Danube Under Pressure: Hydropower Rules the Fish

Résumé fourni par la source

Major studies, conducted recently at some Danube hydropower impoundments and along the river itself, have pinpointed certain challenging ecological situations for certain faunal associations (Schiemer 2000; Jungwirth 1984; Waidbacher 1989; Herzig 1987; Bretschko1992). One of the important groups affected are riverine fish assemblages. Fish communities are good indicators of habitat structure as well as of the ecological integrity of river systems due to their complex habitat requirements at different stages of their life cycles (Schmutz et al. 2014; Schiemer 2000; Schmutz and Jungwirth 1999). The construction of impoundments changes river systems ecologically by disrupting the connection between the river and the lateral backwaters, by changing the shoreline, and by stabilizing previously dynamic water levels as well as other impacts (Schiemer and Waidbacher 1992).