Flow management for hydropower extirpates aquatic insects, undermining river food webs
Dams impound the majority of rivers and provide important societal benefits, especially daily water releases that enable on-peak hydroelectricity generation. Such “hydropeaking” is common worldwide, but its downstream impacts remain unclear. We evaluated the response of aquatic insects, a cornerstone of river food webs, to hydropeaking using a life history–hydrodynamic model. Our model predicts that aquatic-insect abundance will depend on a basic life-history trait—adult egg-laying behavior—such that open-water layers will be unaffected by hydropeaking, whereas ecologically important and widespread river-edge layers, such as mayflies, will be extirpated. These predictions are supported by a more-than-2500-sample, citizen-science data set of aquatic insects from the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon and by a survey of insect diversity and hydropeaking intensity across dammed rivers of the Western United States. Our study reveals a hydropeaking-related life history bottleneck that precludes viable populations of many aquatic insects from inhabiting regulated rivers.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2016 |
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Title | Flow management for hydropower extirpates aquatic insects, undermining river food webs |
DOI | 10.1093/biosci/biw059 |
Authors | Theodore A. Kennedy, Jeffrey D. Muehlbauer, Charles B. Yackulic, D.A. Lytle, S.A. Miller, Kimberly L. Dibble, Eric W. Kortenhoeven, Anya N. Metcalfe, Colden V. Baxter |
Publication Type | Article |
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Series Title | BioScience |
Index ID | 70170803 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | Southwest Biological Science Center |
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Flow management for hydropower extirpates aquatic insects, undermining river food websData
Charles B Yackulic, Ph.D.
Research Statistician
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Flow management for hydropower extirpates aquatic insects, undermining river food websData
Two unique datasets were gathered to document whether flow management for hydropower affects the abundance and diversity of aquatic insect assemblages. The first dataset was collected in Grand Canyon from 2012-2014 by citizen scientists rafting the Colorado River. Simple light traps were set out each night in camp and used to capture the adult life stages of aquatic insects that emerged from the C - Connect
Charles B Yackulic, Ph.D.
Research StatisticianEmailPhone