When the Eel Meets Dams: Larger Dams’ Long-Term Impacts on Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758)
Diadromous fish, like the European eel Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758), are highly threatened by dams that disrupt river connectivity, consequently impeding fish movements to reach feeding and spawning habitats. In this study, variation in eel occurrence between a historical period (1940–1970) and rece...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7a1fe57725c94dba9e7d6e72fc0f6c58 2023-05-15T13:27:19+02:00 When the Eel Meets Dams: Larger Dams’ Long-Term Impacts on Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758) Cinzia Podda Francesco Palmas Antonio Pusceddu Andrea Sabatini 2022-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.876369 https://doaj.org/article/7a1fe57725c94dba9e7d6e72fc0f6c58 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.876369/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-665X 2296-665X doi:10.3389/fenvs.2022.876369 https://doaj.org/article/7a1fe57725c94dba9e7d6e72fc0f6c58 Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol 10 (2022) Diadromous species European eel freshwater ecosystems damming river fragmentation Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.876369 2022-12-31T01:06:06Z Diadromous fish, like the European eel Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758), are highly threatened by dams that disrupt river connectivity, consequently impeding fish movements to reach feeding and spawning habitats. In this study, variation in eel occurrence between a historical period (1940–1970) and recent data (2016–2020) was assessed throughout the Sardinian rivers’ network (more than 450 sites). Using Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) we investigated relationships between eel’s occurrence and a set of spatial and temporal environmental variables including a set of dams’ construction features for each period. An overall decrease by 65% of eel’s occurrence was noticed during the ca. 80-years period under scrutiny. Considering a subset (105 and 88 sites for the historical and the recent period, respectively) characterized by the presence of larger dams (height >15 m), eel’s occurrence dropped by 85%. Conversely, eel’s occurrence dropped only by ca. 44% in dam-free sites. During the historical period, eel’s occurrence was mostly affected by time since the initial habitat fragmentation, flow, distance to dams, connectivity, and dams’ height. In the most recent period, eel’s occurrence is mostly affected by dams’ building year, dam-to-sea distance, and, again, dams’ height. Results pinpoint that dams’ construction features and the time from their construction have significant negative effects on eel’s occurrence. Addition of future effective eel restoration practices, apart any other adverse environmental stressor, must consider dams’ removal, wherever socially sustainable or alternatively, the modification of construction features of dams (like excessive height) and the addition of fish ladders. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla European eel Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Environmental Science 10 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Diadromous species European eel freshwater ecosystems damming river fragmentation Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
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Diadromous species European eel freshwater ecosystems damming river fragmentation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Cinzia Podda Francesco Palmas Antonio Pusceddu Andrea Sabatini When the Eel Meets Dams: Larger Dams’ Long-Term Impacts on Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758) |
topic_facet |
Diadromous species European eel freshwater ecosystems damming river fragmentation Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Diadromous fish, like the European eel Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758), are highly threatened by dams that disrupt river connectivity, consequently impeding fish movements to reach feeding and spawning habitats. In this study, variation in eel occurrence between a historical period (1940–1970) and recent data (2016–2020) was assessed throughout the Sardinian rivers’ network (more than 450 sites). Using Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) we investigated relationships between eel’s occurrence and a set of spatial and temporal environmental variables including a set of dams’ construction features for each period. An overall decrease by 65% of eel’s occurrence was noticed during the ca. 80-years period under scrutiny. Considering a subset (105 and 88 sites for the historical and the recent period, respectively) characterized by the presence of larger dams (height >15 m), eel’s occurrence dropped by 85%. Conversely, eel’s occurrence dropped only by ca. 44% in dam-free sites. During the historical period, eel’s occurrence was mostly affected by time since the initial habitat fragmentation, flow, distance to dams, connectivity, and dams’ height. In the most recent period, eel’s occurrence is mostly affected by dams’ building year, dam-to-sea distance, and, again, dams’ height. Results pinpoint that dams’ construction features and the time from their construction have significant negative effects on eel’s occurrence. Addition of future effective eel restoration practices, apart any other adverse environmental stressor, must consider dams’ removal, wherever socially sustainable or alternatively, the modification of construction features of dams (like excessive height) and the addition of fish ladders. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cinzia Podda Francesco Palmas Antonio Pusceddu Andrea Sabatini |
author_facet |
Cinzia Podda Francesco Palmas Antonio Pusceddu Andrea Sabatini |
author_sort |
Cinzia Podda |
title |
When the Eel Meets Dams: Larger Dams’ Long-Term Impacts on Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758) |
title_short |
When the Eel Meets Dams: Larger Dams’ Long-Term Impacts on Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758) |
title_full |
When the Eel Meets Dams: Larger Dams’ Long-Term Impacts on Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758) |
title_fullStr |
When the Eel Meets Dams: Larger Dams’ Long-Term Impacts on Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758) |
title_full_unstemmed |
When the Eel Meets Dams: Larger Dams’ Long-Term Impacts on Anguilla anguilla (L., 1758) |
title_sort |
when the eel meets dams: larger dams’ long-term impacts on anguilla anguilla (l., 1758) |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.876369 https://doaj.org/article/7a1fe57725c94dba9e7d6e72fc0f6c58 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
op_source |
Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol 10 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.876369/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-665X 2296-665X doi:10.3389/fenvs.2022.876369 https://doaj.org/article/7a1fe57725c94dba9e7d6e72fc0f6c58 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.876369 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Environmental Science |
container_volume |
10 |
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