Fish and aquatic habitat conservation in South America

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tion in South America for a Journal of Fish Biology special issue on the ... South American aquatic ecosystems, with a long list of causes, including damming.
Journal of Fish Biology (2016) 89, 1–3 doi:10.1111/jfb.13032, available online at wileyonlinelibrary.com

EDITORIAL Fish and aquatic habitat conservation in South America The origins of this special issue date back to 2009, when a group of South American fish scientists united to prepare a manuscript on Fish and aquatic habitat conservation in South America for a Journal of Fish Biology special issue on the conservation of fishes (Vol. 76, Number 9, June 2010). At that time, 18 co-authors from different regions and backgrounds produced a paper that highlighted their main concerns about fishes, fisheries and fish habitat conservation in South America (Barletta et al., 2010). In this review, authors provided a diagnostic overview of the problems facing the conservation of the fishes of South America, which once had the highest diversity of fish species in the world. Habitat loss emerged as the greatest concern for all South American aquatic ecosystems, with a long list of causes, including damming of rivers, deforestation, pollution, mining and poor agricultural practices, characterized by unsustainable development models. The decrease in number and diversity of fishes is more than a conservation issue; South American countries are still developing and food security is of equally great concern (Craig, 2016; Crosetti & Blaber, 2016). Declining fisheries therefore have serious economic and social consequences. Most of the conservation problems, including those of the main river basins, their estuaries and marine coastal and open waters need to be addressed on a multinational basis; harmonized management of trans-boundary waters is a necessity. Unfortunately, due to deeply rooted governance issues, fisheries management is generally inadequate to meet these challenges, and the authors concluded that change in the regional conservation paradigm is required, involving integrated research and management (Barletta et al., 2010). After meetings at a number of international conferences across the continent, a symposium entitled Fish and Aquatic Habitat Conservation in South America was convened during the XXI Brazilian Ichthyology Meeting in Recife (Brazil) in 2015. The present special issue of Journal of Fish Biology contains 65 papers (31 freshwater, 18 estuarine and 16 marine) on South American fishes, their habitats and conservation, mainly from the Recife symposium. The biomes and ecosystems analysed by Barletta et al. (2010, 2016) are now analysed in greater depth and with updated details. This collection of papers, written by over 200 authors, contains a number of significant reviews, including an overview of fish biodiversity and conservation in South America (Reis et al., 2016) and a discussion of special challenges in South America (Costa & Barletta, 2016). In relation to fresh waters, Jimenez-Segura et al. (2016) review the situation in the Caribbean area of the continent, Lopez-Casas et al. (2016) the Magdelena Basin and Lasso et al. (2016) the Orinoco Basin. In the southern part of the continent, the situation in Patagonia is described by Cussac et al. (2016) and in the Patos Lagoon by Fontoura et al. (2016). Invasions of South American fresh waters by exotic species are reviewed by Weyl et al. (2016) for Clarias gariepinus and 1 © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles

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by Crichigno et al. (2016) for Cyprinus carpio. An overview of estuarine fish research in South America is provided by Blaber & Barletta (2016) and the situation in the La Plata Estuary is reviewed in detail by Jaureguizar et al. (2016), while Saint-Paul & Schneider (2016) describe the role of Brazilian-German collaborative research in the mangrove areas of northern Brazil. In addition, a number of scientists have expressed, in letters to the community, their opinions and experiences in relation to conservation and management of freshwater basins such as the Magdalena, Orinoco, Amazon, São Francisco, Paraná, Andean Piedmont, as well as Caribbean and Patagonian estuaries and coastal lagoons (Casimiro et al., 2016; Habit & Cussac, 2016; Machado-Allison, 2016; Val et al., 2016). All these studies reinforce the need to adopt the potentially more effective conservation strategies already highlighted in Barletta et al. (2010, 2016). In addition to the important alternative management practices proposed in many of the present papers, it is hoped that this special issue will increase public awareness of the continuing reduction in numbers and diversity of fishes and their habitat loss across South America. M. Barletta Guest Editor S. J. M. Blaber Guest & Associate Editor J. F. Craig Editor-in-Chief

References Barletta, M., Jaureguizar, A. J., Baigun, C., Fontoura, N. F., Agostinho, A. A., Almeida-Val, V. M. F., Val, A. L., Torres, R. A., Jimenez-Segura, L. F., Giarrizzo, T., Fabré, N. N., Batista, V. S., Lasso, C., Taphorn, D. C., Costa, M. F., Chaves, P. T., Vieira, J. P. & Correa, M. F. M. (2010). Fish and aquatic habitat conservation in South America: a continental overview with emphasis on Neotropical systems. Journal of Fish Biology 76, 2118–2176. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02684.x Barletta, M., Cussac, V. E., Agostinho, A. A., Baigun, C., Okada, E. K., Cattella, A. C., Fontoura, N. F., Pompeu, P. S., Jimenez-Segura, L. F., Batista, V. S., Lasso, C. A., Taphorn, D. & Fabré, N. N. (2016). Fisheries ecology in South American river basins. In Freshwater Fisheries Ecology (Craig, J., ed), pp. 311–348. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Blaber, S. J. M. & Barletta, M. (2016). A review of estuarine fish research in South America: what has been achieved and what is the future for sustainability and conservation? Journal of Fish Biology 89, 537–568. Casimiro, A. C. R., Garcia, D. A. Z., Vidotto-Magnoni, A. P., Vitule, J. R. S. & Orsi, M. L. (2016). Biodiversity: is there light for native fish assemblages at the end of the Anthropocene tunnel? Journal of Fish Biology 89, 48–49. Costa, M. F. & Barletta, M. (2016). Special challenges in the conservation of fishes and aquatic environments of South America. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 4–11. Craig, J. F. (Ed) (2016). Freshwater Fisheries Ecology. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. Crichigno, S., Cordero, P., Blasetti, G. & Cussac, V. (2016). Dispersion of the invasive common carp Cyprinus carpio (L. 1758) in southern South America: changes and expectations, westward and southward. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 403–416. Crosetti, D. & Blaber, S. J. M. (Eds) (2016). Biology, Ecology and Culture of Grey Mullet (Mugilidae). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

© 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles, Journal of Fish Biology 2016, 89, 1–3

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Cussac, V. E., Habit, E., Ciancio, J., Battini, M. A., Riva Rossi, C., Barriga, J. P., Baigún, C. & Crichigno, S. (2016). Freshwater fishes of Patagonia: conservation and fisheries. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 1068–1097. Fontoura, N. F., Vieira, J. P., Becker, F. G., Rodrigues, L. R., Malabarba, L. R., Schulz, U. H., Möller, O. O., Garcia, A. M. & Vilella, F. S. (2016). Aspects of fish conservation in the upper Patos Lagoon basin. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 315–336. Habit, E. & Cussac, V. (2016). Conservation of the freshwater fauna of Patagonia: an alert to the urgent need for integrated management and sustainable development. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 369–370. Jaureguizar, A. J., Solari, A. S., Cortes, F., Milessi, A. C., Militelli, M. I., Camiolo, M. D., Luz Clara, M. & García, M. (2016). Fish diversity in the Río de la Plata and adjacent waters: an overview of environmental influences on its spatial and temporal structure. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 569–600. Jimenez-Segura, L. F., Galvis-Vergara, G., Cala, P., García-Alzate, C. A., Lopez-Casas, S., Ríos-Pulgarín, M. I., Arango, G. A., Mancera-Rodríguez, N. J., Gutiérrez-Bonilla, F. & Álvarez-León, R. (2016). Freshwater fish faunas, habitats and conservation challenges in the Caribbean river basins of north-western South America. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 65–101. Lasso, C. A., Machado-Allison, A. & Taphorn, D. C. (2016). Fish and aquatic habitats of the Orinoco River Basin: diversity and conservation. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 174–191. Lopez-Casas, S., Jiménez-Segura, L. F., Agostinho, A. A. & Pérez, C. M. (2016). Potadromous migrations in the Magdalena River basin: bimodal reproductive patterns in Neotropical rivers. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 157–171. Machado-Allison, A. (2016). The conservation of aquatic ecosystems of the Orinoco River Basin. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 172–173. Reis, R. E., Albert, J. S., Di Dario, F., Mincarone, M. M., Petry, P. & Rocha, L. A. (2016). Fish biodiversity and conservation in South America. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 12–47. Saint-Paul, U. & Schneider, H. (2016). The need for a holistic approach in mangrove related fisheries research: a specific review of the German/Brazilian research project MADAM. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 601–618. Val, A. L., Fearnside, P. M. & De Almeida-Val, V. M. F. (2016). Environmental disturbances and fish in the Amazon. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 192–193. Weyl, O. L. F., Daga, V. S., Ellender, B. R. & Vitule, J. R. S. (2016). A review of Clarias gariepinus invasions in Brazil and South Africa. Journal of Fish Biology 89, 386–402.

© 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles, Journal of Fish Biology 2016, 89, 1–3