Analysis of trophic gradient through environ-mental filter influencing fish assemblage structure of the river Teesta in Eastern Himalayas
Journal Title: Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES) - Year 2014, Vol 4, Issue 4
Abstract
Factors controlling biodiversity and co-existence of species need immediate attention to maintain biodiversity. Co-existence between interacting species is based on their ecological niches or functional roles and can be assessed by niche assembly theory and construction of trophic guild. In the present study, the diet composition of fishes have been analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively to describe feeding patterns along environmental gradient towards linking biodiversity with functional diversity patterns to shape species assemblage. We evaluated the trophic guild structure of 92 fish species of the large, torrential river Teesta (within West Bengal) having its origin in eastern Himalayas. Stomach contents of 1515 fish specimens have been analyzed and fishes were ascertained 14 different trophic guilds. Canonical correspondence analysis was performed to study species associations with environmental parameters. Preliminary analysis showed a dietary shift of the respective fish assemblages from high to low altitude from specified feeders (aquatic insectivores) to omnivorous respectively. Aquatic insect larvae formed the most important prey in general, especially in high altitude zone followed by algae. The dietary preferences indicate that fish assemblage pattern seems to be guided by niche breadth and environment acting as the main filtering agent towards species sorting and survival. This study is an important step in structuring fish community of the River Teesta and to lay the foundation for subsequent future efforts on the conservation of aquatic communities and their feeding habitats.
Authors and Affiliations
Munmun Chakrabarty, Sumit Homechaudhuri
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP37640
- DOI -
- Views 127
- Downloads 0
Genetic diversity in some euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica O.) ecotypes in Iran using microsatellites (SSRs) markers
Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica Oliv.) is a unique woody species which is naturally distributed in desert areas of some parts of Asia and Africa. Because of its outstanding features, it is a model plant to study env...
Field capacity changes by irrigation with domestic wastewater
There is accumulating demand to use the water in different countries due to global water crisis, population growth and industrialization. Under these conditions, we have to use uncommon waters including wastewater in a...
Status and efforts of conservation on biodiversity of inland waters in Indonesia: A review
Based on the distribution of the world biodiversity, Indonesia is often called mega-biodiversity region, i.e. a region with the highest biodiversity in the world. Constituting just 13 percent of the world’s total land ar...
In vitro anthelmintic activity of crude extracts of ethnobotanically important wild plants against Haemonchus contortus (Rudolphi 1803)
Our preceding ethnobotanical studies revealed that Aerva javanica, Cistanche tubulosa, Cuscuta campestris, Heliotropium europaeum and Persicaria glabra have been used in folk medicines in Sahiwal Division, Punjab, Pakist...
The study of genetic relationships between in landrace chickpea collected from north-west of Iran using SCoT molecule marker
This study was carried out using 10 SCoT primers, to genetic relationships evaluation for 38 accessions of 4 population’s chickpea of the north-west of Iran. In addition, 95 bands were scored using these primers, that...