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Ecological and behavioural influences on juvenile fish migrations in regulated rivers: a review of experimental and field studies

  • EIFAC 2006: DAMS, WEIRS AND FISH
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Abstract

This paper reviews results of experimental and field studies of downstream migration of young fish carried out in the Institute of Ecology and Evolution (Russian Academy of Sciences) as a part of the research programme on fish behaviour and ecology. Studies of fish migrations have been dominated by descriptions of migratory routes and proximate control of orientation. Behaviour and ecological factors influencing variability of downstream migrations of fish larvae and fry are still poorly understood. Life cycles of most of freshwater fishes can be roughly considered as a sequence of “residential” and “migratory” phases. Migrating, or just moving between microhabitats, fish are especially vulnerable to various threats including impacts of water abstraction systems. Abiotic (water flow velocity, rheogradients, turbulence, visual habitat heterogeneity) and biotic (foraging conditions, predators, competitors and parasites) factors can cause changes in fish spatial distribution as well as shift from residential to migratory behaviour. From the viewpoint of fish protection, these changes are important not only in the vicinity of water abstraction sites, but also in more distant parts of the aquatic system that should be taken into account in long-term assessments of impacts of abstraction on fish populations in regulated rivers. Besides macro- and meso-scale impacts that affect fish migrations and spatial distribution, micro-scale habitat heterogeneity (hydrodynamic and visual) are important as factors triggering and controlling various aspects of young fish behaviour. Interactions of water abstraction zones with fish populations have to be analysed at ecological (meso-scale spatial overlapping and long-term dynamics) and behavioural (effects of micro-scale structures and events) levels.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (projects 05-04-48693 to VM, 05-04-48395 to DP), and by a grant for the Support of Leading Scientific Schools (DP).

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  1. A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology & Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii prospect 33, Moscow, 119071, Russia

    Dmitrii S. Pavlov, Victor N. Mikheev, Alexander I. Lupandin & Mikhail A. Skorobogatov

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  1. Dmitrii S. Pavlov
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  2. Victor N. Mikheev
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  3. Alexander I. Lupandin
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  4. Mikhail A. Skorobogatov
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Correspondence to Dmitrii S. Pavlov.

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Hydropower, Flood Control and Water Abstraction: Implications for Fish and Fisheries

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Pavlov, D.S., Mikheev, V.N., Lupandin, A.I. et al. Ecological and behavioural influences on juvenile fish migrations in regulated rivers: a review of experimental and field studies. Hydrobiologia 609, 125–138 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-008-9396-y

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