fish distribution and abundance in mediterranean streams

201 Pages·2012·1.87 MB·English

UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS
DEPARTAMENTO DE BIOLOGIA ANIMAL

FISH DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE IN
MEDITERRANEAN STREAMS: THE ROLE OF HABITAT
QUALITY, SPATIAL CONTEXT, AND MOVEMENT PATTERNS
Daniel Filipe Carvalho Miranda Pires

Doutoramento em Biologia
(Especialidade Ecologia)
2012

UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS
DEPARTAMENTO DE BIOLOGIA ANIMAL

FISH DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE IN
MEDITERRANEAN STREAMS: THE ROLE OF HABITAT
QUALITY, SPATIAL CONTEXT, AND MOVEMENT PATTERNS
Daniel Filipe Carvalho Miranda Pires

Tese orientada por:
Professora Maria Filomena Magalhães
Professor Pedro Peres-Neto

Doutoramento em Biologia
(Especialidade Ecologia)
2012

Preliminary notes
According to the Article 41 nr.º 1 of the Post-graduate Studies Regulation (Diário da
República N.º 1506 de 2006, II série de 30 de Outubro de 2006), the current thesis
includes results that were previously published in collaboration with other co-authors. The
candidate states that he was responsible for planning the research activities, data
collection and analyses, and writing the manuscripts.

This thesis was supported by a grant provided by the Portuguese Science and Technology
Foundation (SFRH/BD/21861/2005)
.

À Raquel
Ao Tomé

INDEX

Agradecimentos/Ackowledgements i
Resumo v
Abstract xi

1. General Introduction 1
1.1. The riverscape organization 3
1.2. Stream fish ecology 5
1.3. Fish ecology in temporary streams 8
1.4. Fish assemblages in seasonally-drying, mediterranean streams 11
1.5. Study aims and approach 15
1.6. Thesis outline 17
1.7. References 19
2. Study Area 29
2.1. Environmental settings 32
2.2. Fish fauna 36
2.3. References 38
3. Variation in fish assemblages across dry-season pools in a mediterranean
stream: effects of pool morphology, physicochemical factors and spatial
context 41
3.1. Introduction 43
3.2. Study area 45
3.3. Methods 46
3.4. Results 52
3.5. Discussion 58
3.6. References 66
4. Movements of the endangered chub Squalius torgalensis in a mediterranean
stream: dry- and wet-season patterns 71
4.1. Introduction 73
4.2. Study area and focal species 75
4.3. Methods 77
4.4. Results 81
4.5. Discussion 86
4.6. Concluding remarks 89
4.7. References 91
5. Fish assemblage variation across a mediterranean stream: the role of habitat
quality, connectivity to refugia, and neighbourhood effects 95
5.1. Introduction 97
5.2. Study Area 99
5.3. Methods 101
5.4. Results 107
5.5. Discussion 113
5.6. Concluding Remarks 121
5.7. References 123
6. General discussion 129
6.1. Main findings 131
6.2. Drivers of fish distribution and abundance 133
6.3. Conservation and management implications 141
6.4. References 145
7. Concluding remarks 153
7.1. Future research directions 156
7.2. References 161
Appendix A1
Appendix 1 A3
Appendix 2 A11