The nexus between ecohydraulics and the freshwater biodiversity crisis
Abstract:
Freshwater biodiversity has been in sharp decline at higher rates than the terrestrial biota since 1970. For example, recent estimates account for a decline of -81% in migratory freshwater fish populations between 1970 and 2020. This scenario triggered the discussion of an Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity, which includes 6 priority actions. Ecohydraulics, as a discipline and community of practice, can contribute to supporting and realising the recovery plan. In this seminar, I’ll bring examples of ecohydraulics research that may contribute to some priority actions, particularly those related to reestablishing river connectivity, improving environmental flows and protecting habitats for fish. For instance, the early life stages of fish, particularly, are the most threatened by rapidly changing flow conditions in riverine systems. They may struggle to follow the spatial shift in habitat and discharge conditions caused by peak flows downstream of hydropower dams, impairing their capacity to colonise suitable habitats for growth. Although we understand key environmental triggers and broad patterns of larval and juvenile drift in riverine ecosystems, knowledge of the mechanistic processes leading to larval responses in different hydromorphological conditions remains scant. To bridge that gap, we have developed image-based approaches applied to laboratory and field conditions that allowed us to quantify fine-scale movement and drift responses of fish and other aquatic organisms with high resolution and at multiple time scales. In this presentation, I’ll discuss the results of an innovative image-based fish tracking approach used to assess the fine-scale responses of juvenile trout to hydropeaking in a hydraulic flume and present the Riverine Organism Drift Imager – RODI, a camera system that can significantly advance our capacity to understand drift in riverine ecosystems.
Short bio:
Luiz is a senior researcher at ETH Zurich, Stocker Lab. He has an interdisciplinary background in fish ecology (bachelor and master) and mechanical engineering (PhD). He has about 15 years of experience assessing the impacts of hydropower on fish and developing mitigation solutions on a global scale. His research has focused on the design and assessment of fish passage, turbine entrainment and mortality, hydropeaking and larval drift. Luiz is also a member of the steering committee of the fish passage conference and past president of the International Fisheries Section of the American Fisheries Society.
Sandwiches are offered at the end of the seminar.
Freshwater biodiversity has been in sharp decline at higher rates than the terrestrial biota since 1970. For example, recent estimates account for a decline of -81% in migratory freshwater fish populations between 1970 and 2020. This scenario triggered the discussion of an Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity, which includes 6 priority actions. Ecohydraulics, as a discipline and community of practice, can contribute to supporting and realising the recovery plan. In this seminar, I’ll bring examples of ecohydraulics research that may contribute to some priority actions, particularly those related to reestablishing river connectivity, improving environmental flows and protecting habitats for fish. For instance, the early life stages of fish, particularly, are the most threatened by rapidly changing flow conditions in riverine systems. They may struggle to follow the spatial shift in habitat and discharge conditions caused by peak flows downstream of hydropower dams, impairing their capacity to colonise suitable habitats for growth. Although we understand key environmental triggers and broad patterns of larval and juvenile drift in riverine ecosystems, knowledge of the mechanistic processes leading to larval responses in different hydromorphological conditions remains scant. To bridge that gap, we have developed image-based approaches applied to laboratory and field conditions that allowed us to quantify fine-scale movement and drift responses of fish and other aquatic organisms with high resolution and at multiple time scales. In this presentation, I’ll discuss the results of an innovative image-based fish tracking approach used to assess the fine-scale responses of juvenile trout to hydropeaking in a hydraulic flume and present the Riverine Organism Drift Imager – RODI, a camera system that can significantly advance our capacity to understand drift in riverine ecosystems.
Short bio:
Luiz is a senior researcher at ETH Zurich, Stocker Lab. He has an interdisciplinary background in fish ecology (bachelor and master) and mechanical engineering (PhD). He has about 15 years of experience assessing the impacts of hydropower on fish and developing mitigation solutions on a global scale. His research has focused on the design and assessment of fish passage, turbine entrainment and mortality, hydropeaking and larval drift. Luiz is also a member of the steering committee of the fish passage conference and past president of the International Fisheries Section of the American Fisheries Society.
Sandwiches are offered at the end of the seminar.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- Prof. Olga Fink (IMOS), Prof. Alexandre Alahi (VITA), Prof. Dusan Licina (HOBEL), Prof. Alain Nussbaumer (RESSLab)
Contact
- Paolo Perona