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Influence of damming on anuran species richness in riparian areas: A test of the serial discontinuity concept

Almost all large rivers worldwide are fragmented by dams, and their impacts have been modeled using the serial discontinuity concept (SDC), a series of predictions regarding responses of key biotic and abiotic variables. We evaluated the effects of damming on anuran communities along a 245‐km river...

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Autores principales: Guzy, Jacquelyn C., Eskew, Evan A., Halstead, Brian J., Price, Steven J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5817157/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29468042
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3750
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author Guzy, Jacquelyn C.
Eskew, Evan A.
Halstead, Brian J.
Price, Steven J.
author_facet Guzy, Jacquelyn C.
Eskew, Evan A.
Halstead, Brian J.
Price, Steven J.
author_sort Guzy, Jacquelyn C.
collection PubMed
description Almost all large rivers worldwide are fragmented by dams, and their impacts have been modeled using the serial discontinuity concept (SDC), a series of predictions regarding responses of key biotic and abiotic variables. We evaluated the effects of damming on anuran communities along a 245‐km river corridor by conducting repeated, time‐constrained anuran calling surveys at 42 locations along the Broad and Pacolet Rivers in South Carolina, USA. Using a hierarchical Bayesian analysis, we test the biodiversity prediction of the SDC (modified for floodplain rivers) by evaluating anuran occupancy and species diversity relative to dams and degree of urbanized land use. The mean response of the anuran community indicated that occupancy and species richness were maximized when sites were farther downstream from dams. Sites at the farthest distances downstream of dams (47.5 km) had an estimated ~3 more species than those just below dams. Similarly, species‐specific occupancy estimates showed a trend of higher occupancy downstream from dams. Therefore, using empirical estimation within the context of a 245‐km river riparian landscape, our study supports SDC predictions for a meandering river. We demonstrate that with increasing distance downstream from dams, riparian anuran communities have higher species richness. Reduced species richness immediately downstream of dams is likely driven by alterations in flow regime that reduce or eliminate flows which sustain riparian wetlands that serve as anuran breeding habitat. Therefore, to maintain anuran biodiversity, we suggest that flow regulation should be managed to ensure water releases inundate riparian wetlands during amphibian breeding seasons and aseasonal releases, which can displace adults, larvae, and eggs, are avoided. These outcomes could be achieved by emulating pre‐dam seasonal discharge data, mirroring discharge of an undammed tributary within the focal watershed, or by basing real‐time flow releases on current environmental conditions.
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spelling pubmed-58171572018-02-21 Influence of damming on anuran species richness in riparian areas: A test of the serial discontinuity concept Guzy, Jacquelyn C. Eskew, Evan A. Halstead, Brian J. Price, Steven J. Ecol Evol Original Research Almost all large rivers worldwide are fragmented by dams, and their impacts have been modeled using the serial discontinuity concept (SDC), a series of predictions regarding responses of key biotic and abiotic variables. We evaluated the effects of damming on anuran communities along a 245‐km river corridor by conducting repeated, time‐constrained anuran calling surveys at 42 locations along the Broad and Pacolet Rivers in South Carolina, USA. Using a hierarchical Bayesian analysis, we test the biodiversity prediction of the SDC (modified for floodplain rivers) by evaluating anuran occupancy and species diversity relative to dams and degree of urbanized land use. The mean response of the anuran community indicated that occupancy and species richness were maximized when sites were farther downstream from dams. Sites at the farthest distances downstream of dams (47.5 km) had an estimated ~3 more species than those just below dams. Similarly, species‐specific occupancy estimates showed a trend of higher occupancy downstream from dams. Therefore, using empirical estimation within the context of a 245‐km river riparian landscape, our study supports SDC predictions for a meandering river. We demonstrate that with increasing distance downstream from dams, riparian anuran communities have higher species richness. Reduced species richness immediately downstream of dams is likely driven by alterations in flow regime that reduce or eliminate flows which sustain riparian wetlands that serve as anuran breeding habitat. Therefore, to maintain anuran biodiversity, we suggest that flow regulation should be managed to ensure water releases inundate riparian wetlands during amphibian breeding seasons and aseasonal releases, which can displace adults, larvae, and eggs, are avoided. These outcomes could be achieved by emulating pre‐dam seasonal discharge data, mirroring discharge of an undammed tributary within the focal watershed, or by basing real‐time flow releases on current environmental conditions. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2018-01-26 /pmc/articles/PMC5817157/ /pubmed/29468042 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3750 Text en © 2018 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Guzy, Jacquelyn C.
Eskew, Evan A.
Halstead, Brian J.
Price, Steven J.
Influence of damming on anuran species richness in riparian areas: A test of the serial discontinuity concept
title Influence of damming on anuran species richness in riparian areas: A test of the serial discontinuity concept
title_full Influence of damming on anuran species richness in riparian areas: A test of the serial discontinuity concept
title_fullStr Influence of damming on anuran species richness in riparian areas: A test of the serial discontinuity concept
title_full_unstemmed Influence of damming on anuran species richness in riparian areas: A test of the serial discontinuity concept
title_short Influence of damming on anuran species richness in riparian areas: A test of the serial discontinuity concept
title_sort influence of damming on anuran species richness in riparian areas: a test of the serial discontinuity concept
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5817157/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29468042
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3750
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