Fishes

ROSSI, LILIANA; CORDIVIOLA DE YUAN, ELLY; PARMA, MARÍA JULIETA

The Middle Paraná River

Springer-Verlag

Lugar: Berlin Heidelberg New York; Año: 2006; p. 305 - 325

Abstract The middle section of the Paraná River shows great richness of habitats, constituting an environmental mosaic, due to its spatiotemporal dynamics, inhabited by several fish species with different life strategies. The important degree of connection among environments and the displacements of fish populations in the channel-floodplain complex favor the processes of colonization and the participation of these species in complex trophic webs that link different divisions of the system. As in other large floodplain rivers, the extension of periodically flooded areas and the duration of flood pulses influence productivity and diversity of species. High fish diversity and productivity are observed in this section of the Paraná River. The life strategies of these populations are deeply adjusted to the functioning of the system. Diverse habitats of the river-floodplain complex are used by fish during their initial growth; therefore, channels are very valuable for some populations, in addition to being “nurseries” of lenitic habitats. The fluctuations of the hydrological cycle influence the structure and dynamics of fish communities, modeling temporally and spatially their trophic webs.The conservation of these populations depends, to a great extent, on actions intended to maintain the integrity of the system.