Assessment of Biodiversity Pattern in Freshwater Fish Communities of the Urmia Lake Basin: A Bioclimatic Perspective

Document Type : scientific research article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Graduate of Fisheries Science and Engineering, Dept. of Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Corresponding Author, Professor, Dept. of Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 Associate Prof., Dept. of Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Freshwater ecosystems play a crucial role in ecological regulation and biodiversity conservation on Earth. Freshwater fish, after amphibians, are the most endangered group of vertebrates. Freshwater fish communities are influenced by various bio-climatic parameters. The aim of this article is to use dual principal coordinate analysis to investigate the relationship between biodiversity of freshwater fish communities in the Lake Urmia basin and bio-climatic parameters. Functional traits of species were also included in this analysis. To conduct this study, fish presence data, including genus, species, and geographic coordinates, were recorded in rivers of the Urmia basin, and duplicate data were removed based on longitude, latitude, and species. Bio-climatic variables were obtained from the Bioclim website. Bio-climatic variables with high Pearson correlation were removed. This study showed that fish species are distributed similarly along gradients of bio-climatic parameters, and their distribution is independent of their functional traits. Therefore, bio-climatic parameters have a negligible impact on the distribution of fish in the Lake Urmia basin, and the parameters present in the Urmia watershed are responsible for the distribution of fish in this region.

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References

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Journal of Utilization and Cultivation of Aquatics
Volume 14, Issue 3
September 2025
Pages 73-89

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