Fishes of southern South America: a story driven by temperature |
| |
Authors: | V E Cussac D A Fernández S E Gómez H L López |
| |
Institution: | 1.Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente (INIBIOMA),Universidad Nacional del Comahue–CONICET,Bariloche,Argentina;2.Centro Austral de Investigaciones Centificas (CADIC)–CONICET,Ushuaia,Argentina;3.Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”–CONICET,Buenos Aires,Argentina;4.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo,Universidad Nacional de La Plata–CIC,Buenos Aires,Argentina |
| |
Abstract: | The latitudinal extension of southern South America imposes a thermal gradient that affects the structure of marine and freshwater
fish assemblages and the biology of the species through direct exposure to the temperature gradients or by means of a web
of historical and ecological relationships. We have reviewed biological and ecological data of marine and freshwater fishes
from the southern Neotropics, including Patagonia, and report several examples of dependence on temperature, from glacial
times to today’s climate change. We were able to identify historic and present effects on the diversity of fish assemblages,
isolation, southern limits for the distribution of species, and morphological variation among populations. There is a wide
range of characteristics that exemplify an adaptation to low temperatures, including biochemical peculiarities, physiological
adjustments, and alternative life history patterns, and these appear in both freshwater and marine, and native and exotic
fishes. The consequences of stable temperature regimes in both the ocean and thermal streams deserve special mention as these
shape specialists under conditions of low selective pressure. At present, habitat use and interactions among species are being
subject to changes as consequences of water temperature, and some of these are already evident in the northern and southern
hemispheres. |
| |
Keywords: | Austral subregion Autoecology Biodiversity Ecophysiology Freshwater Marine Neotropical region Thermal biology |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|