Evaluation of Environmental and Ecological Impacts of the Leading Large-Scale Reservoir on the Upper Reaches of the Yellow River

Abstract

Large-scale reservoirs have played a significant role in meeting various water demands and socio-economic development, while they also lead to undeniable impacts on the environment and ecology. The Longyangxia reservoir located on the Yellow River is the first large-scale reservoir on the upper Yellow River with a control area of 18% of the entire Yellow River Basin. Since it was put into operation in 1987, it has made great contributions to the national economy for over 30 years. In this study, the socio-economic benefits of the Longyangxia reservoir in power generation, water supply, flood control, and ice prevention are investigated. More importantly, its impacts on the ecology and environment are also presented and analyzed, such as the impacts on river morphology, flow regimes, peak flow, fish, phytoplankton, and zooplankton. It can be concluded that the construction of the Longyangxia reservoir contributes greatly to socio-economic benefits, the water area nearby has formed a new ecological environment, and the trophic level of the aquatic environment has probably increased.

Hydrodynamics Regulate Longitudinal Plankton Community Structure in an Alpine Cascade Reservoir System

“…The catches of the current survey and previous studies indicated a low top–down control. Previous studies report low fish species number and fish biomass with very limited planktivorous fishes in alpine cascade reservoirs ( Tang and He, 2013 ; Wang H. et al, 2016 ; Qiu et al, 2019 ). Analysis of the biomass, abundance, and distribution of the catches showed that Hypomesus olidus , Gymnocypris eckloni Herzensten, Triplophysa scleroptera , and Schizopygopsis pylzovi Kessler were the most dominant species ( Tang and He, 2013 ; Qiu et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Previous studies report low fish species number and fish biomass with very limited planktivorous fishes in alpine cascade reservoirs ( Tang and He, 2013 ; Wang H. et al, 2016 ; Qiu et al, 2019 ). Analysis of the biomass, abundance, and distribution of the catches showed that Hypomesus olidus , Gymnocypris eckloni Herzensten, Triplophysa scleroptera , and Schizopygopsis pylzovi Kessler were the most dominant species ( Tang and He, 2013 ; Qiu et al, 2019 ). The dominant taxa, including Schizothorax and Triplophysa in the studied cascade reservoir system, were mainly omnivorous fish.…”

“…Plankton samples were collected for 5 years in the cascade reservoirs, to ensure that the study data were systematic for reliable conclusions. Phytoplankton species composition in the alpine cascade reservoirs showed a dominant Bacillariophyta–Chlorophyta pattern ( Qiu et al, 2019 ). Bacillariophyta is dominant at low temperature ( Schabhüttl et al, 2013 ) and high turbulence ( Harris and Baxter, 1996 ) riverine waters ( Reynolds et al, 2002 ; Beaver et al, 2013 ).…”

Identification of Degradation Areas of Ecological Environment and Degradation Intensity Assessment in the Yellow River Basin

“…The construction of reservoirs not only brings huge social and economic benefits to the YRB in terms of water storage, power generation, flood control and irrigation, but also can change the fluvial morphology and the spatial-temporal distribution of water resources. This directly or indirectly affects the ecological environment (Qiu et al, 2019). Reservoir dispatch management has important practical significance for further improving the ecological health of the YRB (Bai et al, 2020).…”