Frontiers in Marine Science (Dec 2015)
Taxonomic and trait based recolonization dynamics of a riverine fish assemblage following a large scale human mediated disturbance: the red mud disaster in Hungary
Abstract
We examined the recovery of a fish assemblage following the catastrophic spill of highly alkaline (pH~13) red sludge into a lowland river (i) to characterize taxonomic and trait based colonization of fishes in the river in the first three years of the recovery, and (ii) to determine which structural and trait based variables best predicted colonization. Species richness showed comparable values to pre-disturbance state less than one year after the spill. We found only moderate changes in the dominance of the most abundant species between pre- and post-disturbance periods, and consistent changes in the relative abundance of some rare species during the post-disturbance period. Frequency of occurrence (%) of the fishes in the watershed, and their relative abundance (%) proved to be the most important predictor variables in colonization, whereas trait based variables had a less important role. Our study about one of the largest scale and most serious documented fish kill shows that both taxonomic and trait based structure of fish assemblages can regenerate remarkable fast in a modified river and also shows that unfortunate chemical spills provide insights into the assembly of stream fish assemblages.
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