Drivers of native fish diversity across multiple spatial scales: Implications for conservation in the Western Ghats, India
Understanding the impacts of anthropogenic alterations on riverine ecosystems is of prime importance to ecologists and conservationists. At various spatial scales, there is growing evidence for changes in fish community organization and distribution with hydrological variations and pollution. However, such a systematic evaluation is lacking for an important biodiversity hotspot- the Western Ghats. My doctoral research attempts to address these concerns in four sub-basins (Malaprabha, Mhadei, Tunga and Bhadra) of the Western Ghats through three broad research questions: (1) What is the pattern of fish species diversity in these sub-basins, and (2) How does guild richness and species composition vary across regulated and unregulated river basins; and (3) What is the potential for species recovery downstream of hydrological barriers?