Community-based management induces rapid recovery of a high-value tropical freshwater fishery

Tropical wetlands are highly threatened socio-ecological systems, where local communities rely heavily on aquatic animal protein, such as fish, to meet food security. Here, we quantify how a ‘win-win’ community-based resource management program induced stock recovery of the world’s largest scaled freshwater fish (Arapaima gigas), providing both food and income. We analyzed stock assessment data over eight years and examined the effects of protected areas, community-based management, and landscape and limnological variables across 83 oxbow lakes monitored along a ~500-km section of the Juruá River of Western Brazilian Amazonia. Patterns of community management explained 71.8% of the variation in arapaima population sizes. Annual population counts showed that protected lakes on average contained 304.8 (±332.5) arapaimas, compared to only 9.2 (±9.8) in open-access lakes. Protected lakes have become analogous to a high-interest savings account, ensuring an average annual revenue of US$10,601 per community and US$1046.6 per household, greatly improving socioeconomic welfare. Arapaima management is a superb window of opportunity in harmonizing the co-delivery of sustainable resource management and poverty alleviation. We show that arapaima management deserves greater attention from policy makers across Amazonian countries, and highlight the need to include local stakeholders in conservation planning of Amazonian floodplains

A new species of Boehlkea (Characiformes: Characidae: Stevardiinae) from the rio Japurá, Amazon basin, Brazil

ABSTRACT A new species of Boehlkea is described from rio Japurá, Amazon basin. The new species differs from B. fredcochui by the presence of a vertically elongate humeral spot (vs. absence), complete lateral line (vs. incomplete), four rows of scales below lateral line (vs. three), and lower number of branched anal-fin rays (17-21 vs. 22-25), and from B. orcesi by the higher number of maxillary teeth (13-14 vs. 5-12), greater head length (27.9-29.9% vs. 24.3-27.5% of SL), and by the color pattern (basal half of dorsal-fin, distal portion of pelvic-fin, lower caudal-fin lobe and anal-fin with black chromatophores vs. absence of black chromatophores in the fins)

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Composition, diversity and structure of vascular epiphytes in two contrasting Central Amazonian floodplain ecosystems

Research focusing on assemblages of vascular epiphytes in the Amazon are scarce. This is especially true for Amazonian floodplain forests, for which only two previous studies have been published. We compared composition, richness and structure of epiphyte assemblages in white-water and black-water floodplains (várzea and igapó) in Central Amazonia in order to close knowledge gaps concerning the distribution and richness of epiphytes. We established sixteen 25x25 m plots in each forest type, and counted and identified all species of vascular epiphytes occurring on trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥10 cm. We observed a clear distinction in epiphytic species composition (r2=0.83, p=0.001) and diversity (t=3.24, P=0.003) between the two environments, with 61.5 % of species being restricted to várzea, 22.9 % restricted to igapó and only 15.6 % common to both ecosystems. The floodplains were also structurally different for the most abundant species and those with the highest Epiphytic Importance Value (IVe). The diversity of trees did not influence the epiphyte diversity in either ecosystem. The forests were found to differ in the composition, diversity and structure of their epiphytic assemblages, which must be taken into account when designing conservation action plans for these ecosystems and for their vascular epiphytes

Revision of Tympanopleura Eigenmann (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) with description of two new species

The Neotropical catfish genus Tympanopleura, previously synonymized within Ageneiosus, is revalidated and included species are reviewed. Six species are recognized, two of which are described as new. Tympanopleura is distinguished from Ageneiosus by having an enlarged gas bladder not strongly encapsulated in bone; a prominent pseudotympanum consisting of an area on the side of the body devoid of epaxial musculature where the gas bladder contacts the internal coelomic wall; short, blunt head without greatly elongated jaws; and smaller adult body size. Species of Tympanopleura are distinguished from each other on the basis of unique meristic, morphometric, and pigmentation differences. Ageneiosus melanopogon and Tympanopleura nigricollis are junior synonyms of Tympanopleura atronasus. Tympanopleura alta is a junior synonym of Tympanopleura brevis. A lectotype is designated for T. brevis. Ageneiosus madeirensis is a junior synonym of Tympanopleura rondoni. Tympanopleura atronasus, T. brevis, T. longipinna, and T. rondoni are relatively widespread in the middle and upper Amazon River basin. Tympanopleura cryptica is described from relatively few specimens collected in the upper portion of the Amazon River basin in Peru and the middle portion of that basin in Brazil. Tympanopleura piperata is distributed in the upper and middle Amazon River basin, as well as in the Essequibo River drainage of Guyana

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost