Long-term multiscale analysis of temporal variability in the fish community in Terminos Lagoon. (31st October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Paz-Ríos, Carlos E.; Sosa-López, Atahualpa; Torres-Rojas, Yassir E.; del Río-Rodríguez, Rodolfo E.
• Is Part Of: Estuarine, coastal and shelf science. Volume 277(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-10-31
• Subjects: Tropical fishes -- Estuary -- Time scales -- Gulf of Mexico -- Nekton -- Fishing resource; Estuarine oceanography -- Periodicals; Coasts -- Periodicals; Estuarine biology -- Periodicals; Seashore biology -- Periodicals; Coasts; Estuarine biology; Estuarine oceanography; Seashore biology; Periodicals; 551.461805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2022.108066
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-7714

Abstract

Abstract: The distribution of biological communities is structured at multiple spatiotemporal scales. The identification of trends and patterns in highly variable coastal ecosystems contributes to explaining the relative importance of the different scales. Herein, a temporally nested hierarchical analysis was applied to a fish community in order to determine the temporal variation in three time scales (month, season, and year) for four community attributes (species richness, abundance, biomass, and taxonomic distinctness) and two facets of species assemblages (species composition and abundance, and species composition and biomass). The analysis relied on data from four similar sets of samples belonging to a multidecadal series of Terminos Lagoon (1980, 1998, 2010, and 2016). In accordance with the hydrographic variability over time, the results revealed recurrent configurations of fish community characteristics, where the year (long term) and season (intermediate term) scales determined distribution trends and species composition patterns. In particular, trends emerged for the community attributes in the long term, whereas in the intermediate term, fluctuations were mostly recorded, which had higher values during the rainy and cold fronts seasons. Distribution patterns in both facets of species assemblages were consistent in the long and intermediate term, with the first one corresponding to an associated group of species for each year and the second one corresponding to a variable interaction with transparency and salinity according to the weather season. The present study highlights the fish adaptive response, which contributes to the ecological processes driving their temporal variability in Terminos Lagoon and is associated with hydrographic variability and estuarine condition shifts. Highlights: Ichthyofaunal and environmental data were examined from four time periods (1980, 1998, 2010, and 2016). The fish community (attributes and species composition) varied as a function of three time scales (month, season, and year). A higher temporal variability in community characteristics was identified at the year scale, followed by the season scale. At the year scale, the hydrographic heterogeneity influences the temporal variability in community characteristics. At the season scale, salinity and transparency induce distribution trends in the abundance and biomass of species composition.