Impacts of river fragmentation on limiting individual dietary specialization of Amazonian predatory fish

PeerJ. 2022 Dec 15:10:e14266. doi: 10.7717/peerj.14266. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Individual dietary specialization is one of the factors that promotes variation in resource use at the individual level. Here we used stable isotope analysis of multiple tissues with different turnover rates to examine the degree of individual specialization in two sub-populations of the predator Cichla temensis inhabiting both fragmented and undammed rivers within the Uatumã River basin of the Amazon. Our results showed that the undammed river provides better conditions to promote individual dietary specialization than the fragmented river. This study contributes to the understanding of how specific life history characteristics of populations of generalist predators are impacted by fragmentation within megadiverse environments such as the Amazon basin.

Keywords: Cichla temensis; Habitat fragmentation; Individual niche; Intrapopulation niche; Peacock bass; Trophic niche.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cichlids*
  • Diet / veterinary
  • Isotopes
  • Predatory Behavior
  • Rivers*

Substances

  • Isotopes

Grants and funding

Funding was provided by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) –finance code 001, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas (FAPEAM), and Fundo Brasileiro para a Biodiversidade (FUNBIO). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.