Abstract:
Wetlands have many ecological functions, such as water conservation, flood control and species diversity conservation. With the rapid development of the local society and economy, the wetland ecosystem in Tibet Autonomous Region is under the influence of human activities. We used a combination of gill nets and plastic cages to conduct fish surveys in Lhalu and Chabalang wetlands from 2019 to 2021. We collected 10 non-native fishes belonging to 4 orders, 5 families, including
Carassius auratus,
Pseudorasbora parva,
Cyprinus carpio,
Tinca tinca,
Abbottina rivularis,
Misgurnus anguillicaudatus,
Paramisgurnus dabryanus,
Silurus asotus,
Micropercops swinhonis and
Oryzias sinensis. The nonnative species were mainly composed of fishes with small sizes (e.g.
C. auratus and
P. parva), and accounted for 94.86% and 70.71% of total catches by the individual and weight, respectively. Based on the index of relative importance (
IRI),
C. auratus,
P. parva,
P. dabryanus and
C. carpio were non-native fish dominant species in Lhalu Wetland, and
C. auratus,
P. parva and
M. swinhonis were non-native fish dominant species in Chabalang Wetland. The richness, abundance, biomass and functional diversity index of non-native fishes were higher than those of native fishes in both Lhalu Wetland and Chabalang Wetland. Combined with historical data, 12 non-native fish species have been recorded in Lhalu Wetland and Chabalang Wetland, including 6 species at high risk of invasion. Meanwhile, the number of non-native fish species has increased from 2 to 10, and
T. tinca and
O. sinensis were firstly collected from natural waters in Tibet Autonomous Region and Chabalang Wetland, respectively. In addition, non-native fish species in the two wetlands were all common economic fish and attached fish in the market in Lhasa City, which were released into the natural waters by humans. At present, the natural populations of
C. auratus,
P. dabryanus and
P. parva have been established. The scientific management of fish releases and long-term monitoring of non-native fishes should be urgently carried out to prevent the invasion of non-native fish species and protect the biodiversity in plateau wetlands.