Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://biore.bio.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/1701
Title: River fish assemblages along an elevation gradient in the eastern extremity of Europe
Authors: Askeyev, Arthur
Askeyev, Oleg
Yanybaev, Nur
Askeyev, Igor
Monakhov, Sergey
Marić, Saša 
Hulsman, Kees
Keywords: Biodiversity indexes;Elevation gradient;Freshwater fish;Small and mid-sized rivers
Issue Date: 1-May-2017
Rank: M22
Publisher: Springer-Verlag Dordrecht
Journal: Environmental Biology of Fishes
Volume: 100
Start page: 585
End page: 596
Abstract: 
Studies on assemblages of freshwater fishes along elevational gradients of rivers are lacking, even in Europe. In this paper we have explored the entire range of elevational gradients existing in the European part of Russia. We analyzed how fish biodiversity (species richness, abundance, diversity indices) at 435 river sites differed by elevation. The impact of elevation on the distribution of freshwater fish species was analyzed using regression and ordination methods. For the first time for a large area of Eastern Europe, optimum points and niche breadth for fish species along altitude gradients were estimated. Our analyses showed: (1) species richness and Shannon index decreased in the upper part of the gradient; fish abundance showed a unimodal response to elevation; highest numbers were found at elevations between 250 and 500 m; (2) ordination analysis demonstrated an upstream-downstream gradient of the fish assemblages; (3) regression analysis showed significant preferences for elevation by 19 species, all of which were monotonic; (4) optimum and niche breadth (tolerance) were highly variable between species; only five species (brown trout, grayling, common minnow, bullhead and stone loach) were encountered at elevations above 650 m; and (5) in our region, the habitat of grayling was higher in the mountains, and its abundance (numbers) at extreme elevations was greater, than brown trout. These results show how fish assemblages differ with elevation. Our findings identify the data that can be used for regional environmental monitoring of the state of small rivers and for aquatic conservation.
URI: https://biore.bio.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/1701
ISSN: 0378-1909
DOI: 10.1007/s10641-017-0588-z
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