evaluating the trophic guild of fish makes it easier to understand general patterns of trophic response of the ichthyofauna, of space-time alterations. Thus, the present proposal aims to test the following hypotheses: 1) The trophic organization of fish assemblages in the Simplício and Batalha reservoirs presented alterations between the pre-filling and operational (post-filling) phases; 2) The trophic organization of the fish assemblage of the Simplício and Batalha reservoirs differs between the points downstream and the points upstream of the respective dams. For this, data from the ichthyofaunistic monitoring carried out by the subprogram belonging to the Furnas system will be used. Data will be grouped by the reservoir, filling phases (pre and post), and area (upstream and downstream). GLMM will be performed for each reservoir, to verify differences in trophic guilds between phases and between areas. NMDS will also be carried out to verify the space-time changes in the composition of the trophic guilds of each reservoir. Taking into account the recent installation of the Simplício and Batalha reservoirs, it is expected to generate information that adds data on trophic guilds of the local ichthyofauna to improve management planning in aquatic ecosystems.