Journal article
Floodplain forests drive fruit-eating fish diversity at the Amazon Basin-scale
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, v 122(3), e2414416122
23 Jan 2025
Abstract
Unlike most rivers globally, nearly all lowland Amazonian rivers have unregulated flow, supporting seasonally flooded floodplain forests. Floodplain forests harbor a unique tree species assemblage adapted to flooding and specialized fauna, including fruit-eating fish that migrate seasonally into floodplains, favoring expansive floodplain areas. Frugivorous fish are forest-dependent fauna critical to forest regeneration via seed dispersal and support commercial and artisanal fisheries. We implemented linear mixed effects models to investigate drivers of species richness among specialized frugivorous fishes across the ~6,000,000 km2 Amazon Basin, analyzing 29 species from 9 families (10,058 occurrences). Floodplain predictors per subbasin included floodplain forest extent, tree species richness (309,540 occurrences for 2,506 species), water biogeochemistry, flood duration, and elevation, with river order controlling for longitudinal positioning along the river network. We observed heterogeneous patterns of frugivorous fish species richness, which were positively correlated with floodplain forest extent, tree species richness, and flood duration. The natural hydrological regime facilitates fish access to flooded forests and controls fruit production. Thus, the ability of Amazonian floodplain ecosystems to support frugivorous fish assemblages hinges on extensive and diverse seasonally flooded forests. Given the low functional redundancy in fish seed dispersal networks, diverse frugivorous fish assemblages disperse and maintain diverse forests; vice versa, diverse forests maintain more fish species, underscoring the critically important taxonomic interdependencies that embody Amazonian ecosystems. Effective management strategies must acknowledge that access to diverse and hydrologically functional floodplain forests is essential to ensure the long-term survival of frugivorous fish and, in turn, the long-term sustainability of floodplain forests.
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Details
- Title
- Floodplain forests drive fruit-eating fish diversity at the Amazon Basin-scale
- Creators
- Sandra Bibiana CorreaKarold V Coronado-FrancoCeline JézéquelAmanda Cantarute RodriguesKristine O EvansJoshua J GrangerHans Ter SteegeIêda Leão do AmaralLuiz de Souza CoelhoFlorian WittmannFrancisca Dionízia de Almeida MatosDiógenes de Andrade Lima FilhoRafael P SalomãoCarolina V CastilhoJuan Ernesto GuevaraMarcelo de Jesus Veiga CarimOliver L PhillipsMaria Teresa Fernandez PiedadeLayon O DemarchiJochen SchöngartJuan David Cardenas RevillaMaria Pires MartinsMariana Victória IrumeJosé Renan da Silva GuimarãesJosé Ferreira RamosAdriano Costa QuaresmaNigel C.A PitmanBruno Garcia LuizeEvlyn Márcia Moraes de Leão NovoEduardo Martins VenticinqueThiago Sanna Freire SilvaPercy Núñez VargasAngelo Gilberto ManzattoNeidiane Farias Costa ReisJohn TerborghKatia Regina CasulaEuridice N Honorio CoronadoJuan Carlos MonteroAbel Monteagudo MendozaTed R FeldpauschFlávia Machado DurganteNicolás Castaño ArboledaBeatriz S MarimonBen Hur Marimon-JuniorTimothy J KilleenRodolfo VasquezBonifacio MostacedoRafael L AssisDário Dantas do AmaralJohn Ethan HouseholderMarcelo Fragomeni SimonMarcelo Brilhante de MedeirosHelder Lima de QueirozMaria Aparecida LopesJosé Leonardo Lima MagalhãesPablo R StevensonBruno Barçante Ladvocat CintraAlejandro Araujo-MurakamiTim R BakerYuri Oliveira FeitosaHugo F MogollónJoost F DuivenvoordenLeandro Valle FerreiraJosé Julio de ToledoJames A ComiskeyAline LopesGabriel DamascoAlberto VicentiniFernando Cornejo ValverdeVitor H.F GomesAlfonso AlonsoFrancisco DallmeierDaniel P P de AguiarRogerio GribelJuan Carlos LiconaBoris Eduardo Villa ZegarraMarcelino Carneiro GuedesCarlos CerónRaquel ThomasWilliam MillikenWegliane CampeloBianca Weiss AlbuquerqueBente KlitgaardJ. Sebastián TelloAlfredo Fuentes ClarosGonzalo Rivas-TorresJuan Fernando PhillipsPatricio von HildebrandTherany GonzalesCésar I.A VelaBruce HoffmanBernardo Monteiro FloresMaihyra Marina PomboMaira RochaMilena HolmgrenAngela CanoMaria Natalia UmañaLuisa Fernanda CasasHenrik BalslevLigia Estela Urrego GiraldoRémy BigorneThierry OberdorffJavier A Maldonado-OcampoHernan OrtegaMax HidalgoKoen MartensGislene Torrente-VilaraJansen ZuanonAstrid AcostaEdwin AgudeloSoraya Barrera MaureDouglas A BastosJuan Bogotá GregoryFernando G CabeceiraAndré L.C CantoFernando M Carvajal-VallejosLucélia N CarvalhoAriana Cella-RibeiroRaphaël CovainMurilo S DiasCarlos DonascimientoCarolina R.C DóriaCleber DuarteEfrem J.G FerreiraAndré V GaluchTommaso GiarrizzoRafael P LeitãoJohn G LundbergMabel MaldonadoJosé I MojicaLuciano F.A MontagWilliam OharaTiago H.S PiresMarc PouillySaúl Prada-PedrerosLuiz J.de QueirozLucia Rapp Py-DanielFrank R.V RibeiroRaúl Ríos HerreraMarcelo Rodrigues Dos AnjosIgor Hister LourencoJaime SarmientoLeandro M SousaLis F StegmannJonathan Valdiviezo-RiveraFrancisco VillaTakayuki YunokiPablo A TedescoSub Ecology and BiodiversityEcology and Biodiversity
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, v 122(3), e2414416122
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES); Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991022172656004721