Fragmentation of Andes-to-Amazon connectivity by hydropower dams

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Abstract

Hydropower development in the Andean Amazon has been underestimated and will disrupt connected human and natural systems.

Abstract

Andes-to-Amazon river connectivity controls numerous natural and human systems in the greater Amazon. However, it is being rapidly altered by a wave of new hydropower development, the impacts of which have been previously underestimated. We document 142 dams existing or under construction and 160 proposed dams for rivers draining the Andean headwaters of the Amazon. Existing dams have fragmented the tributary networks of six of eight major Andean Amazon river basins. Proposed dams could result in significant losses in river connectivity in river mainstems of five of eight major systems—the Napo, Marañón, Ucayali, Beni, and Mamoré. With a newly reported 671 freshwater fish species inhabiting the Andean headwaters of the Amazon (>500 m), dams threaten previously unrecognized biodiversity, particularly among endemic and migratory species. Because Andean rivers contribute most of the sediment in the mainstem Amazon, losses in river connectivity translate to drastic alteration of river channel and floodplain geomorphology and associated ecosystem services.

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Most cited references 42

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DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT. Balancing hydropower and biodiversity in the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong.

K. Winemiller, P McIntyre, L. Del Castello … (2016)

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Fragmentation and flow regulation of river systems in the northern third of the world.

M Dynesius, C. Nilsson (1994)

Seventy-seven percent of the total water discharge of the 139 largest river systems in North America north of Mexico, in Europe, and in the republics of the former Soviet Union is strongly or moderately affected by fragmentation of the river channels by dams and by water regulation resulting from reservoir operation, interbasin diversion, and irrigation. The remaining free-flowing large river systems are relatively small and nearly all situated in the far north, as are the 59 medium-sized river systems of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. These conditions indicate that many types of river ecosystems have been lost and that the populations of many riverine species have become highly fragmented. To improve the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of biological resources, immediate action is called for to create an international preservation network of free-flowing river systems and to rehabilitate exploited rivers in areas that lack unaffected watercourses.

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Fish biodiversity and conservation in South America.

R. Reis, J. Albert, F Di Dario … (2016)

The freshwater and marine fish faunas of South America are the most diverse on Earth, with current species richness estimates standing above 9100 species. In addition, over the last decade at least 100 species were described every year. There are currently about 5160 freshwater fish species, and the estimate for the freshwater fish fauna alone points to a final diversity between 8000 and 9000 species. South America also has c. 4000 species of marine fishes. The mega-diverse fish faunas of South America evolved over a period of >100 million years, with most lineages tracing origins to Gondwana and the adjacent Tethys Sea. This high diversity was in part maintained by escaping the mass extinctions and biotic turnovers associated with Cenozoic climate cooling, the formation of boreal and temperate zones at high latitudes and aridification in many places at equatorial latitudes. The fresh waters of the continent are divided into 13 basin complexes, large basins consolidated as a single unit plus historically connected adjacent coastal drainages, and smaller coastal basins grouped together on the basis of biogeographic criteria. Species diversity, endemism, noteworthy groups and state of knowledge of each basin complex are described. Marine habitats around South America, both coastal and oceanic, are also described in terms of fish diversity, endemism and state of knowledge. Because of extensive land use changes, hydroelectric damming, water divergence for irrigation, urbanization, sedimentation and overfishing 4-10% of all fish species in South America face some degree of extinction risk, mainly due to habitat loss and degradation. These figures suggest that the conservation status of South American freshwater fish faunas is better than in most other regions of the world, but the marine fishes are as threatened as elsewhere. Conserving the remarkable aquatic habitats and fishes of South America is a growing challenge in face of the rapid anthropogenic changes of the 21st century, and deserves attention from conservationists and policy makers.

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Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Sci Adv

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Sci Adv

Journal ID (publisher-id): SciAdv

Journal ID (hwp): advances

Title: Science Advances

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science

ISSN (Electronic): 2375-2548

Publication date Collection: January 2018

Publication date (Electronic): 31 January 2018

Volume: 4

Issue: 1

Electronic Location Identifier: eaao1642

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Earth and Environment and Institute for Water and Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA.

[2 ]IPÊ—Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas, Nazaré Paulista, São Paulo 12960, Brazil.

[3 ]SavingSpecies Inc., Holly Springs, NC 27540, USA.

[4 ]Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

[5 ]Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.

[6 ]Unidad de Ecología y Sistemática (UNESIS), Laboratorio de Ictiología, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia.

[7 ]FAUNAGUA, Cochabamba, Bolivia.

[8 ]ECOSINTEGRALES SRL, Cochabamba, Bolivia.

[9 ]Instituto BIOSFERA, Laboratorio de Ecología Acuática, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador.

[10 ]IMAR/MARE, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3001-456 Coimbra, Portugal.

[11 ]Carrera de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.

[12 ]Departamento de Ictiología, Museo de Historia Natural–Universidad Nacional Mayor San Marcos, Lima, Peru.

[13 ]Wildlife Conservation Society, Av. Roosevelt 6360, Miraflores, Lima, Peru.

[14 ]Department of Biology, Francis Marion University, Florence, SC 29506, USA.

[15 ]Unidad de Limnología y Recursos Acuáticos, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Cochabamba, Bolivia.

[16 ]UMR5174 EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique), CNRS, IRD, UPS, ENSFEA, Université Paul Sabatier, F-31062 Toulouse, France.

Author notes

[* ]Corresponding author. Email: epanders@ 123456fiu.edu

Author information

Elizabeth P. Anderson http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4641-5810

Clinton N. Jenkins http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2198-0637

Sebastian Heilpern http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8673-3149

Javier A. Maldonado-Ocampo http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3024-237X

Fernando M. Carvajal-Vallejos http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9110-490X

Andrea C. Encalada http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2497-6086

Juan Francisco Rivadeneira http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3293-8381

Max Hidalgo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0071-5159

Carlos M. Cañas http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9076-6525

Hernan Ortega http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4396-2598

Norma Salcedo http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6254-7288

Mabel Maldonado http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8112-5635

Pablo A. Tedesco http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5972-5928

Article

Publisher ID: aao1642

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao1642

PMC ID: 5792221

PubMed ID: 29399629

SO-VID: fb6e7b78-b0ef-45f8-a44a-b85ae6dbddfe

Copyright © Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).

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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.

History

Date received : 21 June 2017

Date accepted : 05 January 2018

Funding

Funded by: U.S. Agency for International Development / Higher Education for Development;

Award ID: award335183

Award ID: HED012-9748-LAC-12-03

Funded by: The MacArthur Foundation;

Award ID: award335184

Award ID: 16-1607-151053-CSD

Funded by: European Union Seventh Framework Programme ERANet LAC;

Award ID: award335185

Award ID: ELAC2014/DCC-0210

Funded by: French Laboratory of Excellence;

Award ID: award368537

Award ID: ANR-10-LABX-25-01

Funded by: French Laboratory of Excellence;

Award ID: award368538

Award ID: ANR-10-LABX-41

Funded by: French Laboratory of Excellence;

Award ID: award368539

Award ID: ANR-11-IDEX-0002-02

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Copyeditor Jeanelle Ebreo

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Fragmentation of Andes-to-Amazon connectivity by hydropower dams

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Renewable Energy - Hydropower

Most cited references 42

DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT. Balancing hydropower and biodiversity in the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong.

Fragmentation and flow regulation of river systems in the northern third of the world.

Fish biodiversity and conservation in South America.

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