Impacts of cascaded small hydropower plants on microzooplankton in Xiangxi River, China

The impacts of small hydropower plants (SHPs) on zooplankton assemblages were investigated in six cascaded SHPs along the Xiangxi River in October 2005. Five sites were sampled at each SHP. Fifty-six rotifer species which belong to 21 genera of 13 families and a nauplius species were identified in this study. Most rotifers were benthic species. The dominant rotifer species were Rotaria tardigrada, R. rotatoria, Philodina erythrophthalma, Colurella adriati, C. uncinata, Cephalodella catellina, Euchlanus dilatata, Lecane crenata and Keratella cochlearis. The Jaccard similarity index among these sections was very low, ranging from 24.33 to 58.54. The chlorophyll a (Chl a) of phytoplankton ranged from 0.37 to 1.22 ug/l, and the highest appeared in Xiaodangyang SHP. The richness, Simpson, Shannon–Wiener and Margalef diversity indices of zooplankton ranged in 4.8–21.4, 0.53–0.89, 1.12–2.58 and 0.42–1.64, respectively. In Xiangxi River, zooplankton density was low, no more than 9000 ind./m³, and the highest was observed at the down section of the river, while the lowest was at the up section of the river. Nevertheless, the richness and density in Xiaodangyang SHP were very high, only second to those in Zhaojun SHP. Apart from Xiaodangyang SHP, richness and diversity indices of zooplankton increased gradually from the upstream to the downstream. Xiangxi River was disturbed by human activities due to the cascaded development of SHPs. From Xiaodangyang SHP to Cangpinghe SHP, the richness and diversity indices of zooplankton were relatively higher at Site 3, whereas in Houzibao SHP and Zhaojun SHP, the lowest were at Site 3. The dam of SHP had significant effects on the zooplankton community. The outlet of SHP had no effect on the zooplankton community.