Relations between land use and fish species richness in Neotropical coastal lagoons

• Published in: Hydrobiologia Vol. 849; no. 17-18; pp. 4087 - 4099
• Main Authors: Guimarães, Taís de Fátima Ramos, Petry, Ana Cristina, Becker, Fernando Gertum, Hartz, Sandra Maria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.10.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Benthos; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Brazil; Coastal lagoons; Coefficient of variation; Ecology; Ecology of Shallow Lakes; Fish; Fishes; Fresh water; Freshwater; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Freshwater fish; habitat preferences; Habitat selection; Habitat utilization; Inland lagoons; Inland water environment; Lagoons; Land cover; Land use; Life Sciences; Littoral environments; littoral zone; Museums; Neotropics; Sand bars; Species richness; Urbanization; Water circulation; Water column; Zoology; Brazil; Brazil; Lakes; Fish assemblages; LULC; Environmental impact; Coastal plain
• ISSN: 0018-8158; 1573-5117
• DOI: 10.1007/s10750-022-04845-5

In this study, we explored the association between land use and fish species richness on 52 coastal lagoons in Southeast and South Brazil. We measured the proportion of agriculture and urbanization around lagoons over 26 years and used the coefficient of variation (CV) as a surrogate of the temporal land cover variability. We compiled species occurrences from primary data, from the literature and from museum records, and assigned each recorded species to different habitat use groups: benthic/bottom or water column, and littoral or limnetic zones. In the Southeast, where most lagoons are subject to marine influence, richness was negatively associated to agriculture and positively associated to urbanization. In the South, where freshwater lagoons predominate, richness was negatively associated to urbanization and positively associated to agriculture. The results suggest that fish communities from freshwater coastal lagoons are more sensitive to land use than brackish lagoons. Differently from brackish lagoons, that are colonized by both freshwater and marine species, freshwater lagoons rely on neighboring lagoons as species donors. However, this apparent resilience of the brackish lagoons must be regarded with caution, since the increase in marine connections due to artificial sandbar openings may impair freshwater species with time.