Evaluating the impact of power station regulation on the suitability of drifting spawning fish habitat based on the fuzzy evaluation method

Abstract

Ecological regulation is an important means of reservoir adaptive management, but its effective evaluation faces two major difficulties: the response mechanism of fish spawning behavior is not completely clear, and how to establish a feedback regulation relationship of hydrological processes to improve the river environment is unknown. Based on a long-term series of early fish resources, hydrology, water temperature, and meteorology data, this research clarifies the fish spawning habitat requirements in the power station regulation environment, determines a habitat suitability evaluation index system and evaluation criteria, reveals the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of fish habitat suitability under power station regulation based on the fuzzy logic method, provides feedback to the existing regulation scheme, and proposes suggestions for sustainable adaptive management of the reservoir. The temporal and spatial variation characteristics of the spawning river sections habitat suitability are the comprehensive differences among multiple objectives and factors. The habitat suitability of each river section decreases after impoundment, especially in May, which is related to the delayed of water temperature changes under reservoir regulation. The reduced suitability of the Yibin(YB) river section is most affected by the impoundment regulation of the Xiluodu Reservoir (XLDR) and Xiangjiaba Reservoir (XJBR), while the Luzhou(LZ) river section is affected by the inflow of the Minjiang River (MJ) tributary, which reduces the suitability difference before and after impoundment. The Jiangjin(JJ) river section is less affected by the regulation of the XJBR and is greatly affected by tributaries and rainfall. How to adjust the regulation strategies under the new boundaries and new situations in the future, which are affected by the cumulative impact of the sustainable development of upstream cascades, is the focus of reservoir adaptive management. This research can provide technical support for the management of cascade reservoirs under future scenarios.

Keywords: Adaptive management; Drifting spawning fish; Fuzzy evaluation; Habitat suitability evaluation; Reservoir ecological regulation.