2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/22/2018 | 11:45 AM - 12:00 PM | RIVER FRAGMENTATION BY HYDROPOWER IN COSTA RICA AND POTENTIAL IMPACTS FOR FISH FAUNA. | 310 A
RIVER FRAGMENTATION BY HYDROPOWER IN COSTA RICA AND POTENTIAL IMPACTS FOR FISH FAUNA.
River fragmentation caused by small dams has been overlooked in connectivity assessments. Costa Rica experienced a boom in hydropower development ahead of current global trends, during which many small dams were constructed. We used Costa Rica as a test case to address two questions: (1) What are the effects of widespread hydropower development on river connectivity? and (2) What are the expected consequences of extensive damming on native fish species? Our study found that existing hydropower development has focused mainly in four basins in Costa Rica. Even though these basins have a similar number of dams (19-22), losses in river connectivity from dams varies greatly. The loss in connectivity produced by the small dams and the dewatered segments is non-additive. However, when tested individually both factors (i.e. small dams and dewatered segments) can have the same negative impact on connectivity. Our results suggest that dams have affected a total of 90 species, including nine amphidromous and 10 endemic species. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first national-scale assessment of the effects of hydropower development on rivers and fishes in Costa Rica.
- Connectivity
- Hydropower
- Tropical Rivers
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Presenters/Authors
Aldo Farah-Pérez
(), Florida International University, afara017@fiu.edu;
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Jorge Picado-Barboza
(), Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, jpicado@ice.go.cr;
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Gerardo Umaña-Villalobos
(), Universidad de Costa Rica, gerardo.umana@ucr.ac.cr;
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Elizabeth P Anderson
(), Florida International University, epanders@fiu.edu;
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