Ecology of Freshwater Fish最新文献

The European catfish (Silurus glanis L.) is a large, non-native, invasive freshwater species known for its high fecundity, long lifespan and significant predatory potential, possibly threatening native fish communities. While some studies exist on its spatial use, most focus on its native range and lack detailed circadian and annual activity patterns. This study uses acoustic biotelemetry to track 10 adult fish in the Tagus River's Belver reservoir, employing transmitters with 3D accelerometer and pressure sensors to record activity and depth over a year. Generalised additive models identify environmental variables influencing activity and depth patterns. The European catfish is active year-round, with peak activity in summer and minimal in autumn. It occupies shallower depths in spring and summer (median depths of 2.6 and 4.8 m, respectively) and deeper waters in autumn and winter (median depths of 9.8 and 10.8 m, respectively). Circadian vertical movement patterns exhibit high seasonal and individual variability. Significant environmental predictors of the European catfish activity include river flow, water temperature and the photoperiod, while the predictors of depth use are river flow and the photoperiod. These insights can aid in developing effective control measures, such as optimising fishing efforts spatially and temporally to enhance the efficiency of removing this invasive fish.

Understanding how low salinity gradients (0‰–5‰) influence fish life cycles is critical for clarifying principles of fish assemblage formation in estuarine ecosystems. This study is intended to provide a foundation for predicting changes in fish populations amidst ongoing surface salinity decreases in the Baltic Sea. In the Neva River Estuary, differences in fish diversity and distribution between fish assemblages in freshwater and oligohaline areas were assessed using beach seine and multi-mesh gillnet surveys. The use of multiple sampling gears greatly enhanced understanding of fish distribution across salinity gradients. Fish assemblages were analysed depending on the different areas of the estuary, seasons of sampling, salinity and confounding environmental variables such as water temperature and depth. Salinity was the major influencing factor for the surf zone fish assemblages and a season of sampling was the main factor for coastal assemblages of larger fish studied with the gillnets. Fish assemblages in the surf zone exhibited significant but gradual changes in freshwater and marine-estuarine fish occurrence and abundance along the critical oligohaline barrier ‘δ-horohalinicum’ (0.5‰–1.9‰). Although freshwater species showed high occurrence and abundance throughout the estuary, their juveniles were less abundant in the oligohaline surf zone with salinity ≥ 2‰, where small-size marine-estuarine and euryhaline species predominated. Coastal multi-mesh gillnet catches showed remarkable similarity between assemblages of larger fish in freshwater and oligohaline areas. Differences in species richness and diversity indices were not pronounced throughout the salinity gradient; the decline in freshwater species was offset by an increase in marine-estuarine and euryhaline species.

The size spectrum represents a powerful approach for quantifying the effects of environmental changes from individuals to communities in aquatic ecosystems. However, our understanding of its temporal stability in freshwater ecosystems is still limited. In the present study, we used a size spectrum approach to investigate the responses of 126 lake fish communities to changes in the intensity of three common anthropogenic stressors (i.e., global warming, nutrient loading and biological invasions) in French natural lakes and reservoirs over an average 5-year time period. Using a backward selection on a full model including all possible effects of stressors on the size spectrum slope, we demonstrated that (i) increasing summer temperature shifted fish abundance towards the largest size classes, resulting in a flatter size spectrum slope and (ii) nutrient loading and biological invasions were associated with a shift towards smaller size classes in natural lakes, while the opposite effect was observed in reservoirs. In addition, these two stressors interacted in determining changes in the size structure of fish communities, complicating what the size spectrum can reveal about changes in stressor intensity during monitoring programs. All predictors accounted for a limited part of the observed changes in size spectra, and further investigations are needed to fully apprehend the interplay between natural and human-induced drivers of the temporal changes in size spectra in contrasting environmental conditions.

While reviewing the progress of the journal, we decided to require authors to state the significance of their findings for readers of EFF. Beyond having authors focus on the justification for submitting their research to EFF, this new requirement should aid editors and reviewers in evaluating submitted manuscripts. Manuscripts submitted without the statement will be returned to the authors for completion prior to editorial and peer review. The requirement is described below and in the Author Guidelines.

EFF publishes papers devoted to basic ecology of freshwater fishes, and EFF is strongly committed to conservation. We seek to publish important research revealing, testing, or supporting knowledge of phenomena without consideration given to applications of that knowledge. As a journal publishing pure, fundamental science, EFF is not a fisheries or management journal. Nonetheless, authors may wish to include a brief, concise statement about the implications of their research for ecological or environmental management aimed at conservation of fishes or their habitats without regard to human use, which can be done in concluding the discussion.

Where feasible authors are strongly encouraged to focus the title, abstract, and introduction of their reports on the phenomena studied by deemphasizing or excluding locality or taxon involved and detailing them in the methods. We understand, however, that there may be cases where including the region or taxon is appropriate.

EFF offers authors the option of free format submission for a simplified and streamlined submission process. Free format submission eases the process of preparing a manuscript and allows the author to complete the process faster. Authors may submit their manuscripts in the format of their choosing. EFF's publisher, Wiley, updates the formatting into the journal's style when a manuscript is accepted for publication.

Table 2 shows the papers cited most often in the two-year period (2021–2022) covered by Clarivate's Journal Citation Report for June 2023. We thank the authors for their contributions to the journal and congratulate them on their achievements.

EFF publishes special issues or contributions (special sections) drawn from proceedings of conferences and symposia. In the October 2024 issue (33:4), EFF published proceedings from the international symposium Advances in the Population Ecology of Stream-Dwelling Salmonids VI. We continue to seek special issues and contributions addressing basic fish ecology, as proceedings drawn from conferences or symposia, as well as independent, stand-alone publications. If you would like to propose an idea for a Special Issue in EFF, please contact the Editorial Office at [email protected].

The contributions of a journal to science are dependent upon the efforts of many. The Editorial Board members who help to maintain the integrity and r

Curtis, K., Sanders, A., Urbanic, M., Israel, G., McCombs, C., Pastura, L., Matter, S. F., & Booth, M. T. (2024). The influence of flow on movement of a headwater specialist in an intermittent urban headwater stream. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 33, e12744. https://doi.org/10.1111/eff.12744

In the originally published article, co-author Connor McCombs was inadvertently left off the author list. The correct author list is as follows:

Katherine Curtis, Adam Sanders, Megan Urbanic, Gabriyelle Israel, Connor McCombs, Logan Pastura, Stephen F. Matter and Michael T. Booth

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

This has been corrected in the online version of the article.

We apologise for this error.

Black Carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) is one of the four invasive Asian Carp species (Bighead Carp, Hypophthalmichthys nobilis; Grass Carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella; and Silver Carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) in North America. As benthic predators, Black Carp poses ecological risks to unionids within the Great Lakes and could bring other changes to local benthic communities. One means of assessing invasion risk and potential impact is to determine how critical life history characteristics depend on environmental conditions in new regions. Age at sexual maturity is negatively correlated to the maximum per capita population growth rate and thus can be used to estimate potential population growth for invasive species. Previous studies have found a significant negative relationship between age at maturity and temperature for all three other Asian Carp species, but not for Black Carp. With a more comprehensive dataset, we demonstrate that the same relationship exists for Black Carp. Winter duration is the best predictor of Black Carp age at maturity, followed by average winter air temperature. This significant relationship between age at maturity and temperature was not altered in artificial growing environments. Our results suggested that for Black Carp, temperatures in the winter months are more important for its energy accumulation and maturation and may determine invasion risk in northern locations, such as tributaries of the Great Lakes.