Temporal change in urban fish biodiversity-Gains, losses, and drivers of change.

ABSTRACT: Our aim was to examine temporal change in alpha and beta diversity of freshwater fish communities in rivers that have urbanized over the same period to understand the influence of changes in land use and river connectivity on community change. We used biological (2001-2018), land use (2000-2015), and connectivity data (1987-2017) from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We used linear mixed effects models to determine the strength of upstream land use, connectivity, and their changes over time to explain temporal change in alpha and beta diversity indices. We examined beta diversity using the temporal beta diversity index (TBI) to assess site-specific community change. The TBI was partitioned into gains and losses, and species-specific changes in abundance were assessed using paired t-tests.

SUBMITTER: Lawson L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10847622 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature