Abstract
Accurate assessment of the effects of reservoir impoundment on the downstream hydrology and ecology is a prerequisite for the restoration of impaired rivers. However, little research has been conducted to directly link hydrological processes to biological processes. To address this knowledge gap, we used 15-year spawning records for four Chinese major carps in the middle Yangtze River; downstream of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China; and the hydrological data during these spawning events to identify the impaired components of the linkage between the hydrological processes and these fish spawning events due to reservoir impoundment. Results of this study show that the reservoir impoundment has led to a 14-day delay in the start of the spawning season, 10 fewer annual spawning days, a 2-day shortening of the duration of spawning events, and the disappearance of one peak spawning period. The delay in the spawning start date is connected to the decrease in water temperature caused by the cooling effect of the reservoir water released during the early spawning season, and the lower spawning activity throughout the spawning season is attributed to the insufficiency of the flow pulses, especially the decreases in both the duration and the rate of the flow increases. The acceptable and optimum flow criteria deduced from the pre-impoundment flow-spawning linkage can provide process-explicit environmental flow criteria for the spawning function restoration. This research presents an approach based on the flow-biotic process linkage for the assessment of impoundment-induced hydrological and ecological effects, and the process-based information can reduce the uncertainty in environmental flow management.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson KE, Paul AJ, Mccauley E, Jackson LJ, Post JR, Nisbet RM (2006) Instream flow needs in streams and rivers: the importance of understanding ecological dynamics. Front Ecol Environ 4(6):309–318. https://doi.org/10.1890/1540-9295(2006)4[309:IFNISA]2.0.CO;2
Bonner TH, Wilde GR (2000) Changes in the Canadian river fish assemblage associated with reservoir construction. J Freshw Biol 15(2):189–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/02705060.2000.9663736
Bradford MJ, Higgins PS, Korman J, Sneep J (2011) Test of an environmental flow release in a British Columbia river: does more water mean more fish? Freshw Biol 56(10):2119–2134. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2011.02633.x
Brown LR, Bauer ML (2010) Effects of hydrologic infrastructure on flow regimes of California's central valley rivers: implications for fish populations. River Res Appl 26(6):751–765. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.1293
Clarkson RW, Childs MR (2000) Temperature effects of hypolimnial-release dams on early life stages of Colorado River Basin big-river fishes. Copeia 88(2):402–412. https://doi.org/10.1643/0045-8511(2000)000[0402:TEOHRD]2.0.CO;2
Duan XB, Liu SP, Huang MG, Qiu XL, Li ZH, Wang K, Chen DQ (2008a) Study on the early resource of four Chinese major carps in the middle Yangtze River before and after the Three Gorges Reservoir impoundment. In: Lin CX, Chen HB, Sun ZY (eds) Achievements collection of international symposium on Three Gorges Project and water resources development and protection of Yangtze River. China Water and Power Press, Beijing, pp 107–116 (in Chinese)
Duan XB, Chen DQ, Li ZH, Wang K, Liu SP (2008b) Current status of spawning grounds of fishes with pelagic eggs in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River after impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir. J Fish Sci CHN 15(4):523–532 (in Chinese)
Goto D, Hamel MJ, Hammen JJ, Rugg ML, Pegg MA, Forbes VE (2015) Spatiotemporal variation in flow-dependent recruitment of long-lived riverine fish: model development and evaluation. Ecol Model 296(24):79–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2014.10.026
Growns I (2008) The influence of changes to river hydrology on freshwater fish in regulated rivers of the Murray–Darling basin. Hydrobiologia 596:203–211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-9097-y
Guo W, Wang H, Xu J, Xia Z (2011) Effects of Three Gorges reservoir on the downstream eco-hydrological regimes during the spawning of important fishes. J Hydroelectric Eng 30(3):22–26, 38 (in Chinese)
Hayes DS, Brändle JM, Seliger C, Zeiringer B, Ferreira T, Schmutz S (2018) Advancing towards functional environmental flows for temperate floodplain rivers. Sci Total Environ 633:1089–1104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.221
King AJ, Ward KA, O’Connor P, Green D, Tonkin Z, Mahoney J (2009) Adaptive management of an environmental watering event to enhance native fish spawning and recruitment. Freshw Biol 55(1):17–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02178.x
Koster WM, Amtstaetter F, Dawson DR, Reich P, Morrongiello JR (2016) Provision of environmental flows promotes spawning of a nationally threatened diadromous fish. Mar Freshw Res 68(1):159–166. https://doi.org/10.1071/MF15398
Lai X, Liang Q, Jiang J, Huang Q (2014) Impoundment effects of the Three-Gorges-Dam on flow regimes in two China’s largest freshwater lakes. Water Resour Manag 28(14):5111–5124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0797-6
Lima FT, Reynalte-Tataje DA, Zaniboni-Filho E (2017) Effects of reservoirs water level variations on fish recruitment. Neotrop Ichthyol 15(3):e160084. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0224-20160084
Macnaughton CJ, McLaughlin F, Bourque G, Senay C, Lanthier G, Harvey-Lavoie S, Legendre P, Lapointe M, Boisclair D (2015) The effects of regional hydrologic alteration on fish community structure in regulated rivers. River Res Appl 33(2):249–257. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.2991
McManamay RA, Frimpong EA (2015) Hydrologic filtering of fish life history strategies across the United States: implications for stream flow alteration. Ecol Appl 25(1):243–263. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-0247.1
MEEPRC (Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China) (2019) Bulletin of ecological and environmental monitoring of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze. http://datacenter.mee.gov.cn/websjzx/queryIndex.vm.
Mims MC, Olden JD (2013) Fish assemblages respond to altered flow regimes via ecological filtering of life history strategies. Freshw Biol 58(1):50–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12037
Olden JD, Naiman RJ (2010) Incorporating thermal regimes into environmental flows assessments: modifying dam operations to restore freshwater ecosystem integrity. Freshw Biol 55(1):86–107. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02179.x
Pegg MA, Pierce CL, Roy A (2003) Hydrological alteration along the Missouri River basin: a time series approach. Aquat Sci 65(1):63–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s000270300005
Peñas FJ, Barquín J (2019) Assessment of large-scale patterns of hydrological alteration caused by dams. J Hydrol 572:706–718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.03.056
Poff NL, Olden JD, Merritt DM, Pepin DM (2007) Homogenization of regional river dynamics by dams and global biodiversity implications. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104(14):5732–5737. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0609812104
Poff NL, Richter BD, Arthington AH, Bunn SE, Naiman RJ, Kendy E et al (2010) The ecological limits of hydrologic alteration (ELOHA): a new framework for developing regional environmental flow standards. Freshw Biol 55(1):147–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02204.x
Qiu SL, Liu SP, Huang MG, Chen DQ, Duan XB (2002) Monitoring of spawning sites of four major Chinese carps in the middle section of Yangtze River. Acta Hydrobiol Sinica 26(6):716–718 (in Chinese)
Richter BD, Baumgartner JV, Powell J, Braun DP (1996) A method for assessing hydrologic alteration within ecosystems. Conserv Biol 10(4):1163–1174. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10041163.x
Richter B, Baumgartner J, Wigington R, Braun D (1997) How much water does a river need? Freshw Biol 37(1):231v249. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2427.1997.00153.x
Rodger AW, Mayes KB, Winemiller KO (2016) Larval fish abundance in relation to environmental variables in two Texas Gulf Coast rivers. J Freshw Ecol 31(4):625–640. https://doi.org/10.1080/02705060.2016.1216902
Schmutz S, Moog O (2018) Dams: ecological impacts and management. In: Schmutz S, Sendzimir J (eds) Riverine ecosystem management: science for governing towards a sustainable future. Springer, Cham, pp 111–127
Song Y, Cheng F, Murphy BR, Xie S (2018) Downstream effects of the Three Gorges Dam on larval dispersal, spatial distribution, and growth of the four major Chinese carps call for reprioritizing conservation measures. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 75(1):141–151. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0278
Sonny D, Jorry S, Wattiez X, Philippart J (2006) Inter-annual and diel patterns of the drift of cyprinid fishes in a small tributary of the Meuse River, Belgium. Folia Zool 55(1):75–85
STSGDF (Survey Team of Spawning Grounds of Domestic Fishes in Changjiang River) (1982) A survey on the spawning grounds of the spawning grounds of the “Four Famous Chinese Carps” in the Changjiang River after dammed by the key water control project at Gezhouba. J Fish CHN 6(4):287–305 (in Chinese)
Taylor JM, Seilheimer TS, Fisher WL (2014) Downstream fish assemblage response to river impoundment varies with degree of hydrologic alteration. Hydrobiologia 728(1):23–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1797-x
Tonkin ZD, King AJ, Robertson AI, Ramsey DS (2011) Early fish growth varies in response to components of the flow regime in a temperate floodplain river. Freshw Biol 56(9):1769–1782. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2011.02612.x
Wang J, Li C, Duan X, Chen D, Feng S, Luo H, Peng Q, Liao W (2014) Variation in the significant environmental factors affecting larval abundance of four major Chinese carp species: fish spawning response to the Three Gorges Dam. FreshwBiol 59(7):1343–1360. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12348
Xu W, Qiao Y, Chen XJ, Cai YP, Yang Z, Liu HG (2015) Spawning activity of the four major Chinese carps in the middle mainstream of the Yangtze River, during the Three Gorges Reservoir operation period, China. J Appl Ichthyol 31(5):846–854. https://doi.org/10.1111/jai.12771
Yi B, Yu Z, Liang S (1988) The distribution, natural conditions and breeding production of the spawning grounds of four domestic freshwater fishes on the mainstream on the Yangtze River. In: Yi B, Yu Z, Liang Z (eds) Gezhouba Water Control Project and four domestic fishes in Yangtze. Hubei Science and Technology Press, Wuhan, pp 1–46 (in Chinese)
Yu Z, Deng Z, Xu Y, Cai M, Zhao Y, Liang Z, Wang N, Zeng X (1988) The present situation of the spawning grounds of the four Chinese domestic fishes in the Yangtze River after the construction of the Gezhouba water control project. In: Yi B, Yu Z, Liang Z (eds) Gezhouba Water Control Project and four domestic fishes in Yangtze. Hubei Science and Technology Press, Wuhan, pp 47–68 (in Chinese)
Zhang X, Dong Z, Gupta H, Wu G, Li D (2016) Impact of the Three Gorges Dam on the hydrology and ecology of the Yangtze River. Water 8(12):590. https://doi.org/10.3390/w8120590
Zhang P, Qiao Y, Grenouillet G, Lek S, Cai L, Chang J (2021) Responses of spawning thermal suitability to climate change and hydropower operation for typical fishes below the Three Gorges Dam. Ecol Indic 121:107186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107186
Funding
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31460132).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Broder J. Merkel
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xue, XH., Sun, Y. Effects of the Three Gorges Reservoir impoundment on the hydrological conditions for potamodromous fish spawning. Arab J Geosci 14, 327 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-06677-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-06677-4