Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://repositorio.ufla.br/jspui/handle/1/43280
Title: Trophic diversity and carbon sources supporting fish communities along a pollution gradient in a tropical river
Keywords: Stables isotopes
Aquatic pollution
Rivers - Sewage pollution
Fish - diversity
Poluição aquática
Rios - Poluição de esgoto
Peixes - Diversidade
Issue Date: 10-Oct-2020
Publisher: Elsevier
Citation: CARVALHO, D. R. de et al. Trophic diversity and carbon sources supporting fish communities along a pollution gradient in a tropical river. Science of The Total Environment, Amsterdam, v. 738, 139878, 10 Oct. 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139878.
Abstract: Anthropogenic activities can have a great influence on water quality and in the availability of habitat and food resources, which can promote changes in the trophic diversity and carbon sources sustaining aquatic communities. The objective of this study was to evaluate if the trophic diversity and the main carbon sources sustaining fish communities change along a pollution gradient. The study was carried out at eight sites distributed along the Rio das Velhas, a Brazilian river highly impacted by anthropogenic activities, in which the discharge of domestic and industrial sewage from the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (MRBH) presents a major source of pollution. Using carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratios, we identified the major carbon sources/food sources of common fish species and calculated six metrics of trophic diversity. Autochthonous primary producers (algae, periphyton, and macrophytes) were the main carbon sources for all trophic guilds at all sites, but notably, sewage-derived organic matter was an additional significant carbon source to the fish community in the most polluted testing site. Here, the community was composed mainly by detritivorous and omnivorous fishes and exhibited greater ranges of carbon and nitrogen isotopic values, large total areas, high trophic diversity, small trophic redundancy, and less even distribution of trophic niches than the less polluted sites. We conclude that the trophic guilds, trophic diversity metrics, and carbon sources sustaining fish communities in the Rio das Velhas are highly influenced by the presence of pollution. Besides favoring omnivorous and detritivorous fishes, the input of sewage also provided an important food source to sustain the fish community from sites close to the MRBH.
URI: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720333982#!
http://repositorio.ufla.br/jspui/handle/1/43280
Appears in Collections:DBI - Artigos publicados em periódicos

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