ABSTRACT
In South-America, designation of aquatic protected areas has started, and fish studies have been focusing more frequently at local rather than at river basin scale. This chapter proposes a methodology to quantify the extension of suitable habitat areas for the fish communities of AdM wetland based on hydrodynamic features. A measure related to the percentage of suitable habitat areas is proposed as a tool to explore the temporal and spatial variability of the habitat through the year for different hydrological conditions. The aim to develop a habitat suitability index is to indicate how suitable a particular area is for a determined species or group of species. The hydrological functioning of the wetland provides the base for the habitat suitability approach, given that the hydrology shapes the habitat. The chapter describes the multiple tests performed to determine the relation between water-depth, velocity and the habitat for the fish community in this tropical wetland.
