Amazon floodplain hydrology and implications for aquatic conservation

1. The amplitude, duration, frequency, and predictability of runoff and inundation of aquatic habitats are key hydrological characteristics linked to aquatic ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, but they are seldom integrated into analyses of Amazon floodplain ecology. Remote sensing approaches, measurements and modelling of floodplain hydrology provide a basis for this integration.
2. Effective legislation to protect floodplains and other wetlands depends on operational definitions that require application of hydrological data.
3. Extent and changes of flooded areas are linked to fish diversity and to presence and growth of flooded forests and floating plants.
4. Dam construction reduces river system connectivity and modifies the flood pulse, with major negative implications for floodplain ecosystems adapted to and dependent on a natural flood regime.
5. Trends and variability in climate plus deforestation are altering the Amazon's hydrological cycle, causing changes in discharge and flooded area with concomitant ecological impacts.

     

Big impacts from small abstractions: The effects of surface water abstraction on freshwater fish assemblages

1. Abstractions and diversions are prevalent in river networks worldwide; however, specific mechanisms and measures reflecting changes in functional characteristics of aquatic assemblages in response to flow abstraction have not been well established. In particular, the influence of small takes on fish assemblages is poorly understood.
2. Field surveys and stable‐isotope analyses were used to evaluate the impact of differing levels of flow abstraction on fish assemblage structure, and native–non‐native patterns of coexistence, associated with small surface water abstractions in four streams in New Zealand. Study design accounted for longitudinal processes (spatial autocorrelation) to isolate the effects of abstractions on fish assemblages.
3. Reaches with reduced flows downstream of abstraction points had significantly lower fish abundances per metre of stream length, probably because of decreased habitat size, altered interspecific interactions and barriers to movement. The loss of larger fish in reaches with high abstraction resulted in shallower mass–abundance slopes and shorter stable isotope‐derived food‐chain lengths, likely to have been caused by fewer trophic links in the food web. The large fish absent from these reaches were flow‐sensitive introduced salmonids, resulting in higher relative abundances of small‐bodied native fish, probably as a result of predatory and competitive release.
4. Quantification of metrics designed to characterize ecosystem functioning as well as abundance and species composition indicated that small water abstractions can alter both the structure and composition of stream fish assemblages and modify the outcomes of native–non‐native species interactions. Thus, a better understanding of the effects of small abstractions could be used to improve the strategic management of fish in invaded riverscapes.

     

基于GIS的水文生态空间数据库及管理系统研发

为了解决水文生态空间数据的海量存储、时空一体化管理问题,探讨GIS在自动化、标准化和可视化的数据管理与服务平台构建中的作用,提高水文生态空间数据管理、分析能力和工作效率。以干旱区新疆石河子垦区为例,针对基础空间数据和水文生态专题数据,从数据的分类组织、数据库系统的总体结构、建库技术流程和数据集成方法等方面,探讨了水文生态空间数据库的设计思想及关键技术,构建了基于ArcGIS Geodatabase的石河子垦区水文生态空间数据库。运用系统工程理论,对水文生态空间数据库管理系统的总体结构和系统功能进行了设计,开发了基于ArcGIS Engine的水文生态空间数据库管理系统,实现了水文生态空间数据的数据库管理、数据预处理、数据浏览、数据服务和安全维护功能,为干旱区水文生态及水安全评价提供了一体化的数据支撑服务平台。研究表明,通过构建以GIS为核心的水文生态空间数据库及管理系统,实现了水文生态研究中属性数据和空间数据自动化、标准化和可视化的海量存储和统一管理,增强了水文生态空间数据管理与分析能力,提高了水文生态研究的工作效率。     

Conservation value of waterfalls as habitat for lotic insects of western Victoria,Australia

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论水文生态学的建立及其历史使命

通过水文生态学的背景及过程,给出了水文生态的内涵和定义,水文生态学就是研究水文和生态相互关系及其形成各种水文生态系统的科学。对水文生态作了论述,认为水文生态实际上表现为水文生态系统,它是由水文系统和生态系统耦合而成。生态要素中必然包含着水,水文系统必然影响和伴随着相应的生态系统,生态系统的变化也必然影响水文系统,2个系统相互影响,相互依存,从而启示人们在认识和揭示生态问题时不应忘记水文作用,而在研究和揭示水文问题时也必须考虑相应的生态条件。以灌区、梯田和绿洲为例,进一步论述了不同水文和生态条件下的水文生态系统。水文生态学将以生态学、水文学、河流学、湖泊学、水文地质学、水工建筑学、农田水利学等为基础而获得发展,从而推动人类认识自然的新飞跃,推进水利建设和生态建设的新发展。     

利用浮游动物评价不同类型养殖水体营养状况

2008年8月对湖南省常德市6种不同养殖类型水体(三角帆蚌养殖水体、外河、粗放式养殖水体、滤食性鱼类养殖水体、草食性鱼类养殖水体、肉食性鱼类养殖水体)的浮游动物进行了调查.结果显示:三角帆蚌养殖水体和滤食性养殖水体中优势种为砂壳虫(Difflugia),草食性鱼类养殖水体和肉食性鱼类养殖水体中优势种为萼花臂尾轮虫(Br...     

Integrating climate–hydrology–ecology for alpine river systems

• 1. High climatic sensitivity and lack of significant human impact make alpine river basins important environments for examining hydrological and ecological response to global change.
• 2. This paper is based upon previous and ongoing research within a glacierized, alpine river system (Taillon‐Gabiétous basin, French Pyrenees), which adopts an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the climate–hydrology–ecology cascade. Data are used to advance hypotheses concerning impacts of climate change/variability upon alpine river system hydrology and ecology.
• 3. The snowpacks and glaciers that are the source of Pyrenean streams are climatically sensitive, with glaciers in retreat for most of the historical period. Given anticipated changes in summer air‐mass frequencies, the volume of meltwater may decrease, the nature and rate of glacier drainage may alter, and the timing of peak snow‐ and ice‐melt may shift. However, rainfall‐runoff and groundwater may increase their relative contributions to stream flow.
• 4. The influence of changing water source contributions on physico‐chemical habitat and, in turn, on benthic communities is assessed using an alternative alpine stream classification. This model predicts more rapid downstream change in benthic communities in the future as meltwater contributions decline and, at the basin‐scale, biodiversity may be reduced owing to less spatio‐temporal heterogeneity in water sources contributions and, thus, physico‐chemical habitat. However, predictions are complicated by potential changes in biotic interactions with altered species' distributions.
• 5. Integrated, long‐term research into the climate–hydrology–ecology cascade in other alpine river basins is vital because interdisciplinary science is fundamental to predicting stream hydrology and ecology under scenarios of future climate/variability, to assessing the utility of alpine river systems as indicators of global change, and to developing conservation strategies for these fragile ecosystems.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impacts of artificial structures on the freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera in the River Dee,Scotland

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Development of an accurate model to predict the phenology of Atlantic salmon smolt spring migration

1. Changes in migration timing, resulting from the alteration in river continuity or the effect of climate change, can have major consequences on the population dynamics of diadromous fish. Forecasting the phenology of fish migration is thus critically important to implement management actions aimed at protecting fish during their migration.
2. In this study, an 11‐year monitoring survey of Atlantic salmon smolts (Salmo salar) from the Ourthe River, Belgium, was analysed within a European Special Area of Conservation to improve the understanding of environment‐induced spring migration. A logistic model was fitted to forecast smolt migration and to calculate phenological indicators for management, i.e. the onset, end, and duration of migration, while accounting for the influence of photoperiod, water temperature, and hydrological conditions.
3. The results indicated that the photo‐thermal units accumulated by smolts above a 7°C temperature threshold was a relevant proxy to reflect the synergistic effect between temperature and photoperiod on smolt migration. After integrating the effect of river flow pulses, the model accurately explained the inter‐annual changes in migration timing (R² = 0.95). The model predictions provide decisive management information to identify sensitive periods during which mitigation measures (e.g. hydropower turbine shutdown, river discharge management) should be conducted to promote smolt survival.
4. The model was used to predict phenological characteristics under future scenarios of climate change. The results suggest a joint effect of hydrological alterations and water warming. Temperature increases of 1–4°C were associated with earlier initiation of migration, 6–51 days earlier, and spring flood events greatly influenced the duration of the migration period. Accordingly, the combined effects of human‐induced modifications of the hydrological regimes and increasing temperatures could result in a mismatch between the smolt and favourable survival conditions in the marine environment.