Patterns and distribution of fish assemblage in Nullah Aik and Nullah Palkhu Sialkot, Pakistan

Abstract

Nullah Aik and Nullah Palkhu, tributaries of Chenab River, Pakistan were studied to assess the impacts of environmental factors on diversity and distribution of fish species at 18 sites on, from September, 2004 to April 2006. A total of 1506 fish specimens were recorded from 14 sites whereas zero fish capture was recorded from four sites located in close vicinities of Sialkot city. Highest species richness and abundance diversity indices Shannon and Simpson were recorded during post monsoon season as compared to pre monsoon. In case of spatial distribution highest diversity indices were recorded from upstream site of Nullah Aik and down stream of Nullah Palkhu during post monsoon season. Most of the fish species were restricted to upstream of Nullah Aik during pre monsoon while rest of sites did not showed significant fish distribution. To evaluate the relationships between species abundance and environmental variables in longitudinal zones of streams, Canonical correspondence analysis CCA was used. Out of 13 variables such as stream morphology Stream flow, depth and flow , physicochemical parameters DO, COD, turbidity and NO3- and metals Na, Ca, Fe, Pb, Cr, Ni and Cu used for the explanation of species distribution data Ordination analysis with the direct gradient technique of the CCA was performed to study the association of these environmental parameters to species composition. CCA identified overall three groups upstream fishes, downstream fishes and evenly distributed fishes. Fish assemblage at upstream sites was comparatively stable through out the year; however, downstream of studied streams severely affected during pre monsoon. Present study is a major step in exploring the structure of fish assemblage in Nullah Aik and Nullah Palkhu. It would be helpful in efforts for protection and rehabilitation of habitat and conservation of fish assemblage at local and regional level

Keywords

• Polluted streams,Fish communities,Diversity,River Chenab,Punjab

References

1. Abegaz, T., Legesse, W. and Tiku, S. 2005. Determination of critical concentration and diurnal variation of dissolved oxygen (DO) in relation to physicochemical variables in Boye Pond, Southwestern Ethiopia. AJEAM-RAGEE 10: 66-76.
2. Addiscott, T.M. 1996. Fertilizers and nitrate leaching. Issues in Environmental Science and Technology, 5: 1 - 26.
3. Akin, S., Buhan, E. Winemiller K.O. and H. Yilmaz, 2005. Fish assemblage structure of Koycegiz Lagoon–Estuary, Turkey: Spatial and temporal distribution patterns in relation to environmental variation. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 64: 671-684.
4. Akin, S., Buhan, E., Winemiller, K.O. and Yilmaz , H. 2005. Fish assemblage structure of Koycegiz Lagoon-Estuary, Turkey: Spatial and temporal distribution patterns in relation to environmental variation Estuarine, coastal and shelf science, 64: 671- 684.
5. Anctil, M. and Ali, M.A. 1976 Cone droplets of mitochondrial origin in the retina of Fundulus heteroclitus (Pisces: Cyprinodontidae). Zoomorphology, 84: 103-111.
6. Angermeier, P.L. and Winston, M.R. 1999 Characterizing fish community diversity across Virginia landscapes: prerequisite for conservation. Ecological Applications 9: 335–349.
7. Arunachalam, M. 2000. Assemblage structure of stream fishes in the Western Ghats (India), Hydrobiologia 430: 1–31.
8. Belliard, J., Thomas, R. B. and Monnier, D. 1999. Fish communities and river alteration in the Seine Basin and nearby coastal streams, Hydrobiologia, 400: 155–166.

9. Bhat A. and E. Magurran, 2007. Does disturbance affect the structure of tropical fish assemblages? A test using null models Journal of Fish Biology, 70 :623 – 629.
10. Bhat, A. 2003. Diversity and composition of freshwater fishes in river systems of Central Western Ghats, India. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 68: 25 - 38.
11. Bhat, A. and Magurran, A. E. 2006. Taxonomic distinctness in a linear system: a testusing a tropical freshwater fish assemblage. Ecography, 29: 104-110.
12. Bhat, A., 2004. Patterns in the distribution of freshwater .shes in rivers of Central Western Ghats, India and their associations with environmental gradients, Hydrobiologia, 529: 83–97.
13. Boët, P., Duvoux, B., Allardi J. and Belliard, J. 1994. Incidence des orages estivaux sur les peuplements piscicoles de la Seine à l’aval de l’agglomération parisienne (bief Andrésy - Méricourt). la Houille Blanche, 1–2: 141–147.
14. Casatti, L., Langeani, F. and Ferreira, C.P. 2006. Effects of physical habitat degradation on the stream fish assemblage structure in a Pasture Region. Environmental Management, 38: 974- 982.
15. Castillo-Rivera, M., Zavala-Hurtado J.A. & Rocýo Zarate, 2002. Exploration of spatial and temporal patterns of fish diversity and composition in a tropical estuarine system of Mexico. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 12: 167–177.
16. Costa, M.H., Botta, A. Cardille, J.A. 2003. Effects of large-scale changes in land cover on the discharge of the Tocantins river, South Eastern Amazonia. Journal of Hydrology, 283: 206–217.
17. Courtemanch DL, Davies SP & Laverty EB (1987). Incorporation of biological information in water quality planning. Environmental Management, 13: 35- 41.
18. Das, S.K. and Chakrabarty, D. 2007. The use of fish community structure as a measure of ecological degradation: A case study in two tropical rivers of India. BioSystems, 90: 188 - 196.
19. Davis, N. M., Weaver, V. Parks K.and Lydy, M. J. 2003. An Assessment of Water Quality, Physical Habitat, and Biological Integrity of an Urban Stream in Wichita, Kansas, Prior to Restoration Improvements (Phase I), Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 44, 351–359
20. Eggleton, M. A, Gido, K.B., Matthews, W.J. and Schnell, G.D. 2004. Assessment of anthropogenic influences on littoral-zone aquatic communities of Lake Texoma, Oklahoma-Texas, USA. Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology, 4:103-117
21. Fraser, T. H. 1997. Abundance, seasonality, community indices, trends and relationships with physiochemical factors of trawled fish in upper Charlotte Harbor, Florida. Bulletin of Marine Science 60, 739–763.
22. Gafny, S., Goren, M. and Gasith, A. 2000. Habitat condition and fish assemblage structure in a coastalmediterranean stream (Yarqon, Israel) receiving domestic effluent. Hydrobiologia, 422/423: 319–330.
23. Ganasan, V. and Hughes, R. M. 1998. Application of an index of biotic integrity (IBI) to fish assemblages of the rivers Khan and Kshipra (Madhya Pradesh), India. Freshwater Biology, 40: 367-383.
24. Godoy EAS, Almeida TCM & Zalmon IR (2002). Fish assemblages and environmental variables on an artificial reef north of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 59: 138 – 143.
25. Greenman, D. W, Swarzenski, W. V. and Bennett, G. D. 1967. Groundwater hydrology of the Punjab, West Pakistan with emphasis on problems caused by canal irrigation. Water Supply Paper, 1608- H. US Geological Survey, Washington DC, USA.
26. Grossman G.D., Dowd J.F. and Crawford M. 1990. Assemblage stability in stream fishes: a review. Environmental Management 14: 661–671.
27. Han, C.C., Tew, K. S. and Fang, L.S. 2007. Spatial and temporal variations of two cyprinids in a subtropical mountain reserve – a result of habitat disturbance. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 16: 395–403.
28. Helms BS & Feminella JW (2005). Detection of biotic responses to urbanization using fish assemblages from small streams of western Georgia, USA. Urban Ecosystems, 8: 39 – 57.
29. Hoyt, R. D., McElroy D. and Stiles, D. 2001. Spatio-temporal assessment of stream fish communities adjacent to an agricultural http://www.apsu.edu/field_biology/center/sym2001/spatio.htm. practices operation. Reterived from
30. Inoue M., and Nakano S., 2001. Fish abundance and habitat relationships in forest and grassland streams, northern Hokkaido, Japan. Ecological Research 16:233-247.
31. Jehangir, W. A., Qureshi, A. S. and Ali, N (2002). Conjunctive water management in the Rechna Doab: An overview of resources and issues. Working Paper: 48. International Water Management Institute. Lahore, Pakistan.
32. Karr, J. R., Fausch, K. D.. Angermeier, P. L Yant P. R. and Schlosser, I. J. 1986. Assessment of biological integrity in running water: a method and its rationale. Illinois Natural History Survey Special Publication 5, Champaign, Illinois, USA.
33. Koel, T. M. & Peterka, J. J. 2003. Stream fish communities and environmental correlates in the Red River of the North, Minnesota and North Dakota. Environmental Biology of Fishes 67: 137–155.
34. Kovach, W.L. 1999. MVSP – A Multivariate Statistical Package for Windows, ver. 3.1. Kovach Computing Services, Pentraeth, Wales, Great Britain.
35. Lamouroux, N., Poff, N. L. and Angermeier, P. L. 2002. Intercontinental convergence of stream fish community traits along geomorphic and hydraulic gradients. Ecology, 53: 1792–1807.
36. Li, R.Y. and Gelwick, F. P. 2005. The relationship of environmental factors to spatial and temporal variation of fish assemblages in a floodplain river in Texas, USA. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 14: 319 - 330.
37. Lima-Junior, S. E., Cardone, I. B. and Goitein, R. 2006. Fish assemblage structure and aquatic pollution in a Brazilian stream: some limitations of diversity indices and models for environmental impact studies, Ecology of Freshwater Fish 15:284 – 290.
38. Ludsin SA, Kershner MW, Blocksom KA, Knight RL, & Stein RA (2001). Life after death in Lake Erie: nutrient controls drive fish species richness, rehabilitation. Ecological Applications, 11:731-746.
39. Lyons, J. 1996. Patterns in the species composition of fish assemblages among Wisconsin streams. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 45: 329 - 341.
40. Magalhães, M. F., Batalha, D. C. & Collares-Pereira, M. J. 2002. Gradients in stream fish assemblages across a Mediterranean landscape: contributions of environmental factors and spatial structure Freshwater Biology 47, 1015–1031.
41. Magurran, A.E. 1991. Ecological diversity and its measurement. Chapman & Hall. London, UK.
42. Malik, R.N. and Husain, S.Z. 2008. Linking remote sensing and ecological vegetation communities: a multivariate approach. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 40: 337 - 349.
43. Mathews, K.R. & Berg, N.H. 1997. Rainbow trout response to water temperature and dissolved oxygen stress in two southern California streams pools. Journal of Fish Biology 50: 50 – 67.
44. Matthews, W.J. 1985. Distribution of mid-western fishes on multivariate environmental gradients, with emphasis on Notropis lutrensis. American Midland Naturalist, 113: 225 - 237.
45. Matthews, W.J. 1998. Patterns in freshwater fish ecology. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA. USA.
46. Mesquita, N., Coelho, M. M. and Filomena, M. M. 2006. Spatial variation in fish assemblages across small Mediterranean drainages: effects of habitat and landscape Context. Environ Biol Fish., 77:105–120.
47. Mirza, M. R., 2003. Check list of Freshwater fishes Of Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Zoology: Supplement Series 3: 1- 30.
48. Mirza, M.R. and Bhatti, M. N. (1993). Pakistan Ki Machlian aur Mahi Parwari Part-I. Feroze sons (Pvt.) Ltd., Lahore, Pakistan.
49. Moses, T. and Morris, S. 1998. Environmental constraints to urban stream restoration: part I. Public Works 129: 45 – 48
50. Narayanan, K. and Khan, A.A. 1995. Electron microscopic studies on the retinal photoreceptors of the spotted snakedhead, Channa punctatus. Journal of Fish Biology, 46:541-544.
51. Paller, M. H. 2002. Temporal variability in fish assemblages from disturbed and undisturbed streams. Journal of Aquatic Ecosystem Stress and Recovery, 9: 149 – 158
52. Paul, M. J. and Meyer, J. L. 2001. Streams in the urban landscape. Annual Reviews of Ecological sSystems 32:333 – 365.
53. Pfeiffer, W.C., Fiszman, M., Malm, O. and Azcue, J.M. 1986. Heavy metal pollution in the Paraíba do Sul River, Brazil. Science of the Total Environment, 58: 73-79.
54. Pinto, B.C.T., Peixoto, M.G. and Araşjo, F.G. 2006. Effects of the proximity from an industrial plant on fish assemblages in the rio Paraíba do Sul, southeastern Brazil. Neotropical Ichthyology, 4: 269 - 278.
55. Pires, A. M., Cowx, I. G. and Coelho, M. M. 1999. Seasonal changes in fish community structure of intermittent streams in the middle reaches of the Guadiana basin, Portugal. Journal of Fish Biology, 54, 235–249
56. Pollino, C.A., Feehan, P., Grace, M.R. and Hart, B.T. 2004. Fish communities and habitat changes in the highly modified Goulburn Catchment, Victoria, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research, 55: 769 - 780.
57. Population and Censes organization, 2000. District censes report of Sialkot. Cences publication No. 124. Population and Censes organization, Govt. of Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan.
58. Pusey, B.J. and Kennard, M.J. 1996. Species richness and geographical variation in assemblage structure of the freshwater fish fauna of the wet tropics region of northern Queensland. Maraine and Freshwater Research. 47: 563–573.
59. Qadir, A. and Malik, R. N. 2009. Assessment of an index of biological integrity (IBI) to quantify the quality of two tributaries of river Chenab, Sialkot, Pakistan. Hydrobiologia 621:127–153.
60. Qadir, A., Malik R. N. and Husain, S. Z. 2008. Spatio-temporal variations in water quality of Nullah Aik - tributary of the river Chenab, Pakistan. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 140: 43–59.
61. Rashleigh, B. 2004. Relation of environmental characteristics to fish Assemblages in the Upper French Broad River Basin, North Carolina Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 93: 139–156.
62. Reash, R. J. and Pigg, J. 1990. Physico-chemical Factors Affecting the Abundance and Species Richness of Fishes in the Cimarron River. Proceedings Oklahoma Academy Sciences, 70: 23 – 28.
63. Scott, M.C. and Hall Jr, L.W. 1997. Fish assemblages as indicators of environmental degradation in Maryland coastal plain streams. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 126: 349 - 360.
64. Singh, K. P., Malik A. and Sinha, S. 2005. Water quality assessment and apportionment of pollution sources of Gomti river (India) using multivariate statistical techniques - a case study. Analytica Chimica Acta, 538, 355-374.
65. Slavík, O. and Bartŏs, L. 2001. Spatial distribution and temporal variance of fish communities in the channelized and regulated Vltava River (Central Europe) Environmental Biology of Fishes, 61: 47–55.
66. Snodgrass, J.W., Bryan, A.L., Lide R.F. and Smith, G.M. 1996. Factors affecting the occurrence and structure of fish assemblages in isolated wetlands of the upper coastal plain, USA. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 53, 443–454.
67. Svecevièius, G. 1999. Fish avoidance response to heavy metals and their mixtures Acta Zoologica Lituanica. Hydrobiologia, 9:103- 114
68. Talwar, P. K. and Jhingran, A. 1991. Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries, Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi 2: 19-1158.
69. Tawari-Fufeyin, P. and Ekaye, S.A. 2007. Fish species diversity as indicator of pollution in Ikpoba River, Benin City, Nigeria. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 17: 21- 30.
70. Taylor, C.M. 1997. Fish species richness and incidence patterns in isolated and connected stream pools: effects of pool volume and spatial position. Oecologia, 110: 560 - 566.
71. Taylor, C.M., Holder, T.L., Fiorillo, R.A., Williams, L.R., Thomas, R.B. and Warren, M.L. 2006. Distribution, abundance, and diversity of stream fishes under variable environmental conditions. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63: 43–54.
72. ter Braak, C. J. F. and Verdonschot, P. F. M. 1995. Canonical correspondence analysisand related multivariate methods in aquatic ecology. Aquatic Sciences 57, 255–289.
73. Thompson, L. C. and Larsen, R. 1994. Fish Habitat in Freshwater Streams. Publication 8112, FWQP Reference Sheet 10.3. Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. University of California, pp: 1-12.
74. Van Aardt, W.J. and Erdmann, R. 2004. Heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn) in mudfish and sediments from three hard- water dams of the Mooi River catchment, South Africa. Water South Africa, 2: 211 - 218.
75. Vlach, P., Dušek, J. Švátora M. and Moravec, P. 2005. Fish assemblage structure, habitat and microhabitat preference of five fish species in a small stream. Folia Zool. 54: 421–431.
76. Wang, L., Lyons, J., Kanehl, P. and Bannerman, R. 2001. Impacts of urbanization on stream and fish across multiple spatial scales. Environmental Management, 28: 255- 266.
77. Wichert, G.A. and Rapport, D.J. 1998. Fish community structure as a measure of degradation and rehabilitation of riparian systems in an agricultural drainage system. Environmental Management, 22: 425- 443.
78. Wolgast, L.J. & Stout, B.B. 1977. Effects of Age, Stand Density, and Fertilizer Application on Bear Oak Reproduction. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 41: 685-691.
79. www.fishbase.com/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php.
80. Xenopoulos, M. A., Lodge, D. M., Alcamow, J. Marker, M. Schulzew K and Van Vuuren, D. P. 2005. Scenarios of
81. freshwater fish extinctions from climate change and water withdrawal. Global Change Biology, 11, 1557–1564.