Abstract
Prescribed or natural drawdowns occur frequently in reservoirs but their effects on fish populations have been barely studied. As a consequence of a severe drought and the need to optimize water quality, a partial drawdown was prescribed in autumn 2005 to a eutrophic reservoir that provides water supply to a large metropolitan area (Barcelona, Spain). In order to avoid a potential massive fish kill given the reduced oxygen availability and high fish abundance, preventive purse seine fisheries were performed to reduce the fish stock. The fisheries had little effect on the fish assemblage because final population size structure and species composition did not change significantly. The species composition of the purse seine catches varied significantly during the drawdown with higher proportion of bleak (Alburnus alburnus) in pelagic water during the days of worst water quality, confirming that bleak is more tolerant than roach (Rutilus rutilus) to poor water quality and a potential good indicator of water pollution. The weight–length relationship (i.e. condition) of roach and bleak also varied significantly during the drawdown following the same tendency in both species, losing and recovering their weight (4.99% in roach and 5.96% in bleak) in only 16 days. The close relationship found between water quality and fish condition demonstrates that fish condition can be a good metric of the well being of fish, even for extreme short-term changes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, S. M. (1999). Ecological role of lipids in the health and success of fish populations. In M. T. Arts, & B. C. Wainman (Eds.) Lipids in freshwater ecosystems (pp. 132–160). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Armengol, J., Caputo, L., Comerma, M., Feijoó, C., García, J. C., Marcé, R., et al. (2003). Sau reservoir’s light climate: Relationships between Secchi depth and light extinction coefficient. Limnetica, 22, 195–210.
Armengol, J., Crespo, M., Morguí, J. A., & Vidal, A. (1986). Phosphorus budgets and forms of phosphorus in the Sau reservoir sediment: An interpretation of the limnological record. Hydrobiologia, 143, 331–336.
Barton, B. A., Morgan, J. D., & Vijayan, M. M. (2002). Physiological condition-related indicators of environmental stress in fish. In S. M. Adams (Ed.) Biological indicators of stress in fish (pp. 111–148). Maryland: American Fisheries Society.
Carol, J., Benejam, L., Alcaraz, C., Vila-Gispert, A., Zamora, L., Navarro, E., et al. (2006). The effects of limnological features on fish assemblages of 14 Spanish reservoirs. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 15, 66–77.
Dray, S., Chessel, D., & Thioulouse, J. (2003). Procrustean co-inertia analysis for the linking of multivariate datasets. Ecoscience, 10, 110–119.
Fraser, J. C. (1972). Water levels, fluctuation and minimum pools in reservoirs for fish and other aquatic resources: An annotated bibliography. Rome: FAO, 48pp.
Gaboury, M. N., & Patalas, J. W. (1984). Influence of water level drawdown on the fish populations of Cross Lake, Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 41, 118–125.
García-Berthou, E. (2001). On the misuse of residuals in ecology: Testing regression residuals vs. the analysis of covariance. Journal of Animal Ecology, 70, 708–711.
García-Berthou, E., & Moreno-Amich, R. (1993). Multivariate analysis of covariance in morphometric studies of the reproductive cycle. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 50, 1394–1399.
Gasol, J. M., Comerma, M., Garcia, J. C., Armengol, J., Casamayor, E. O., et al. (2002). A transplant experiment to identify the factors controlling bacterial abundance, activity, production, and community composition in a eutrophic canyon-shaped reservoir. Limnology and Oceanography, 47, 62–77.
Han, B.-H., Armengol, J., Garcia, J. C., Comerma, M., Roura, M., Dolz, J., et al. (2000). The thermal structure of Sau Reservoir (NE: Spain): A simulation approach. Ecological Modelling, 125, 109–122.
Hartman, K. J., & Margraf, F. J. (2006). Relationships among condition indices, feeding and growth of walleye in Lake Erie. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 13, 121–130.
Heman, M. L., Campbell, R. S., & Redmond, L. C. (1969). Manipulation of fish populations through reservoir drawdown. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 98, 293–304.
Horppila, J., & Kairesalo, T. (1992). Impacts of bleak (Alburnus alburnus L.) and roach (Rutilus rutilus L.) on water quality, sedimentation and internal nutrient loading. Hydrobiologia, 243, 323–331.
Il’ina, L. K., & Gordeyev, N. A. (1970). Dynamics of the reproductive conditions of phytophylous fishes at different stages in reservoir formation. Journal Ichthyology, 10, 282–285.
Irz, P., Laurent, A., Messad, S., Pronier, O., & Argillier, C. (2002). Influence of site characteristics on fish community patterns in French reservoirs. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 11, 123–136.
Jachner, A., & Janecki, T. (1999). Feeding and growth response of roach, Rutilus rutilus, to alarm substance. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 54, 433–437.
Jackson, P. B. N. (1966). The establishment of fisheries in man-made lakes in the tropics. In R. H. Lowe-McConnell (Ed.) Man-made lakes (pp. 53–69). London: Academic.
Jamet, J. L. (1995). Reproduction, condition and food of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in Lake Pavin (Massif Central, France). Hydrobiologia, 301, 279–288.
Kuznetsov, V. A. (1971). The effect of regulation of the discharge of the Volga on the reproduction of asp, zope, white bream and bleak in Sviyaga Bay, Kuybyshev Reservoir. Journal Ichthyology, 11, 186–192.
Lambert, Y., & Dutil, J. D. (1997). Can simple condition indices be used to monitor and quantify seasonal changes in the energy reserves of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 54, 104–112.
Lin, D. S. C., & Caramaschi, T. P. (2005). Responses of the fish community to the flood pulse and siltation in a floodplain lake of the Trombetas River, Brazil. Hydrobiologia, 545, 75–91.
Lloret, J., Gil de Sola, L., Souplet, A., & Galzin, R. (2002). Effects of large-scale habitat variability on condition of demersal exploited fish in the north-western Mediterranean. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 59, 1215–1227.
Lloret, J., & Rätz, H. J. (2000). Condition of cod (Gadus morhua) off Greenland during 1982–1998. Fisheries Research, 48, 79–86.
Marshall, C. T., & Frank, K. T. (1999). The effect of interannual variation in growth and condition on haddock recruitment. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 56, 347–355.
Nilsson, C., Reidy, C. A., & Dynesius, M. (2005). Fragmentation and flow regulation of the world’s large river systems. Science, 308, 405–408.
Oliva-Paterna, F. J., Vila-Gispert, A., & Torralva, M. (2003). Condition of Barbus sclateri from semi-arid aquatic systems: Effects of habitat quality disturbances. Journal of Fish Biology, 63, 699–709.
Paredes, J., & Lund, J. (2006). Refill and drawdown rules for parallel reservoirs: Quantity and quality. Water Resources Management, 20, 359–376.
Persson, L. (1991). Interspecific interactions. In I. J. Winfield, & J. S. Nelson (Eds.) Cyprinid fishes. Systematics, biology and exploitation (pp. 530–551). London: Chapman and Hall.
Petersen, M. R., Osborne, R. S., & Jackson, C. S. (2001). 1999 lower goose lake warmwater survey grant county, Washington. Washington: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Poff, N. L., & Hart, D. D. (2002). How dams vary and why it matters for the emerging science of dam removal. Bioscience, 52, 659–668.
Seager, J., Milne, I., Mallett, M., & Sims, I. (2000). Effects of short-term oxygen depletion on fish. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 19, 2937–2942.
Singh, R. K. (1983). The role of the littoral (shallow) zone in reservoir productivity. Acta Hydrochimica et Hydrobiologica, 11, 101–107.
Sokal, R. R., & Rohlf, F. J. (1995). Biometry: The principles and practice of statistics in biological research. New York: Freeman, -887pp.
Stott, B., & Cross, D. G. (1973). The reactions of roach (Rutilus rutilus L.) to changes in the concentration of dissolved oxygen and free carbon dioxide in a laboratory channel. Water Research, 7, 793–805.
Vila-Gispert, A., Zamora, L., & Moreno-Amich, R. (2000). Use of the condition of Mediterranean barbel (Barbus meridionalis) to assess habitat quality in stream ecosystems. Archiv für Hydrobiologie, 148, 135–145.
Villanueva, M. C., Ouedraogo, M., & Moreau, J. (2006). Trophic relationships in the recently impounded Bagre reservoir in Burkina Faso. Ecological Modelling, 191, 243–259.
Wood, R., & Pfitzer, D. W. (1960). Some effects of water-level fluctuations on the fisheries of large impoundments. International Union for conservation of nature & natural resources, soil and water conservation pp. 118–138. Brussels: IUCN.
Yakovleva, A. N. (1971). Natural reproduction of fish in the Volgograd reservoir. Trudy Saratovskogo Otdeleniya Vsesoyuznogo Nauchno-Issledovatel’skogo Instituta Ozernogo i Rechnogo Rybnogo Khozyaistva, 10, 107–128.
Yamamoto, T., Kohmatsu, Y., & Yuma, M. (2006). Effects of summer drawdown on cyprinid fish larvae in Lake Biwa, Japan. Limnology, 7, 75–82.
Acknowledgements
We thank C. Alcaraz, Q. Carol, M. Clavero, L. Zamora, ACA staff and professional fishermen for their assistance in field work and anonymous reviewers for comments on the manuscript. This study was financed by the Catalan Water Agency (ACA), Government of Catalonia (CT05002028). Additional financial support was provided by the Government of Catalonia (Distinction Award for University Research 2004 to EGB). LB held a doctoral fellowship from the University of Girona.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Benejam, L., Benito, J., Ordóñez, J. et al. Short-term Effects of a Partial Drawdown on Fish Condition in a Eutrophic Reservoir. Water Air Soil Pollut 190, 3–11 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-007-9574-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-007-9574-y