International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies
2015, Vol. 2, Issue 4, Part B
Resource partitioning as determining factor in structuring fish diversity pattern along ecological gradient of River Teesta in Eastern Himalaya
Author(s): Munmun Chakrabarty, Sumit Homechaudhuri
Abstract: Dietary niche breadth, spatial changes in the diet and analysis of interspecific niche overlap of ninety-two species from four different ecological zones along the longitudinal gradient of River Teesta in West Bengal were studied from December, 2010 to November, 2013. We observed mean niche breadth values to be consistently low (0-0.39) and niche overlap values to be high (0.61-1.0) at most of the zones. High niche overlap tends to reflect intense competition for shared resources which might tend to a strong driving force for fish assemblage pattern and species sorting and survival in nature. However, on analysis of cooccurrence, its low value implied that the fish community is not competitively structured based on their diet intake. Although majority of the species utilize the same resource (aquatic invertebrates), competition apparently did not the main structuring force within the studied fish assemblage in this river which might be attributed to continuous resource replenishment.
Pages: 74-80 | 1405 Views 86 DownloadsDownload Full Article: Click Here
How to cite this article:
Munmun Chakrabarty, Sumit Homechaudhuri. Resource partitioning as determining factor in structuring fish diversity pattern along ecological gradient of River Teesta in Eastern Himalaya. Int J Fish Aquat Stud 2015;2(4):74-80.
