Investigations of Fish Assemblages Using Two Methods in Three Terminal Reservoirs of the East Route of South-to-North Water Transfer Project, China
Huiguo Yan,
Sibao Chen,
Xia Liu,
Zhenhao Cheng,
Bjorn Victor Schmidt,
Wenping He,
Fei Cheng,
Songguang Xie
Affiliations
Huiguo Yan
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Sibao Chen
Changjiang Institute of Survey Planning Design and Research, Key Laboratory of Changjiang Regulation and Protection of Ministry of Water Resources, Wuhan 430010, China
Xia Liu
Shandong Main Line Co., Ltd. of East Route of South-to-North Water Transfer Project, Jinan 250013, China
Zhenhao Cheng
Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Bjorn Victor Schmidt
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Texas A&M University, Commerce, TX 77843, USA
Wenping He
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development (Ministry of Education), College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Fei Cheng
Key Laboratory of Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Songguang Xie
State Key Laboratory of Marine Resources Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
The terminal reservoirs of water transfer projects directly supply water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial applications, and the water quality of these reservoirs produce crucial effects on the achievement of project targets. Typically, fish assemblages are monitored as indicators of reservoir water quality, and can also be regulated for its improvement. In the present study, we compared traditional fish landing (TFL) and environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding methods for monitoring fish assemblages in three terminal reservoirs of the East Route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project, China. Results of TFL and eDNA showed similar assemblage structures and patterns of diversity and spatial distribution with obvious differences in fish composition across three examined reservoirs. Demersal and small fish were dominant in all reservoirs. In addition, a strong association between water transfer distance and assemblages and distribution of non-native fish was found. Our findings highlight the necessity of the fish assemblage monitoring and managing for water quality and revealed the impact of water diversion distance on the structure of fish assemblages and dispersal of alien species along the water transfer project.
