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Dietary overlap and selectivity among mountain steppe river fish in the United States and Mongolia

Minder, Mario
; 
Arsenault, Emily R.
; 
Pyron, Mark
; 
Otgonganbat, Amarbat
; 
Mendsaikhan, Bud
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Abstract
Lotic systems in mountain regions have historically provided secure habitat for native fish populations because of their relative isolation from human settlement and lack of upstream disturbances. However, rivers of mountain ecoregions are currently experiencing heightened levels of disturbance due to the introduction of nonnative species impacting endemic fishes in these areas. We compared the fish assemblages and diets of mountain steppe fishes of the stocked rivers in Wyoming with rivers in northern Mongolia where stocking is absent. Using gut content analysis, we quantified the selectivity and diets of fishes collected in these systems. Nonnative species had more generalist diets with lower levels of selectivity than most native species and native species had high levels of dietary specificity and selectivity. High abundances of nonnative species and high levels of dietary overlaps in our Wyoming sites is a cause of concern for native Cutthroat Trout and overall system stability. In contrast, fish assemblages characterizing Mongolia mountain steppe rivers were composed of only native species with diverse diets and higher selectivity values, suggesting low probability for interspecific competition.
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Date
2023-05-21
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Publisher
Wiley Open Access
Collections
Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research Scholarly Works
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Minder_2023.pdf
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Keywords
Diet, Invasive, Mountain steppe, Overlap, Selectivity
Citation
Minder, M., Arsenault, E. R., Pyron, M., Otgonganbat, A., & Mendsaikhan, B. (2023). Dietary overlap and selectivity among mountain steppe river fish in the United States and Mongolia. Ecology and Evolution, 13, e10132. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10132
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1808/34335
DOI
10.1002/ece3.10132
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