Impacts of river bank stabilization using riprap on fish habitat in two contrasting environments

Riverbank stabilization using rock riprap is commonly used for protecting road and bridge structures from fluvial erosion. However, little is known about how streams adjust to such perturbation or how this can affect fish habitat in different fluvial environments, particularly for non‐salmonid species in small streams. The objective of this study is to assess impacts of riprap on fish habitat quantity and quality through a pairwise comparison of 27 stabilized and non‐stabilized stream reaches in two physiographic regions, the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Appalachian highlands of Montérégie‐Est (Quebec, Canada). Both quantitative (Hydro‐morphological Index of Diversity, HMID) and qualitative (Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index, QHEI) fish habitat assessment techniques are applied in order to compare results between methods. For each stream reach depth and velocity were measured to calculate HMID. In‐stream cover (woody debris, overhanging vegetation, undercut banks, aquatic macrophytes) and habitat units (pools, riffles, runs, glides) were also documented and used to determine QHEI. Results show that overall bank stabilization using riprap at bridge and stream crossings alters fish habitat characteristics. Loss of in‐stream covers and riparian vegetation lower QHEI scores at stabilized reaches, especially in more pristine Appalachian streams, but has less impact on already altered straightened Lowlands streams. In this latter context, some positive alterations of fish habitat were observed in riprapped reaches due to the coarsening of the substrate and an induced increase of slope. The two metrics (HMID and QHEI) revealed similar differences between stabilized and non‐stabilized sites for Lowlands sites, but their level of agreement was much less in the Appalachian streams, suggesting caution when interpreting habitat quality results based on a single metric. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

低头坝养鱼对上下游局域栖息地和鱼类群落时空格局的影响

河流鱼类的群落特征会随栖息地环境的变化而发生变化.为了解鱼类群落对低头坝养鱼的响应程度,2013—2014年共6次调查了乌龙河(长江下游支流)两个可涉水河段样点(上游坝和下游坝)的环境因子、鱼类多样性及其群落结构.共采集到5目10科21属24种鱼类,以鲤形目鲤科最多,占总数的58.3%.通过解析时空动态变化与局域栖息地条件对鱼类群落的影响,发现季节因素对鱼类群落结构无显著影响,而鱼类群落所在空间位置(上游坝,下游坝)对群落结构差异具有较显著影响,其中上游中华鳑鲏(Rhodeus sinensis)、(Hemiculter leucisculus)、棒花鱼(Abbottina rivularis)、大鳍鱊(Acheilognathus macropterus),下游食蚊鱼(Gambusia affinis)的多度决定了这种差异;而3个栖息地变量(溶解氧浓度、电导率和流速)均对鱼类群落特征具有显著性影响.栖息地环境差异对河流上、下游鱼类群落的影响较大,具体体现在下游样点鱼类的捕获重量、捕获数量、密度、多样性明显下降,推测利用低头坝养鱼是造成这些现象的重要原因.     

Optimization methodology for a river temperature monitoring network for the characterization of fish thermal habitat

A methodology for planning an optimized river water temperature monitoring network is presented. The methodology is based on sampling of the physio-climatic variability of the region to be monitored. Physio-climatic metrics are selected to describe the study region, based on principal component analysis. The sites to be monitored are then identified based on a k-means clustering in the multidimensional space defined by the selected metrics. The methodology is validated on an existing dense water temperature network in Haute-Savoie, France. Different configurations of more or less dense network scenarios are evaluated by assessing their ability to estimate water temperature indices at ungauged locations. An optimized network containing 83 sites is found to provide satisfactory estimations for seven ecologically and biologically meaningful thermal indices defined to characterize brown trout thermal habitat.     

Hydraulic modelling of fish habitat in urban rivers during high flows

In urban rivers, flow regime and channel morphology are the drivers of physical habitat quality for aquatic species. Peak discharges are increased at high flows as a result of impermeable catchments and channel engineering for flood protection schemes. Hazardous conditions and flashy hydrographs mean that measurement of velocities at high flows is a difficult task. This research uses a three‐dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D‐CFD) model to simulate hydraulic patterns in two urban river channels. A 3D‐CFD code, called SSIIM, was used to simulate hydraulic conditions in two engineered river reaches of the River Tame, Birmingham, UK. These two sites represent channels with different levels of engineering. Models were calibrated and tested using field measurements. Results show that modelled water surface levels and velocity profiles are well simulated. Calibrated roughness heights are compared with those derived from field measurement of sediment size. Numerical experiments are used to assess the relationship between grid resolution in the vertical dimension and the form of the modelled velocity profiles. Biologists have used laboratory experiments to determine maximum sustainable swimming speeds (MSSS) of fish, often in order to assess what level of a particular pollutant may be tolerable. In this work, simulations of high‐flow hydraulic patterns are used to compare velocity patterns with fish MSSS. Results show that when the water levels rise to fill the first channel of the two‐stage channels at the sites, which occurred 16 times in 2000, MSSS are surpassed in the majority of available habitat, suggesting that excessive velocities at high flows are one factor that limits fish habitat. A comparison between the two reaches shows that there is less available habitat in the more modified reach. Conclusions suggest that an approach that integrates water quality issues and physical channel characteristics must be taken in river rehabilitation schemes, as improvements to water quality alone may not be sufficient to improve habitat quality to the desired level. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

太湖鱼类区系变化和渔获物分析

20世纪80年代之前,太湖有鱼类107种、25科,属4个生态类型:洄游型、江湖洄游型、河流型和湖沼型.自2002年9月至2006年1月进行了太湖鱼类采集,共采得鱼类60种、18科.其中,除放流的鱼类外,都能在封闭的湖泊环境中完成生命周期(湖沼生态型);团头鲂、鲮、银鲫和尼罗罗非鱼属移植种类.团头鲂、鳙、鲢、草鱼和青鱼是从20世纪60年代起每年向湖中放流的鱼类;鳗鲡则是自1976年起放流从长江采捕的鳗苗.20世纪50年末至1985年,长江和太湖之间人为隔断,不能在静水中繁殖的鱼类在湖中消失,自然鱼类资源下降;加上过度捕捞和对繁殖群体缺少保护,导致鱼类群体小型化.最后,对太湖渔业资源的优化进行了讨论,并进一步提出对策.     

三峡大坝运行前后西洞庭湖鱼类群落结构特征变化

鱼类是湿地生态系统中重要的组成部分,鱼类的群落结构动态直接反映湿地生境及外部驱动力的变化.三峡大坝运行后,长江中游江湖水文情势发生了变化,西洞庭湖地处洞庭湖西部,是受此变化影响最为直接的区域之一.为监测西洞庭湖鱼类群落结构变化特征,分析其变化原因,于2002年9月-2003年8月和2012年7月-2014年1月,在西洞庭湖进行了两次鱼类群落调查.共鉴定到鱼类7目17科91种,其中鲤形目最多,为58种,占总种数的63.7%.两次调查结果显示,三峡大坝运行后西洞庭湖鱼类物种数由85种下降到66种,Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和Pielou均匀度指数分别由5.00和1.11下降为4.14和1.00,鱼类个体小型化趋势明显.两次调查物种数和个体数量最多的类群均为底层、定居性、杂食性鱼类,且其比例有增加的趋势,而肉食性鱼类、中上层鱼类、半洄游性鱼类和产粘性卵、沉性卵鱼类个体数量占比均有减小的趋势,其中中上层鱼类变化有显著性差异.三峡大坝运行后10年间,西洞庭湖鱼类多样性呈现下降趋势.研究表明,西洞庭湖鱼类生境丧失、捕捞胁迫,加剧了一些特定类群的生存压力,并反映于鱼类群落结构的变化.     

Modelling basin-scale distribution of fish occurrence probability for assessment of flow and habitat conditions in rivers

Abstract

Flow regimes play an important role in sustaining biodiversity in river ecosystems. However, the effects of flow regimes on riverine fish have not been clearly described. Therefore, we propose a new methodology to quantitatively link habitat conditions (such as flow indices and physical habitat conditions) to the occurrence probability (OP) of fish species. We developed a basin-scale fish distribution model by integrating the concept of habitat suitability assessment with a distributed hydrological model in order to estimate the OP of fish, with particular attention to flow regime. A generalized linear model was used to evaluate the relationship between the probabilities of fish occurrence and major environmental factors in river sections. A geomorphology-based hydrological model was adopted to simulate river discharge, which was used to calculate 10 flow indices. The occurrence probabilities of 50 fish species in the Sagami River in Japan were modelled. For the prediction accuracy, field survey results that included at least five observations of both the presence and the absence of each species were required to obtain relatively reliable prediction (accuracy > 60%). Using the developed model, important habitat conditions for each species were identified, which showed the importance of low-flow events for more than 10 species, including Hypomesus nipponensis and Rhinogobius fluviatilis. The model also confirmed the positive effects of natural flow and the negative effect of river-crossing structures, such as dams and weirs, on the OP of most species. The suggested approach enables us to evaluate and project the ecological consequences of water resource management policy. The results demonstrate the applicability of the fish distribution model to provide quantitative information on the flow required to maintain fish communities.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Guest editor M. Acreman

Citation Sui, P., Iwasaki, A., Saavedra, V.O.C., and Yoshimura, C., 2013. Modelling basin-scale distribution of fish occurrence probability for assessment of flow and habitat conditions in rivers. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59 (3–4), 618–628.     

我国水库综合养鱼的发展前景

本文从分析水库综合养鱼生态系统的生态关系入手,阐述了水库综合养鱼的内容、意义、理论依据以及发展水库综合养鱼的自然条件和实践基础,并对综合养鱼系统的鱼产潜力进行了预测。预测结果表明,水库发展综合养鱼比传统的粗养方式其单位面积鱼产量可获得大幅度提高。     

汉江中下游梯级枢纽联合生态调度对产漂流性卵鱼类自然繁殖的效应研究

为促进汉江中下游鱼类繁殖,2018年6月汉江中下游首次实施梯级联合生态调度试验.该研究在汉江中下游钟祥、沙洋、泽口、仙桃江段设置监测断面,采集鱼类早期资源,并在兴隆枢纽泄洪闸上、下开展鱼类溯流集群情况监测,以分析生态调度对促进汉江中下游鱼类繁殖的效果.监测结果表明汉江中下游鱼卵种类共有26种(属),其中产漂流性卵鱼类22种.监测期间漂流性卵径流量为143411万粒,其中四大家鱼卵径流量为4887万粒,占3.41%,推测汉江中下游有6处成规模的产漂流性卵鱼类产卵场.生态调度期间,坝下鱼类溯流集群随兴隆枢纽调度过程发生变化,钟祥和仙桃江段均出现两次鱼类产卵高峰,鱼卵径流量占总径流量的61.66%,并监测到四大家鱼卵,表明梯级联合生态调度结合区间来水,对汉江下游鱼类,特别是四大家鱼的繁殖具有积极的作用.     

Physical laboratory analyses of intergravel flow through brown trout redds (Salmo trutta fario) in response to coarse sand infiltration

In the spawning environment of salmonids, the quality of the intergravel flow is an essential abiotic requirement for the survival success of incubated embryos. As one of the most frequently investigated anthropogenic environmental impacts, the enhanced mobilization of fine sediments (<1 mm) and their entry into riverine ecosystems is considered as a major cause for the degradation of a variety of biological processes and habitats, including the spawning habitats of salmonids. In catchments draining crystalline bedrock, however, like the Bohemian Massif in the northern part of Austria, the excessive loading of river channels with coarse sand and fine gravel sediments (D = 1–10 mm) and less cohesive than fines is common as a consequence of altered catchment land use. Here, far less understanding exists of the mechanism and the possible implications of coarse sand infiltration on the functioning of the intergravel flow in salmonid redds. To investigate the intergravel flow hydraulics in response to coarse sand infiltration (D₅₀ = 2 mm) in brown trout spawning redds (Salmo trutta fario ) under controlled conditions, a laboratory flume experiment with three infiltration scenarios was conducted: (1) no infiltration; (2) segmental infiltration; and (3) full section infiltration. A more than two times drop in the average intergravel flow velocity was documented from scenario 1 (5.85 cms^?1) to scenario 2 (2.53 cms^?1) and another clear reduction was seen from scenario 2 (2.53 cms^?1) to scenario 3 (1.61 cms^?1). Moreover, in scenario 3, a clear reduction of the intergravel flow distance traveled was observed. Based on the findings we conclude that future considerations regarding the sustainable catchment management of salmonid fisheries should include programs to reduce not only the excessive entry of fines, but, in the relevant catchments, also the entry of excessive coarse sand into the riverine ecosystem. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

松嫩平原湖泊鱼类群聚结构

根据2008-2009年的湖泊渔业资源调查,分析松嫩平原20个湖泊鱼类群聚结构特征.结果表明,20个湖泊鱼类群聚由44种鱼类组成,隶属于4目9科34属.21种鱼类的优势度指数在10000以上,17种鱼类为优势种.群聚Margalef指数(dMa值)为0.908-3.096(1.615±0.615),Simpson指数(λ值)为0.090-0.568(0.222±0.110),Gini指数(D值)为0.432-0.910(0.778±0.107),Shannon-Wiener指数(H值)为1.012-2.690(1.878±0.431),Pielou指数(J值)为0.407-0.915(0.777±0.107).dMa值与λ值、D值、H值和J值的相关系数分别为-0.670、0.665、0.867和0.340;λ值与D值、H值和J值的相关系数分别为-0.631、-0.924和-0.896;D值与H值和J值的相关系数分别为0.924和0.896;H值和J值的相关系数为-0.639.总体上,20个湖泊鱼类群聚结构处在不稳定中.