COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Migratory Fish as Material and Functional Linkages Across Tropical Andean Landscapes

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Migratory fishes are major components of many river systems and comprise the mainstay of riverine fisheries around the world. The proposed research examines the importance of migratory fishes as linkages between downstream floodplain and upstream piedmont ecosystems. Fishes that make large seasonal migrations can be important links between these ecosystems by providing energy and nutrient subsidies and by influencing nutrient recycling rates and productivity. This study focuses on one species, the flannelmouth characin Prochilodus mariae, that makes spectacular migrations from floodplain areas into the Andean piedmont in Venezuela. The proposed research is organized under three objectives. First, the extent to which Prochilodus transfers nitrogen from floodplains into the Andes will be measured. The second objective examines the effects that Prochilodus has on nutrient cycling and therefore on stream productivity and metabolism. The third objective is to determine the importance of stream processes during the dry season to year-round patterns of stream production and nutrient cycling. This research will conceptually advance our understanding of how individual species affect ecosystem-level processes across different regions in a landscape. It integrates across population, community and ecosystem ecology, which is an important contemporary challenge in ecology. Broader impacts of this study are several. The research focuses on migratory fishes that have great social, economic, and cultural significance throughout tropical South America, as they are important components of fisheries and major sources of human protein. These studies will link the human dimension of fishing to our understanding of how tropical streams function. Finally, this research will provide training of graduate and undergraduate students from the U.S. and Venezuela, including groups underrepresented in science, and it will strengthen ties to Venezuelan colleagues and institutions.