Why fish need many and “messy” nurseries

Copyright: Solvin Zankl

New paper out: Why fish need many and “messy” nurseries

Diverse and well-connected habitats in floodplains are essential for maintaining or restoring stable fish communities and high species diversity. This is the result of a study by researchers from Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands and the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). They analysed the habitat use of larval and juvenile fishes in the lower river Rhine by collecting data on more than 1.4 million larvae and young fish in 18 restored floodplains. More than 60 per cent of the fish species switched between five different habitat types during their development, which should be available both in the river and connected floodplains. However, human intervention has drastically altered and homogenised the European river landscapes. The “positive mess“ and diversity should therefore be restored in the nursery areas, according to the researchers.

here is the article: https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lno.12797