Biodiversity and the Three Gorges Reservoir: a troubled marriage

López‐Pujol, Jordi; Ren, Ming‐Xun

doi:10.1080/00222930903220010

Cited by 30 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…The effects of individual dams on fish diversity have been studied extensively and are now relatively well understood (López-Pujol and Ren 2009;Young et al 2011;Azami et al 2012). Nevertheless, economic growth in many regions of the world is spurring demand for renewable energy sources, leading to the construction of many additional hydroelectric dams.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential effects of dam cascade on fish: lessons from the Yangtze River

Cheng

Castello

et al. 2015

Rev Fish Biol Fisheries

132

100

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Construction of hydroelectric dams affect river ecosystems, fish diversity, and fisheries yields. However, there are no studies assessing the combined effects on fish caused by several adjacent dams and their reservoirs, as in a 'dam cascade'. This study predicts the potential effects that a cascade of ten dams currently under construction in the upper Yangtze River in China will have on local fishes, and uses such predictions to assess the effectiveness of possible fish conservation measures. We found that the dam cascade will have serious combined effects on fishes mainly due to impoundment, habitat fragmentation and blocking, flow regime modification, and hypolimnetic discharges. The impoundments will cause loss of critical habitats for 46 endemic species. The dams will fragment the populations of 134 species and will block migration routes for 35 potamodromous fishes.Corieus guichenoti will have a high risk of extinction due to the combined effects of impoundment and blocking. Modification of the flow regime will adversely affect the recruitment of 26 species that produce drifting eggs. The start of annual spawning for 13 fishes will be postponed by more than 1 month, and fish spawning and growth opportunities will be reduced due to low water temperatures associated with hypolimnetic discharges. Combined dam effects will further reduce the likelihood of successful recruitment of some endangered species, such as Acipenser dabryanus and Psephurus gladius. Three countermeasures hold promise to mitigate the nearterm effects of the dam cascade, including preservation and rehabilitation of critical habitat, restoration of a semi-natural flow regime, and stock enhancement that respects genetic integrity. These conclusions can guide the development of protection plans for fishes in the upper Yangtze River. The approach undertaken in this study-by which the known and likely effects of present and future dams were simultaneously Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11160-015-9395-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. 123Rev Fish Biol Fisheries (2015) 25:569-585 DOI 10.1007 considered in light of the biology of the specieshighlights the usefulness of ichthyology for fish conservation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential effects of dam cascade on fish: lessons from the Yangtze River

Cheng

Castello

et al. 2015

Rev Fish Biol Fisheries

132

100

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“…Although the aquatic ecosystem was greatly changed, negative impacts on the terrestrial biodiversity had also been observed, such as the degeneration and loss of floodplains and riparian wetlands and the regression of river deltas (López‐Pujol & Ren, ). For example, changed flow regimes provided more beneficial conditions for exotic plants and resulted in the extinction of native plants in the TGD area (Chen et al, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the flow regimes associated with climate change and human activities in the Yangtze River

Cheng

Fan

et al. 2019

River Research & Apps

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Hydrologic regimes are increasingly altered under the impacts of climate change and human activities. Streamflow data from 1960 to 2014 were analysed to investigate changes in the flow regimes in the Yangtze River using multiple hydrologic metrics and the Budyko framework. The long-term data were separated into two periods: the preimpact period and the postimpact period (2003-2014), according to the year the Three Gorges Dam began operation. The results showed that both indicators of hydrologic alteration and ecoflow metrics were clearly altered. The highly changed indicators included flow in February, annual minimum 1-, 3-, 7-, 30-, and 90-day flows, base flow index, date of annual minimum flow, and low pulse duration. The integrated degree of hydrologic alteration ranged from 41% to 61%, indicating a moderate alteration of the flow regimes in the Yangtze River. The regulation of the Three Gorges Dam increased low flow and weakened peak flow, which resulted in autumn ecodeficit and winter ecosurplus increasing dramatically since the 2000s. The ecoflow metrics were more sensitive to precipitation than to potential evapotranspiration. The joint effects of human activities and climate change varied among the river reaches in the different decades. The streamflow was mainly affected by human activities in the upper reach during the 1970s-1990s, with a contribution ratio ranging from 63% to 77%. Climate change shifted to a major contributor in the middle and lower reaches since the 1980s as well as in the upper reach in 2000-2014, accounting for 50-82% of the streamflow changes. These different responses were primarily caused by the variations of precipitation and intensive human activities, particularly the rapid growth of reservoirs and other large projects since the 1970s in the upper Yangtze River. These results provide interesting insights into the spatio-temporal hydrologic alteration across the Yangtze River.

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“…Previous studies have focused on the environmental and ecological impacts of specific projects; e.g., impacts of the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Project (TGHP) on ecological processes and biodiversity (Wu et al, 2003(Wu et al, , 2004Xie et al, 2003;Lopez-Pujol and Ren, 2009), environmental and ecological effects of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) (Zhang, 2009). However, there are three shortcomings in the most recent EIA reports.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Environmental Impact Assessment for Non-natural Reserve Areas: A Case Study of the Chaishitan Water Conservancy Project on Land Use and Plant Diversity in Yunnan, China

et al. 2017

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Environmental impact assessment (EIA) before and after the establishment of a Water Conservancy Project (WCP) is of great theoretical and practical importance for assessing the effectiveness of ecological restoration efforts. WCPs rehabilitate flood-damaged areas or other regions hit by disasters by controlling and redistributing surface water and groundwater. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Composite Evaluation Index (CEI) in predictive modeling, we studied the degree to which a WCP could change land use, plant communities, and species diversity in Yunnan, China. Via modeling, we quantified likely landscape pattern changes and linked them to naturality (i.e., the percentage of secondary vegetation types), diversity, and stability together with the human interferences (e.g., conservation or restoration project) of an ecosystem. The value of each index was determined by the evaluation system, and the weight percentage was decided through Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). We found that minor land-use changes would occur after the Chaishitan WCP was theoretically established. The greatest decline was farmland (0.079%), followed by forest (0.066%), with the least decline in water bodies (0.020%). We found 1,076 vascular plant species (including subspecies, varieties and form) belonging to 165 families and 647 genera in Chaishitan irrigation area before the water conservancy establishment. The naturality and diversity decreased 11.18 and 10.16% respectively. The CEI was 0.92, which indicated that Chaishitan WCP will enhance local landscape heterogeneity, and it will not deteriorate local ecological quality. Our study proposes a comprehensive ecological evaluation system for this WCP and further suggests the importance of including the ecological and environmental consequences of the WCP, along with the well-established socioeconomic Zhu et al. Water Conservancy Project Impact Assessment evaluation systems for non-natural reserve areas. We conclude that the Chaishitan WCP will have minor environmental impacts on the local landscape and plant diversity. Furthermore, the irrigation project will provide sufficient water once established, which will enrich local plant diversity; therefore, we support its construction.

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Biodiversity and the Three Gorges Reservoir: a troubled marriage

Cited by 30 publications

References 67 publications

Potential effects of dam cascade on fish: lessons from the Yangtze River

Potential effects of dam cascade on fish: lessons from the Yangtze River

Changes in the flow regimes associated with climate change and human activities in the Yangtze River

Systematic Environmental Impact Assessment for Non-natural Reserve Areas: A Case Study of the Chaishitan Water Conservancy Project on Land Use and Plant Diversity in Yunnan, China

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