Ecohydraulogical Characteristic Index System of Schizopygopsis younghusbandi during Spawning Periods in the Yarlung Tsangpo River

Qing-Yuan Liu, Jia Li, Rui-Dong An and Yong Li
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Qing-Yuan Liu: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Jia Li: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Rui-Dong An: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Yong Li: State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: To address the species decline in aboriginal fish in the Yarlung Tsangpo River Basin and the lack of research on the habitat characteristics of fish spawning grounds, this paper studied the changing trends in runoff in spawning grounds and the habitat conditions characteristics of Schizopygopsis younghusbandi during the spawning period. In conventional approaches, inaccurate statistical results are obtained when a full river section is taken as the region to be assessed, so a new method for determining the statistical boundaries of characteristic indexes was proposed. By combining hydrological analyses, mathematical statistics, and numerical simulations, the statistical boundary of the index was determined, and a suitable range for the habitat characteristic indexes for the spawning field was finally obtained. The results showed that (1) the maximum percentage of the statistical boundary for the spawning grounds was 39% near the banks on both sides of the river; (2) the flow during the spawning period exhibited small variations, a short duration and a fluctuation cycle and was dominated by water rising events, and the interannual growth trend in the daily flow was obvious; and (3) during the spawning period, the flow velocity of the fish habitat was small, the turbulence level of the fluid was low, and the flow regime was stable. A suitable range for the habitat characteristic index of the target fish provided the basic data for the protection of aboriginal fish and was beneficial to maintain the balance of aquatic ecological system in the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The results of this study contribute to the rational development of water resources in the basin and the protection of species diversity and water environment.

Keywords: fish habitat protection; Schizopygopsis younghusbandi; statistical boundary of spawning grounds; ecohydrological indexes; ecohydraulic indexes; Yarlung Tsangpo river basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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