Downstream effects of hydropower production on aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages in two rivers in Costa Rica

Chaves-Ulloa, Ramsa; Umaña‐Villalobos, Gerardo; Springer, Mónika

doi:10.15517/rbt.v62i0.15787

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…La construcción de represas para la producción hidroeléctrica es una actividad que continúa en aumento en América Latina (Ramírez, Pringle & Wantzen, 2008). Los impactos en los ecosistemas lóticos y en los ensamblajes de macroinvertebrados son diversos y algunas veces no tan fuertes como se esperaría (Chaves-Ulloa, Umaña-Villalobos & Springer, 2014). Otra actividad con importantes impactos sobre los ecosistemas acuáticos es la agricultura.…”

Section: El Número Especialunclassified

Estudios sobre macroinvertebrados acuáticos en América Latina: avances recientes y direcciones futuras

Ramírez

Gutiérrez‐Fonseca

2014

RBT

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Studies on Latin American freshwater macroinvertebrates: recent advances and future directions. Latin America is an active scientific research area, in particular with respect to the study of freshwater macroinvertebrates. The present serves as an introduction to a special issue that highlights recent research projects on macroinvertebrates in Latin America. As part of this introduction, we conducted a literature analysis of the last 14 years of publications from the region that highlights the steady increase in publications on macroinvertebrates. Most studies from 2000-2013 were conducted in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Costa Rica, and were focused on taxonomy and different issues related to biodiversity and distribution. There was a tendency for the use of local low-impact journals, but high impact publications were also found. This special issue contributes with 18 studies conducted in eight different countries. Two major topics are covered in the special issue, the ecology and natural history of aquatic macroinvertebrates and their use in the evaluation of anthropogenic impacts to aquatic ecosystems. Based on the literature review and contributions included in the issue, we discuss research needs for the region. Identified needs include: (1) to continue emphasizing taxonomic research, (2) assess mechanisms responsible for changes in biodiversity, (3) assess the role of macroinvertebrates in ecosystem processes and function, (4) improve biomonitoring efforts beyond unimetric indices, (5) the need for an ecosystem perspective, and (6) establishing long-term studies. This special issue is an initial effort to advance our knowledge on freshwater macroinvertebrates in Latin America. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (Suppl. 2): 9-20. Epub 2014 April 01.

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Section: El Número Especialunclassified

Estudios sobre macroinvertebrados acuáticos en América Latina: avances recientes y direcciones futuras

Ramírez

Gutiérrez‐Fonseca

2014

RBT

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“…), and the impact of dams on river benthic invertebrate communities (Statzner et al . ; Chaves‐Ulloa, Umana‐Villalobos & Springer ). Many environmental monitoring programmes require the collection and killing of organisms due to the difficulty of identifying specimens in the field (Reynoldson & Metcalfe‐Smith ; Hawkins et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of repeated, lethal sampling on wild bee abundance and diversity

et al. 2015

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Summary1. Bee pollinators provide a critical ecosystem service to wild and agricultural plants but are reported to be declining world-wide due to anthropogenic change. Long-term data on bee abundance and diversity are scarce, and the need for additional quantitative sampling using repeatable methods has been emphasized. Recently, monitoring programmes have begun using a standardized method that employs a combination of pan traps and sweep netting, resulting in lethal sampling of bees. This standardized method can remove a large number of bees from sites during each sampling day, raising concern that the sampling itself could have a negative effect on bee populations. 2. We conducted an experiment to assess whether lethal sampling for bees using pan traps and netting affected bee abundance and diversity when done every two weeks throughout a season and over multiple years. We compared bee abundance, richness, evenness and functional group composition between sites that had been sampled every two weeks from 2009 to 2012 to similar sites not previously sampled. 3. We found that the standardized method for sampling bees, with specimens from 132 morphospecies, did not affect bee communities in terms of abundance, rarefied richness, evenness, or functional group composition. Thus, our results indicate that the bee communities we sampled are robust to such sampling efforts, despite removing an average of 2862 bees per season. 4. We discuss several explanations for why sampling did not affect bee abundance or community structure, including a density-dependent response to reduced competition for resources. 5. These results suggest that bee monitoring programmes sampling once every two weeks with pan traps and netting will not affect bee community structure. We urge researchers monitoring bees to utilize standardized protocols so that results can be compared across space and time.

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“…However, a mere reduction in flow velocity may eventually lead to either an increase or decrease in macroinvertebrate abundance (Dewson et al, 2007). This changes in hydrology and water quality causes differences in aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages between upstream and downstream of dams or weirs (Chaves-Ulloa et al, 2014;Gezie et al, 2023). This is why the differences in macroinvertebrate assemblages have the potential to indicate free-flowing and impounded stream conditions (Linares et al, 2019), and their diversity can also mimic human impacts in river ecosystems (Gezie et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of weirs in altering benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and composition structure in the Luvuvhu River Catchment, South Africa

Munzhelele,

Barnhoorn,

Addo-Bediako

et al. 2024

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Stream flow weirs disrupt river flow regimes, physical conditions, and biological composition of rivers, posing significant threat to the river’s functionality, integrity, and sustainability. Home to diverse aquatic organisms, there is a lack of impact assessment of weirs on the stream of the Luvuvhu River Catchment (LRC). The aim of this study was to examine the impact of six weirs on aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages and composition across five streams. A total of six sampling surveys on macroinvertebrates and physico-chemical parameters were conducted upstream and downstream of six weirs in 12 months between June 2021 and June 2022. The South African Scoring System score (SASS score) and Average Score per Taxon (ASPT) indices were used to compare organisms’ response between upstream and downstream of weirs. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) were used to determine the effect of physico-chemical variables on macroinvertebrate assemblage, while the CCA was employed to assess similarities between downstream and upstream sampling points across various sites. A total of 18,914 macroinvertebrate individuals were observed from 65 families during the survey. In upstream sections, the SASS score was driven by habitat integrity, electrical conductivity, and water depth, while ASPT responded significantly to habitat integrity, pH, dissolved oxygen and electrical conductivity. In the downstream sections, the SASS score increased with an increasing habitat integrity score and river width, while decreasing with elevation and pH levels. ASPT increased with increasing habitat integrity and elevation in the downstream sections, while decreasing with increasing river width and water temperature. This study’s findings suggest habitat integrity is largely driving aquatic abundance and assemblage in the LRC, and it is therefore important to maintain the ecological integrity of rivers.

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Downstream effects of hydropower production on aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages in two rivers in Costa Rica

Cited by 10 publications

References 56 publications

Estudios sobre macroinvertebrados acuáticos en América Latina: avances recientes y direcciones futuras

Estudios sobre macroinvertebrados acuáticos en América Latina: avances recientes y direcciones futuras

The effect of repeated, lethal sampling on wild bee abundance and diversity

Impact of weirs in altering benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and composition structure in the Luvuvhu River Catchment, South Africa

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