96th ESA Annual Meeting (August 7 -- 12, 2011)

OOS 16 - Maintaining Hydrologic Connectivity to Preserve Biodiversity in a World Hungry for Hydropower

Tuesday, August 9, 2011: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
17B, Austin Convention Center
Organizer:
Nathan Lujan
Co-organizer:
Kirk O. Winemiller
Moderator:
Nathan Lujan
In this organized oral session, rising and established aquatic biologists and river conservationists will assemble to discuss factors that contribute to maintenance of lateral and longitudinal connectivity in the face of intense pressure to impede connectivity beyond limits needed to maintain biodiversity in lotic systems. Session participants from many latitudes will explore how recent advances in basic ecological research can offer solutions to key technical sticking points in determining requirements for maintaining lateral connectivity and predicting and mediating effects of longitudinal connectivity lost to dams. Participants will also describe how the need for improved technical solutions has yielded new avenues of inquiry in basic ecology research. Specific topics will include discharge magnitude and pulse periodicity to maintain lateral connectivity, design recommendations to minimize losses in longitudinal connectivity due to hydrologic dam construction, potential for mitigation of losses to longitudinal connectivity, and the fundamental similarities and differences in the response of temperate versus tropical rivers to impeded lateral and longitudinal connectivity.
1:30 PM
Anthropogenic impacts and longitudinal, elevational effects on the periphyton, macroinvertebrate, and fish communities of an Amazonian headwater
Dean Jacobsen, University of Copenhagen; Nathan K. Lujan, Texas A&M University; Vanessa Meza V., University of San Marcos; Katie Roach, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières; Vania Rimarachín C., University of San Marcos; Jerry Arana M., University of San Marcos; Kirk O. Winemiller, Texas A&M University
1:50 PM
Challenges and opportunities for maintaining hydrologic connectivity in montane Neotropical streams
Elizabeth P. Anderson, Florida International University; Catherine M. Pringle, University of Georgia
2:10 PM
Mitigating biodiversity and ecosystem function losses in the Parana River, the world’s most fragmented river basin
Angelo Agostinho, Universidade Estadual de Maringá; Luiz Carlos Gomes, Universidade Estadual de Maringá; Sidinei Magela Thomaz, Universidade Estadual de Maringá
2:30 PM
Freshwater fish and connectivity in tropical northern Australian rivers
Brad Pusey, Griffith University; Mark Kennard, Griffith University; Tim Jardine, Griffith University
3:10 PM
3:40 PM
Effects of habitat isolation on species turnover and community nestedness in a desert river system
Seiji Miyazono, Texas Tech University; Chris Taylor, Texas Tech University
4:00 PM
Models in the penstocks: putting theory to work for river conservation
Daniel A. Auerbach, Colorado State University
4:20 PM
Sustainable hydropower development in the Mekong River
Guy Ziv, University of Leeds; Eric Baran, World Fish Centre, Cambodia; Ignacio Rudriguez-Iturbe, Princeton University; Simon A. Levin, Princeton University
See more of: Organized Oral Session