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Impacts of cascade run-of-river dams on benthic diatoms in the Xiangxi River, China

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Abstract

The ecological effects of small run-of-river dams on aquatic ecosystems are poorly understood, especially on downstream benthic algal communities. We examined impacts of such dams on the benthic diatom community at a regional scale in the Xiangxi River, China. A total of 90 sites were visited, which were divided into five habitats (H1–H5) according to impact extent of each dam. Using partial least squares (PLS) modeling, we developed two predictive models (diatom species richness and total diatom density) based on environmental variables of an unregulated habitat (H1). These models were then used to predict species richness and total densities at impacted habitats (H2–H5) and residuals, i.e. the differences between observed and predicted values, were used to evaluate impact strength of flow regulation. Significant impacts of flow regulation on diatom species richness were detected at three impacted habitats (H3–H5), where observed species richness were significantly higher—70.6, 63.9 and 46.6%, respectively—than predicted values. Then, possible mechanisms for observed impacts were discussed. Further research is necessary to address the potential negative impacts of cascade run-of-river dams on other aquatic organisms in different seasons, and to explore more appropriate mechanisms for such impacts, which may lead to sustainable management strategies and help to determine the optimal ecological water requirement for the Xiangxi River.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks should be expressed to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on our manuscript. The authors would like to thank Kevin Callon for the English polishing and Huan Wang and Shuang Han for their assistance in the field. This study was supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30330140, 40671197) and the Key Project of Knowledge Innovation Program of the CAS (KZCX2-YW-427).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430072, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    N. Wu, T. Tang, X. Fu, W. Jiang, F. Li, S. Zhou & Q. Cai

  2. Department of Hydrology and Water Resource Management, Ecology Centre, Kiel University, Olshausenstrasse 75, 24118, Kiel, Germany

    N. Wu & N. Fohrer

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  1. N. Wu
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  2. T. Tang
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  3. X. Fu
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  4. W. Jiang
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  5. F. Li
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  6. S. Zhou
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  7. Q. Cai
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  8. N. Fohrer
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Correspondence to Q. Cai.

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Wu, N., Tang, T., Fu, X. et al. Impacts of cascade run-of-river dams on benthic diatoms in the Xiangxi River, China. Aquat. Sci. 72, 117–125 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-009-0121-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-009-0121-3

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