Incorporating Implicit Information to Disentangle the Impacts of Hydropower Dams and Climate Change on Basin‐Scale Fish Habitat Distribution

ABSTRACT The loss of freshwater fish habitats, exacerbated by climate change and dam constructions, poses a critical environmental concern. The upper Yangtze River basin, noted for its abundant fish fauna and concentrated dam development, serves as a crucial locale for investigating the impacts of c...

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Main Authors: Xiongfeng Bai, Peng Zhang, Xin Cao, Dongya Zhang, Zhi Yang, Xianghong Dong, Siyang Wang, Wenbin Li, Lihua Xiong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-10-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70412
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author Xiongfeng Bai
Peng Zhang
Xin Cao
Dongya Zhang
Zhi Yang
Xianghong Dong
Siyang Wang
Wenbin Li
Lihua Xiong
author_facet Xiongfeng Bai
Peng Zhang
Xin Cao
Dongya Zhang
Zhi Yang
Xianghong Dong
Siyang Wang
Wenbin Li
Lihua Xiong
author_sort Xiongfeng Bai
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT The loss of freshwater fish habitats, exacerbated by climate change and dam constructions, poses a critical environmental concern. The upper Yangtze River basin, noted for its abundant fish fauna and concentrated dam development, serves as a crucial locale for investigating the impacts of climate shifts and dam construction. This study aims to disentangle the impacts of hydroelectric dams and climate change on fish habitat distribution by analyzing species presence data across different periods. Species distribution models were constructed using Maxent for Coreius guichenoti (a warm‐water endangered fish) and Schizopygopsis malacanthus (a cold‐water endangered fish). The model accuracy was assessed using the area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic. Habitat distribution modeling and prediction for the pre‐dam period (1970–2000) and post‐dam period (2001–2020), as well as future climate change under two shared socioeconomic pathways scenarios, were conducted. The impacts of climate change and dam construction on the habitat suitability of two fish species were quantified. The results revealed dam construction predominantly diminished habitat suitability and range, with high‐suitability habitats in the post‐dam period decreasing by 56.3% (720.18 km) and 67.0% (1665.52 km) for the two fishes, respectively. Climate change would enhance the habitat suitability of Coreius guichenoti, while it would decrease the habitat suitability of Schizopygopsis malacanthus. The impact of dam construction is greater that of climate change for them. This study underscores the profound impacts of dam construction on fish habitats, particularly for cold‐water species, and highlights the critical need for habitat restoration in sustainable hydropower development. Our method of disentangling these factors also provides a new approach to evaluating environmental impacts in large river basins.
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spelling doaj-art-2b80105fe0dc42a6837e7bdf5251dc052025-08-20T01:58:37ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-10-011410n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70412Incorporating Implicit Information to Disentangle the Impacts of Hydropower Dams and Climate Change on Basin‐Scale Fish Habitat DistributionXiongfeng Bai0Peng Zhang1Xin Cao2Dongya Zhang3Zhi Yang4Xianghong Dong5Siyang Wang6Wenbin Li7Lihua Xiong8State Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management Wuhan University Wuhan Hubei ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management Wuhan University Wuhan Hubei ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management Wuhan University Wuhan Hubei ChinaBeijing Engineering Corporation Limited Power China Beijing ChinaInstitute of Hydroecology Chinese Academy of Science and Ministry of Water Resource Wuhan ChinaCollege of Animal Science Guizhou University Guiyang ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environment Hubei University of Technology Wuhan ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management Wuhan University Wuhan Hubei ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management Wuhan University Wuhan Hubei ChinaABSTRACT The loss of freshwater fish habitats, exacerbated by climate change and dam constructions, poses a critical environmental concern. The upper Yangtze River basin, noted for its abundant fish fauna and concentrated dam development, serves as a crucial locale for investigating the impacts of climate shifts and dam construction. This study aims to disentangle the impacts of hydroelectric dams and climate change on fish habitat distribution by analyzing species presence data across different periods. Species distribution models were constructed using Maxent for Coreius guichenoti (a warm‐water endangered fish) and Schizopygopsis malacanthus (a cold‐water endangered fish). The model accuracy was assessed using the area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic. Habitat distribution modeling and prediction for the pre‐dam period (1970–2000) and post‐dam period (2001–2020), as well as future climate change under two shared socioeconomic pathways scenarios, were conducted. The impacts of climate change and dam construction on the habitat suitability of two fish species were quantified. The results revealed dam construction predominantly diminished habitat suitability and range, with high‐suitability habitats in the post‐dam period decreasing by 56.3% (720.18 km) and 67.0% (1665.52 km) for the two fishes, respectively. Climate change would enhance the habitat suitability of Coreius guichenoti, while it would decrease the habitat suitability of Schizopygopsis malacanthus. The impact of dam construction is greater that of climate change for them. This study underscores the profound impacts of dam construction on fish habitats, particularly for cold‐water species, and highlights the critical need for habitat restoration in sustainable hydropower development. Our method of disentangling these factors also provides a new approach to evaluating environmental impacts in large river basins.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70412climate changedam impactfish habitatspecies distribution modelwarm‐water and cold‐water fish
spellingShingle Xiongfeng Bai
Peng Zhang
Xin Cao
Dongya Zhang
Zhi Yang
Xianghong Dong
Siyang Wang
Wenbin Li
Lihua Xiong
Incorporating Implicit Information to Disentangle the Impacts of Hydropower Dams and Climate Change on Basin‐Scale Fish Habitat Distribution
Ecology and Evolution
climate change
dam impact
fish habitat
species distribution model
warm‐water and cold‐water fish
title Incorporating Implicit Information to Disentangle the Impacts of Hydropower Dams and Climate Change on Basin‐Scale Fish Habitat Distribution
title_full Incorporating Implicit Information to Disentangle the Impacts of Hydropower Dams and Climate Change on Basin‐Scale Fish Habitat Distribution
title_fullStr Incorporating Implicit Information to Disentangle the Impacts of Hydropower Dams and Climate Change on Basin‐Scale Fish Habitat Distribution
title_full_unstemmed Incorporating Implicit Information to Disentangle the Impacts of Hydropower Dams and Climate Change on Basin‐Scale Fish Habitat Distribution
title_short Incorporating Implicit Information to Disentangle the Impacts of Hydropower Dams and Climate Change on Basin‐Scale Fish Habitat Distribution
title_sort incorporating implicit information to disentangle the impacts of hydropower dams and climate change on basin scale fish habitat distribution
topic climate change
dam impact
fish habitat
species distribution model
warm‐water and cold‐water fish
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70412
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