The potential trade‐off between artisanal fisheries production and hydroelectricity generation on the Kafue River,Zambia

1. Freshwater resource managers are increasingly obligated to consider the impacts of large river engineering projects on ecosystem services. We evaluated the effect of altered water regime from the operation of a large dam on the production of the downstream tropical floodplain fishery of the Kafue River, Zambia. We compared the benefits of increased hydropower relative to potentially lost fishery production. 2. We compiled a long‐term data set consisting of experimental gillnet catches, artisanal harvesting effort and monthly river flows for 25 years prior to and 29 years after the 1977 completion of the upstream Itezhi‐Tezhi Dam. As a metric of the flood regime, we calculated a canonical correlation score for each hydrological year before and after dam closure. For the period following dam construction, we used the Muskingum method of flood routing to estimate ‘no‐dam’ flows through the fishery area and downstream hydroelectric turbines at the Kafue Gorge Dam. 3. We compared 16 alternative models of catch per unit effort (CPUE) with and without an effect of water regime on fish population growth rate. Using the two best fitting models, we estimated the total observed fishery harvest and simulated ‘no‐dam’ fisheries harvest and found no significant effect of altered water regime on fishery production. 4. We estimate that the large upstream dam increases downstream hydropower production by about $18 million USD per annum. The reduction in fishery production caused by the altered water regime is not significantly different than zero, although the average reduction amounts to about $2.3 million annually. The total estimated value of harvest ranges from $1.3 million to $56 million annually. 5. Large observed declines in fish abundance over the 54‐year study period are attributed primarily with similarly large increases in total fishing effort in this mostly open‐access artisanal fishery. 6. These results contrast with other examples of the effects of flow alteration on fish, probably because levels of fisheries exploitation on the Kafue River are very high relative to better studied regions on other continents; our focus on the whole fish community; and the unprecedented length of the time series we considered. If the goal is to sustain fishery production, investments in altering flow regime are likely to be less effective than investments to decrease fishing effort.     

Hydrologic effects on riparian vegetation in a boreal river: an experiment testing climate change predictions

Climate change is expected to alter the magnitude and variation of flow in streams and rivers, hence providing new conditions for riverine communities. We evaluated plant ecological responses to climate change by transplanting turfs of riparian vegetation to new elevations in the riparian zone, thus simulating expected changes in water‐level variation, and monitored the results over 6 years. Turfs moved to higher elevations decreased in biomass and increased in species richness, whereas turfs transplanted to lower elevations gained biomass but lost species. Transplanted plant communities responded slowly to the new hydrologic conditions. After 6 years, biomass of transplanted turfs was statistically indistinguishable from target level controls, but species richness and species composition of transplants were intermediate between original and target levels. By using projections of future stream flow according to IPCC climate change scenarios, we predict likely changes to riparian vegetation in boreal rivers. Climate‐driven hydrologic changes are predicted to result in narrower riparian zones along the studied Vindel River in northern Sweden towards the end of the 21st century. Present riparian plant communities are projected to be replaced by terrestrial communities at high elevations as a result of lower‐magnitude spring floods, and by amphibious or aquatic communities at low elevations as a result of higher autumn and winter flows. Changes to riparian vegetation may be larger in other boreal climate regions: snow melt fed spring floods are predicted to disappear in southern parts of the boreal zone, which would result in considerable loss of riparian habitat. Our study emphasizes the importance of long‐term ecological field experiments given that plant communities often respond slowly and in a nonlinear fashion to external pressures.     

安徽铜陵河流附生细菌多样性

通过对铜陵地区不同河段的上覆水和沉积物的理化性质进行分析,结合聚合酶链式反应-变性梯度凝胶电泳（PCR-DGGE）的方法,研究了铜陵不同河段中附生细菌的多样性及其与环境因子的关系。结果表明,8个河段中上覆水和沉积物的营养水平及重金属含量存在较大差异,不同河段附生细菌的多样性指数也存在差异。数据分析表明,铜陵河流中黄浒河附生细菌的多样性最高,顺安河下游和钟仓河附生细菌的多样性最低。这种差异主要与河段间上覆水和沉积物不同的营养水平、重金属含量水平等因素有关。附生细菌的香农-威纳多样性与上覆水中的氨态氮（NH3-N）、总氮（TN）、总磷（TP）、可溶性正磷酸盐（PO3-4-P）和高锰酸盐指数（COD Mn）呈显著或极显著负相关,与沉积物中镉（Cd）、铜（Cu）和锌（Zn）的含量具有显著或极显著正相关性。     

干旱区内陆流域区域景观生态风险分析--以阜康三工河流域为例

本文以新疆阜康三工河流域为研究区域,分析了干旱区内陆流域的景观生态的基本特点。在此基础上,基于景观格局构造了景观损失指数和综合风险指数作为区域景观生态风险评价指标,并利用空间分析方法对风险指数进行变量空间化,通过对生态风险指数采样结果进行半方差分析和空间插值,揭示了该区域的生态环境状况的空间分布特征。结果表明：研究区内的生态风险有不断扩大的趋势,区域内形成三个高的景观生态风险区域。根据评价结果,提出了内陆流域生态环境的重点保护与治理区以及合理的保护与综合整治对策。     

Diatoms in river water-monitoring studies

Diatoms grow abundantly in rivers, colonising almost all suitable habitats. They have been used extensively in studies related to the monitoring of water quality. This review attempts to draw together data from a wide variety of approaches. The advantage of sampling discrete habitats is stressed and particular attention is paid to the diatom flora of stone surfaces (epilithon) which is the favoured source in many studies. The advantages and drawbacks of the techniques are discussed and some hopefully helpful suggestions made. The historical development of the topic is briefly surveyed, but no attempt has been made to present a comprohensive review of the literature which has increased enormously in the last few decades.     

Longitudinal zonation of lotic insects in the Bandama River system (Ivory Coast)

The longitudinal zonation of three lotic insect groups, viz. Hydropsychidae (Trichoptera), Philopotamidae (Trichoptera), and the Simulium damnosum complex (Diptera) in the Bandama River system (West Africa) is anomalous when compared to the patterns known from other geographical areas: In general from the highest to the lowest riffles downstream there appears to be no clear species replacement. Instead, there is a steady increase of species numbers due to the occurrence of additional species. These distributions are related to the gradient in the length of the period without flow from the north (temporary streams) to the south (permanent running waters), the consequent lack of well-defined sources and the relatively gentle slopes of the channels.     

Pieter Hendrik Nienhuis: Aquatic Ecologist and Environmental Scientist

Prof. Dr. Pieter Hendrik (Piet) Nienhuis worked for almost 40 years in all aspects of aquatic ecology and environmental science and retired on 31 October 2003. He can be characterised as a distinguished scientist, shaped in an applied estuarine and aquatic research ambience of the former Delta Institute for Hydrobiological Research (DIHO) in Yerseke in the Netherlands. His appointment as a full professor at the Radboud University Nijmegen offered him a challenging step from monodisciplinarity in ecology, via multidisciplinarity in the application of ecological knowledge in river science to interdisciplinarity in environmental science and management. This paper describes his education, teaching activities, research, scientific publications, science management, and significance for various scientific disciplines. He made important contributions to biosystematics of angiosperms and algae, the ecology of seagrasses, nutrient cycling and eutrophication in estuarine ecosystems, and the integrated modelling of the ecological functioning of estuaries. Subsequently, he paid much attention to environmental problems in river basins, ecological rehabilitation and sustainable development. His work influenced the view of ecologists, aquatic scientists and water managers in the Netherlands as well as abroad, in particular regarding the drawbacks of compartmentalization of the estuaries and the importance of connectivity and morphodynamics in river systems. In hindsight, it appears as a logical line that he gradually moved from estuarine ecological research that became increasingly driven by societal and environmental problems to the field of environmental science and management.     

The relation between geomorphological features and species richness in the low flow channel of the Warche,downstream from the Bütgenbach dam (Ardennes,Belgium)

The Butgenbach dam, built on the Warche River (Ardennes, Belgium) in 1931 brought about two major changes: a significant reduction in the frequency and magnitude of the minimum discharges during the growing season (April–September) and the formation of numerous new geomorphological features (islets, pebble bars and rock outcrops) in the low flow channel. These changes have lead to an increase in the number of vascular plants downstream from the dam. Between 1994 and 1997, 74 species (bryophytes and phanerogams) were found downstream from the dam and 12 species were identified upstream. Downstream, most of the species are typical of damp semi-natural grasslands and of the banks of the Haute Ardennes—environments both characterised by oligotrophy. Euryoecious species (with a wide ecological range) and nitrophile species (that indicate pollution of the Warche from urban effluents and agricultural fertilisers) are also present. However, the distribution of plant species in the low flow channel is very heterogeneous. The number of species varies from one geomorphological unit to another. Species are more numerous on islets (54 species) than on rock outcrops (35 species) and gravel bars (28 species). On the islets, the number of species present varies in accordance with the degree of erosion. The islets that are most eroded and those that are least eroded display a poor range of flora. The degree of erosion influences the depth of silt, pebbles and litter on the islets. With regard to rock outcrops, the wealth of flora present depends on the form they take. Stratified outcrops are richer in flora than protruding outcrops. The number of plant species present on gravel bars depends on the frequency and the scale of remobilisation of pebbly material by floods. Following large floods, the vegetation cover and the number of different species decreases. But, if the sites remain stable, the number of species first of all increases, only then to decrease due to the proliferation of competitive species such as Phalaris arundinacea L. The ranges of species found on the different geomorphological features do not display a high degree of similarity. Canonical correlation analysis reveals that the density and the total number of species on geomorphological features are most strongly influenced by the proportion of fine particulates (<2 mm).