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J Appl Ecol

Title:		"Is environmental legislation conserving tropical stream faunas? A large-scale assessment of local, riparian and catchment-scale influences on Amazonian fish"
Author(s):		Leal CG; Barlow J; Gardner TA; Hughes RM; Leitao RP; Nally RM; Kaufmann PR; Ferraz SFB; Zuanon J; de Paula FR; Ferreira J; Thomson JR; Lennox GD; Dary EP; Ropke CP; Pompeu PS;
Address:		"Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belem, PA, Brazil. Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. Fish Ecology Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras, MG, Brazil. Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Amnis Opes Institute and Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA. National Institute for Amazonia Research, Manaus, AM, Brazil. Department of General Biology, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Institute for Applied Ecology, The University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia. Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Vic., Australia. Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, OR, USA. Forest Hydrology Laboratory (LHF), Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil. Embrapa Amazonia Oriental, Belem, PA, Brazil. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Heidelberg, Vic., Australia. Institute of Natural, Human and Social Sciences, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Sinop, MT, Brazil. Faculty of Agrarian Sciences and Institute of Biology, Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, AM, Brazil"
Journal Title:		J Appl Ecol
Year:		2018
Volume:		55
Issue:		3
Page Number:		1312 - 1326
DOI:		10.1111/1365-2664.13028
ISSN/ISBN:		0021-8901 (Print) 1365-2664 (Electronic) 0021-8901 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Agricultural expansion and intensification are major threats to tropical biodiversity. In addition to the direct removal of native vegetation, agricultural expansion often elicits other human-induced disturbances, many of which are poorly addressed by existing environmental legislation and conservation programmes. This is particularly true for tropical freshwater systems, where there is considerable uncertainty about whether a legislative focus on protecting riparian vegetation is sufficient to conserve stream fauna.To assess the extent to which stream fish are being effectively conserved in agricultural landscapes, we examined the spatial distribution of assemblages in river basins to identify the relative importance of human impacts at instream, riparian and catchment scales, in shaping observed patterns. We used an extensive dataset on the ecological condition of 83 low-order streams distributed in three river basins in the eastern Brazilian Amazon.We collected and identified 24,420 individual fish from 134 species. Multiplicative diversity partitioning revealed high levels of compositional dissimilarity (DS) among stream sites (DS = 0.74 to 0.83) and river basins (DS = 0.82), due mainly to turnover (77.8% to 81.8%) rather than nestedness. The highly heterogeneous fish faunas in small Amazonian streams underscore the vital importance of enacting measures to protect forests on private lands outside of public protected areas.Instream habitat features explained more variability in fish assemblages (15%-19%) than riparian (2%-12%), catchment (4%-13%) or natural covariates (4%-11%). Although grouping species into functional guilds allowed us to explain up to 31% of their abundance (i.e. for nektonic herbivores), individual riparian - and catchment - scale predictor variables that are commonly a focus of environmental legislation explained very little of the observed variation (partial R2 values mostly <5%).Policy implications. Current rates of agricultural intensification and mechanization in tropical landscapes are unprecedented, yet the existing legislative frameworks focusing on protecting riparian vegetation seem insufficient to conserve stream environments and their fish assemblages. To safeguard the species-rich freshwater biota of small Amazonian streams, conservation actions must shift towards managing whole basins and drainage networks, as well as agricultural practices in already-cleared land"
Keywords:		Amazon Brazilian Forest Code functional guilds human-modified landscapes multiplicative diversity partitioning physical habitat species turnover tropical landscapes watershed management;
Notes:		"PubMed-not-MEDLINELeal, Cecilia G Barlow, Jos Gardner, Toby A Hughes, Robert M Leitao, Rafael P Nally, Ralph Mac Kaufmann, Philip R Ferraz, Silvio F B Zuanon, Jansen de Paula, Felipe R Ferreira, Joice Thomson, James R Lennox, Gareth D Dary, Eurizangela P Ropke, Cristhiana P Pompeu, Paulo S eng EPA999999/ImEPA/Intramural EPA/ England 2018/05/01 J Appl Ecol. 2018 May 1; 55(3):1312-1326. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.13028"