Changes in river water quality caused by a diversion hydropower dam bordering the Pantanal floodplain

Fantin-Cruz, Ibraim; Pedrollo, Olavo Correa; Girard, Pierre; Zeilhofer, Peter; Hamilton, Stephen K.

doi:10.1007/s10750-015-2550-4

Cited by 44 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The environmental homogenisation reported by several studies on different tropical floodplains (Agostinho et al, 2008Fantin-Cruz, Pedrollo, Girard, Zeilhofer, & Hamilton, 2016;Roberto et al, 2009;Suzuki et al, 2009;Vitorino Jr., Fernandes, Agostinho, & Pelicice, 2016;Zuijdgeest et al, 2015) was corroborated by both our PCA results and SD values for each variable. The environmental variation found among lakes associated with the preserved river (Ivinhema) was higher than that found among lakes associated with the dammed river (Paran a).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Effects of dams decrease zooplankton functional β‐diversity in river‐associated lakes

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In river–floodplain systems, the construction of dams causes environmental changes in the natural dynamics of rivers and the associated wetlands, which can affect both the taxonomic and functional composition of communities, and, consequently, ecosystem functioning. We evaluated zooplankton taxonomic and functional β‐diversity in sets of lakes associated with a preserved and a dammed river in a Neotropical floodplain. We expected that both β‐diversity measures would be lower in lakes associated with a dammed river than in lakes associated with a preserved river. β‐Diversity was partitioned into turnover and nestedness components, through multiple‐site dissimilarity measures, and compared with expected null models. We expected that nestedness would be more important for both the β‐diversity measures in lakes associated with the dammed river, whereas species and trait turnover would be more important in lakes associated with the preserved river. Functional β‐diversity was higher among lakes of the preserved river than of the dammed river, while taxonomic β‐diversity was not different between the rivers. Contributions of turnover and nestedness components were similar in the preserved river, whereas that of nestedness was higher in the dammed river, revealing the loss of extreme trait combinations from the functional space. Comparisons between observed and expected β‐diversity revealed a higher trait turnover than would be expected by species turnover in the preserved river, and no differences from the null models were observed in lakes associated with the dammed river. Our results suggest that dissimilarity in trait composition is influenced more by environmental changes associated with river damming than by dissimilarity in species composition such that a functional homogenisation occurs without a change in taxonomic β‐diversity. We propose the maintenance of preserved tributaries in floodplains, which sustain environmental heterogeneity, primarily if the nearby environments are already dammed. Furthermore, we reinforce the necessity of a pluralistic approach, considering both taxonomic and functional aspects of biodiversity in ecosystem management.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Effects of dams decrease zooplankton functional β‐diversity in river‐associated lakes

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Diversion designs that operate in approximate run‐of‐river mode are most common. Their main ecological impacts may be fragmentation of fish migration routes and localized habitat loss; preliminary studies indicate that the magnitudes of water quality changes are small (Fantin‐Cruz, Pedrollo, Girard, Zeilhofer, & Hamilton, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicted impacts of proposed hydroelectric facilities on fish migration routes upstream from the Pantanal wetland (Brazil)

Campos

Tritico

Girard

et al. 2020

River Research & Apps

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There are 104 hydroelectric facilities proposed to be installed in the watersheds that feed the Pantanal, a vast floodplain wetland located mostly in Brazil. The Pantanal is host to 23 long‐distance migratory fish species that ascend upland tributaries to spawn. A Geographic Information System was used to predict the impact of hydroelectric dams on potential migration routes for these species. Both anthropogenic (hydroelectric dams) and natural barriers were included in the analysis. Natural barriers were identified by river slope. Critical river slopes of 10 and 25%, above which fish were predicted to be incapable of ascending, were modeled as natural barriers. Based on this model, we show that between 2 and 14% of rivers in the Pantanal watershed are naturally blocked to fish migration. An additional 5 to 9% of rivers are currently blocked due to 35 existing hydroelectric facilities. If all proposed dams are built, the area flooded by new reservoirs will triple and the river kilometers blocked will double, blocking 25 to 32% of the river system to fish migration. The Taquari and Cuiabá River sub‐basins will be the most impacted, each having more than 70% of their rivers blocked. The impact of individual proposed facilities on the loss of migration routes is related to their proximity to existing barriers. Fourteen of the proposed dams are upstream from existing barriers and will therefore not further restrict long‐distance fish migration routes while proposed dams are predicted to close an additional 11,000 to 12,000 km of river channels.

show abstract

“…There is, therefore, a pressing need to investigate the cumulative ecohydrological impacts of hydroelectric dams and to find out how these types of dams can be better managed or constructed to reduce their negative effects (FANTIN-CRUZ et al, 2015b), especially when located upstream of floodplains; there has so far been little work with this focus on Pantanal tributaries (FANTIN-CRUZ et al, 2015a,b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cumulative changes in water quality caused by six cascading hydroelectric dams on the Jauru River, tributary of the Pantanal floodplain

Silva

Fantin-Cruz

Lima

et al. 2019

RBRH

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study examines the individual and cumulative environmental effects of the six cascading hydroelectric dams currently in operation on in the Jauru River, a direct tributary of the Paraguay River, the main river in the Pantanal, as well as presenting a general characterization of water quality in the Jauru River. Water quality was evaluated at eight sites along the longitudinal gradient of the Jauru River. A total of 339 water quality samples from between 1990 and 2013 were considered, including 72 samples collected prior to the installation of Hydropower plants, treated as natural, and 267 samples, treated as altered . Statistica 7 software was used for statistical treatment and for the Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test; squared Pearson correlation (coefficient of determination, R 2) was also applied to evaluated the relationship between the morphological and hydraulic parameters of each reservoir and cumulatively, with the rate of change of water quality parameters in three stretches of the Jauru River. The water quality of the Jauru River in general was characterized by low concentrations of electrolytes and slightly acidic pH, oligotrophy, reduced values of color, turbidity and solids and good oxygenation. While these general conditions were maintained over the two phases studied, we verified the occurrence of change in the pattern of variation of the physical and chemical conditions evaluated, mainly between the second and the fifth hydroelectric reservoir. This change, which implies discontinuity in the longitudinal gradient, was indicated by nine out of the twelve parameters measured in this stretch of the Jauru River, downstream of each individual reservoir and/or cumulatively. The constructive characteristics of the hydropower plants, especially water inlet height, water retention time and flooded area, as well as the proximity between two or more impoundments, are factors that influenced the observed changes, which are important aspects in the processes of environmental licensing for these future plants, or even, in some cases, to avoid them from being built at all as planned. This research also indicated the need for studies that consider the basin in an integrated way, and for the collection of more consistent data before these impoundments are implemented.

show abstract

Changes in river water quality caused by a diversion hydropower dam bordering the Pantanal floodplain

Cited by 44 publications

References 49 publications

Effects of dams decrease zooplankton functional β‐diversity in river‐associated lakes

Effects of dams decrease zooplankton functional β‐diversity in river‐associated lakes

Predicted impacts of proposed hydroelectric facilities on fish migration routes upstream from the Pantanal wetland (Brazil)

Cumulative changes in water quality caused by six cascading hydroelectric dams on the Jauru River, tributary of the Pantanal floodplain

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About