Search

This research aimed at developing a virtual reality based learning media application on the introduction of types of fish. The development of this application intended to facilitate the learning process in the kindergarten concerning on the introduction of aquatic animals, and specifically about fish. There were 10 types of saltwater fish and 10 types of freshwater fish which would be introduced to the kindergarten students. The development of this application is expected to attract children's learning enthusiasm about the types of fish in our environment. The development of this virtual reality based learning media application used ADDIE model. This ADDIE model comprises of 5 stages, namely Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. With the consideration of this model, the developed product could be finalized within fine quality. It could be achieved since this model allows the developer to perform evaluation and revision during every completed stages. The result of the user's experience testing was 89.8 %, indicating that this virtual reality based learning media application was considered as excellent. Therefore, this application could be used as a supporting media to introduce types of fish in the teaching and learning process conducted in the kindergarten, concerning on the theme of aquatic animals with the subtheme of fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A spatially based approach was used to analyse the response of fish-based metrics to human impacts in the Iberian Peninsula. A fish-based typology was established that distinguished one salmonid type (fish assemblages dominated by Salmo trutta fario L.), two mixed types ( S. trutta fario associated with different cyprinids) and six cyprinid types (dominated by different species of barbel [ Barbus spp.], nase [ Chondrostoma spp.] or chub [ Leuciscus spp.]). These types broadly correspond to different forms of ecosystem functioning, ranging from the cold, northern and high altitude sections to warmwater, lowland and southern sections. Twenty metrics were identified that responded to disturbance – four to 14 per fish type. The highest correlations were −0.795 for abundance of Squalius sp. and segment (localised) disturbance and 0.754 for abundance of limnophilic specimens and water quality disturbance. Disturbance of segment, habitat and hydrological regime yielded more metric responses in western Iberian fish types, while that of habitat and water quality gave more in north-eastern Iberian fish types. Global (catchment scale) disturbance generally gave more responsive metrics and higher correlations than partial disturbances. All guilds were represented and a number of metrics were responsive across fish types – namely native species, alien abundance, water column (natives), eurytopic and invertivorous (natives). However, several metrics were only reactive in one or a few types, such as benthic and S. trutta fario in north-western mixed fish type. Different trends in metric reaction occurred for total abundance in north-western mixed fish type, and for eurytopic and phytophilic (natives) in the north-eastern fish types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mediterranean river systems are characterised by more diverse fish assemblages and regional ecological processes compared with the rest of Europe. A data set from Mediterranean France, Iberia and Greece (∼2000 sites) was used to describe the characteristics of fish assemblages, explore their responses to anthropogenic disturbance and analyse the implications for river quality assessment. There was a southwards decline in species richness per site, but endemicity and proportion of alien species increased. Sites in the eastern Mediterranean had higher endemicity, lower site richness and lower number of alien species than sites in western Mediterranean Europe. Assemblage composition differed between Mediterranean sub-regions, but was dominated by three major fish types: a salmonid fish type common throughout the study area and two cyprinid-dominated fish types (in some sub-regions, Salmo trutta L. is present but not numerically dominant), corresponding to a gradient in hydrological and temperature regimes. Metric responses to perturbation were compared with those found at the European (larger scale) and basin (smaller scale) levels. Overall metric response was weaker in this Mediterranean application. The best responses to human pressure were usually obtained with abundance-based metrics and included the contribution of naturalised alien species. Some widespread alien species contributed to the response to anthropogenic alteration (notably Cyprinus carpio L. and Lepomis gibbosus (L.)). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]