Final Report: Impacts of Global Change on Biotic Resistance, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services in Caribbean Fish Assemblages, Fisheries, and Aquatic Ecosystems
Dates
Publication Date
2024
Citation
Thomas J Kwak, Bonnie JE Myers, and Abigail J Lynch, 2024, Final Report: Impacts of Global Change on Biotic Resistance, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services in Caribbean Fish Assemblages, Fisheries, and Aquatic Ecosystems: U.S. Geological Survey.
Summary
Climate change and invasive species alter freshwater fish assemblages globally, which could impact ecosystem services that benefit communities. The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico is an ideal system to study the effects of extreme events on native freshwater fishes in the presence of invasive fish species. Puerto Rico like other tropical islands is characterized by frequent flow disturbance; however, climate projections show that Puerto Rico will experience increased drying but also more intense flooding in the coming decades. We evaluated how extreme high and low flows affect native and non-native fishes and experimentally tested the interaction between a non-native fish and low and high flows on a native fish species as well as determined [...]
Summary
Climate change and invasive species alter freshwater fish assemblages globally, which could impact ecosystem services that benefit communities. The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico is an ideal system to study the effects of extreme events on native freshwater fishes in the presence of invasive fish species. Puerto Rico like other tropical islands is characterized by frequent flow disturbance; however, climate projections show that Puerto Rico will experience increased drying but also more intense flooding in the coming decades. We evaluated how extreme high and low flows affect native and non-native fishes and experimentally tested the interaction between a non-native fish and low and high flows on a native fish species as well as determined their swimming performance for the first time. We also determined the importance of freshwater rivers and fishing to communities across Puerto Rico to determine the economic benefit of rivers and the fisheries therein. We found extreme events and non-native fishes affect tropical assemblages in multiple ways, including altering fish biomass, abundance, competition, and behavior. We also found native species may be more resilient to extreme low flows than expected; however, this resilience may be affected by the presence of non-native fish, specifically the non-native red devil. Red devil may be particularly problematic in altering the structure of fish assemblages in the future. However, extreme high flows may act as a potential filter for these aggressive fishes. This is important considering the importance of river biodiversity to communities and the economic benefit to fishers we estimated. Our findings could inform prioritization of rivers and species for managers in the Caribbean and island ecosystems globally as climate change and invasive species continue to affect ecosystems and their services.
