Débora Reis de Carvalho

Lancaster University | LU · Lancaster Environment Centre

The objective of this study was to evaluate if aquatic pollution promote diet shifts in two livebearer fishes (Poeciliidae): an exotic species, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), and a native livebearer (Phalloceros uai). The study was carried out in a Brazilian basin highly impacted by anthropogenic activities, especially discharge of domestic and i...

The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large‐scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southe...

Knodus moenkhausii is a small characid widely distributed and abundant in the Doce River basin, which experienced the largest socio-environmental disaster in Brazil. This species is also recognized for its broad dietary response to various levels of degradation, making it a potential indicator of the ecosystem's impacts resulting from the rupture o...

This study aimed to compare the trophic ecology of native and non-native fish species in the Doce River basin, which has been subjected to various anthropogenic impacts, including Brazil's largest environmental disaster: the rupture of the Fundão iron ore tailings dam. Using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, we evaluated the isotopic niche and t...

For this review paper: Vadas, R.L. Jr., and 26 coauthors. 2022. Assemblage-based biomonitoring of aquatic ecosystem health via multimetric indices: a critical review and suggestions for improving their applicability. Water Biology and Security [online] 1(3): 100054 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772735122000737).

The rupture of the Fundão dam is considered the largest mining failure in history, which had a particularly detrimental impact on fish populations, as the mud from the ore tailings significantly altered the water quality and habitat of Doce River basin. This study aimed to assess the trophic structure of fish communities in areas impacted and not i...

In this study, we analyzed the trophic structure and carbon sources supporting fish assemblages of five low-productivity rivers with different dimensions. Using carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope ratios, we identified the major carbon sources to fish species and estimated fish trophic positions in each river. We observed a similar trophic st...

Changes in physical habitat that are associated with anthropogenic disturbances facilitate the establishment and expansion of non-native species in receiving environments. Here, we evaluated the relative importance of ecosystem variables for the presence and abundance of the invasive fish Poecilia reticulata in Brazil. We collected fish species and...

Impoundments caused by dams are often responsible for intense changes in physical, chemical, geomorphological and hydrological characteristics of rivers, and are one of the main causes in global freshwater biodiversity declines. When these changes derive from multiple cascading dams, the cumulative effect can amplify, causing more pronounced conseq...

Freshwater biota are more comprehensive and direct indicators of biological impacts, and more meaningful to the public than water quality or physical habitat surrogates. Freshwater biotic data and the multiple biological indicators developed from them offer a much richer array of data for assessing the impacts of pollution controls than a limited s...

Interest in functional diversity has grown in recent years, indicating that knowledge on ecosystem functions gain importance. However, the incongruent use of terms may lead to misunderstandings and incomparable results. We aimed to review terms used in functional diversity among the Brazilian scientific community to identify if there is a lack of c...

Tributaries greatly influence the supply of organic matter to large rivers. In this study, we used carbon (ẟ13C) and nitrogen (ẟ15N) stable isotopes to assess if organic matter from tributaries with different 15N compositions influenced the food webs of downstream fish assemblages. In addition, we aimed to evaluate if estimates of fish trophic posi...

Fish species richness is one of the most common descriptors of aquatic biodiversity and an important indicator of the ecological condition of stream reaches and regional biological diversity. However, inadequate sampling effort underestimates the true number of species and, consequently, might provide erroneous information about the ecological cond...

Historically, anthropogenic fixed nitrogen has been purposely increased to benefit food production and global development. One consequence of this increase has been to raise concentrations of nitrogen in aquatic ecosystems. To evaluate whether nitrogen pollution promotes changes in the estimates of niche space of fish communities, we examined 16 si...

A deep investigation on the trophic structure of a fish assemblage in a reference condition river is important since allow the comparison and determination of the extent in which other sites are degraded. It is especially relevant when we consider a reference condition river located in a basin under influence of several anthropogenic activities, as...

This study aimed to evaluate if the presence of pollutants promotes changes in feeding habits of fish species from different trophic guilds: the detritivorous species, Hypostomus francisci, and the piscivorous, Hoplias intermedius. Both species were sampled at 12 sites (with different degrees of pollution) in the Rio das Velhas basin, which is heav...

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that a widespread non-native fish species in Brazil displays opportunistic feeding behavior and changes its diet according to environmental conditions. We compared the diet, feeding selectivity, carbon assimilation, trophic niche, and trophic level of Knodus moenkhausii (a small non-native characid f...

The trophic plasticity of most fish species of Astyanax Baird & Girard, 1854 in response to environmental changes and resource availability is high. This work evaluates the differences in the trophic characteristics of two congeneric species, Astyanax taeniatus (Jenyns, 1842) and Astyanax lacustris (Lütken, 1875), in Rio das Velhas Basin, which is...

The aim of this study was to evaluate how distinct land uses can alter the trophic structure of fish communities in streams. For this purpose, nine streams under the influence of three distinct land uses (pasture, sugarcane, and natural cover) were evaluated. The structure and isotopic niche of the fish communities were investigated by calculating...

It is well recognized that assemblage structure of stream macroinvertebrates changes with alterations in catchment or local land use. Our objective was to understand how the trophic ecology of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages responds to land use changes in tropical streams. We used the isotope methodology to assess how energy flow and trophic...

Physical characteristics, land use and environmental variables calculated to the nine streams in the three land use categories. The numbers 1, 2 and 3 correspond to each of the three streams sampled in each land use category (See Fig 1). Order = rank of the stream orders according to Strahler; Veg. cover = Vegetation Cover. All environmental variab...

Mean ± S.D. isotopic signatures of resources and consumers sampled in the three land use categories. The letters a and b indicate which signatures are different according to post hoc test. The letter “n” indicates the number of replicates used in each group analysis. (DOCX)

Stable isotope analysis in R (SIAR) results of the food source proportions in the diet of the functional trophic groups (FTG) (95% confidence interval). (DOCX)

Stable isotope analysis in R (SIAR) results of the prey proportions in predator diets (95% confidence interval). (DOCX)

This work aimed to evaluate the relationship between parameters of fish communities and the habitat structure of a stream. Twenty three stretches six meters long were evaluated in the Samambaia stream located inside the Sumidouro Park, Rio das Velhas basin, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Fish samplings and habitat characterization were made for eac...

The aim of this study was to test if changes in land use alter the isotopic signature of fish species, promoting changes in the trophic position and food resource partitioning between these consumers. Three different systems were investigated: pasture streams (n = 3), streams in sugar cane plantations (n = 3) and reference streams (n = 3). Fish spe...

The stream fish fauna from three regions of the Upper Paraná River basin. Biota Neotropica. 15(2): 1–8. http://dx. Abstract: This study aimed to conduct an inventory of fish assemblages in small streams that are tributaries of large reservoirs in three previously unstudied regions of the Upper Paraná River basin. We sampled 117 streams from 1 st to...

Alterations in environmental conditions may cause changes to fish assemblages regarding their composition and distribution. This study aimed to describe the composition the ichthyofauna of the Sumidouro system and to compare it with the ichthyofauna found in the Lagoa Central. The Sumidouro system is a preserved aquatic biome located on the Rio das...

Science has a critical role to play in guiding more sustainable development trajectories. Here, we present the Sustainable Amazon Network (Rede Amazônia Sustentável, RAS): a multidisciplinary research initiative involving more than 30 partner organizations working to assess both social and ecological dimensions of land-use sustainability in eastern...