title: Long-term functional changes in an estuarine fish assemblage.
abstract: The functional diversity of the fish assemblages of the Mondego estuary was studied for a discontinuous 30-year period (1988-2012). During this time, hydrological changes occurred due to man-induced alterations and weather extremes. These changes led to alterations in the structure and function of the fish community. Species richness and functional richness decreased over time and the fish community started to explore new micro-habitats and food resources. Before severe hydrological changes, the community was dominated by pelagic, detritivorous and species with wider salinity ranges. After, the community became dominated by demersal, benthic, piscivorous and marine species. During a drought, omnivorous became increasingly important, reflecting greater possibilities of using available feeding resources. We have also found an increase in sub-tropical species throughout the years, which might be related to gradual temperature increases at a global scale. This study also confirmed estuaries as extremely important for restocking several commercial species.
authors.affiliation: CFE - Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: jbaptista@uc.pt.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baptista
authors.affiliation: CFE - Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martinho
authors.affiliation: CFE - Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nyitrai
authors.affiliation: CFE - Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pardal
authors.affiliation: CFE - Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal; Biology Department & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address: mdolbeth@ci.uc.pt.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dolbeth
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem; D063366:Estuaries; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D011174:Portugal; D054712:Salinity; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Climate change; Estuaries; Fish assemblages; Hydrology; Traits