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| Author(s): |
Pedro Gerhard
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Piracicaba. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) |
| Defense date: | 2005-03-03 |
| Examining board members: |
Luciano Martins Verdade;
Lilian Casatti;
Jose Eurico Possebon Cyrino;
Naercio Aquino Menezes;
Carlos Alberto Vettorazzi
|
| Advisor: | Luciano Martins Verdade |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Ecology |
| Indexed in: | Banco de Dados Bibliográficos da USP-DEDALUS; Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações - USP |
| Location: | Universidade de São Paulo. Biblioteca Central da Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz; ESALQ-BC/t551.483; G368c |
| Abstract | |
The Rio Corumbataí watershed is a strategic area for water supply to large urban centers such as Rio Claro and Piracicaba. It is also a typical agroecosystem of Southeastern Brazil. This study was performed in order to understand stream fish diversity and land-use-land-cover (LULC) relationships. The general null hypothesis states that LULC does not relate to fish abundance, diversity (Shannon diversity index, H\') and number of fish trophic groups (GT). SWAT and ArcView softwares were used to split Rio Corumbataí watershed into small (near 200 hectares) catchments. These small catchments were further classified according to its dominant land cover (CD), as either sugar cane plantations, pastures or native forest remnants. A further step on this classification divided pasture-dominated catchments into two groups differing on the amount of native forest remnants along its riparian zone (30 meters wide buffer strips, APP). Thus, four groups of catchments were recognized. Sixty of these catchments were assigned to these groups. A digital database on the Rio Corumbataí watershed was used to perform a thorough description of each of these small catchments in terms of LULC, soil, geology, terrain aspect and hydrology. In the field, 150 meters long reaches on the main catchment stream were selected for sampling fish, by means of electrofishing under a depletion procedure. Stream reach and channel morphology were characterized by using standard sampling protocols, and stream water samples were collected to study physicochemical parameters. Stream reaches were sampled twice, during the rainy and the dry seasons of 2003 and 2004. Stream fish abundance and diversity data were analyzed by means of standard analysis of means and variances, using CD as a categorical predictor. Results showed significant differences among groups. Higher diversity (H\' and GT) was found between pasture-dominated and forested catchments. Differences seemed to be clearer when the distinction between forested and non-forested riparian zones were taken into account on this comparisons. Pasture-dominated catchments were the only group exhibiting the detritivore-iliophagous group and insectivores were always less abundant in these areas. These differences can be ascribed both to channel geomorphic characteristics and increased primary productivity mediated by the absence of riparian forests. A cluster analysis on the similarity among samples indicated the existence of four to five discrete species assemblages. Correlation analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling on more than 60 habitat variables revealed that most of the assemblage differences can be related to large scale terrain aspects and many correlated habitat features. Land use itself is dependent on terrain characteristics, and there is a clear association among an upland species assemblage and forested dominated catchments and a lowland species assemblages and grassland areas. Results were discussed regarding the hypothesis of forest degradation/fragmentation, downstream springs migration and habitat homogenization between lowland stream reaches and riverine downstream stretches. Stream fish communities in the Rio Corumbataí watershed shows differences that can be related to LULC patterns, which is highly dependent on terrain characteristics. These patterns determine different impacts under the stream network which, in turn, affects upland and lowland species assemblages differently. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 00/14284-0 - Stream fish community and its relationship to land use and land cover in the Piracicaba River basin, state of São Paulo |
| Grantee: | Pedro Gerhard |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |