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. 2020 May:154:111073.
doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111073. Epub 2020 Mar 24.

Early evidences of niche shifts in estuarine fishes following one of the world's largest mining dam disasters

Ryan Andrades  1 , Helder C Guabiroba  2 , Maik S C Hora  2 , Rebeka F Martins  2 , Vitor L A Rodrigues  2 , Ciro C Vilar  2 , Tommaso Giarrizzo  3 , Jean-Christophe Joyeux  2
Affiliations

Early evidences of niche shifts in estuarine fishes following one of the world's largest mining dam disasters

Ryan Andrades et al. Mar Pollut Bull. 2020 May.

Abstract

The Fundão dam collapse occurred on November 2015 in Mariana city (Brazil), provoking a series of ecological impacts over the Doce river basin and its nearshore environment. However many impacts over fishery target fauna (fish and shrimp) are still unknown or underestimated due to the lack of baseline data in the region. In the present study we assessed the isotopic niches modeled from δ13C and δ15N signatures of six estuarine fish species before and after the impact to assign potential shifts at the population- and community-level. We showed isotopic niche has altered in all studied species irrespective of its trophic group and habitat use. Niche community metrics indicated a depletion of trophic diversity and basal resources of the whole community after the impact. Food web changes as we reported here can impair the energy transfer through the food chain and put at risk the sustainability of small fisheries that rely upon local resources.

Keywords: Estuary; Mine spill; River pollution; Stable isotopes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Currently some authors receive a fellowship (R.A., C.C.V. and J-C.J.) or salary (H.C.G., R.F.M. and V.L.A.R.) from the Espírito Santo Foundation for Technology (FEST: Fundação Espírito-Santense de Tecnologia; http://www.fest.org.br/fest2018/) for their participation in the Aquatic Biodiversity Monitoring Program (PMBA: Programa de Monitoramento da Biodiversidade Aquática) run by the Doce river-sea Network (RRDM: Rede Rio Doce Mar; http://rrdm.net.br/) as part of an agreement between FEST and the Renova Foundation. The Renova Foundation is the entity responsible for the mobilization of the reparation of the damages caused by the collapse of the Fundao dam in Mariana (MG). It is a non-profit organization, the result of a legal commitment called Transaction and Conduct Adjustment Term (TTAC). Statutes, in Portuguese, can be found at https://www.fundacaorenova.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/estatuto-registrado.pdf). Neither the PMBA, RRDM, FEST or Renova Foundation played any role in designing the study, data acquisition, interpretation of the results, preparation of the manuscript or funding.

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