DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Hydrological controls of riverine ecosystems of the Napo River (Amazon Basin): Implications for the management and conservation of biodiversity

论文研究：纳波河（亚马逊流域）河流生态系统的水文控制：对生物多样性管理和保护的影响

• 批准号: 1011297
• 负责人: Stephen Hamilton
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-07-01 至 2011-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1011297&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Hydrological; controls; riverine

This study seeks to understand the hydrological interactions and habitat diversity of the Napo River, a major Amazon tributary that drains 100,000 km2 of Andean forest lands. It is a sparsely inhabited region of exceptional biodiversity. The lowland Napo River (860 km) has been identified by development groups as a key link for a continent-wide navigation network that would connect Pacific ports, Andean highways, and the mainstem Amazon. This proposed conversion of the Napo River into an industrial waterway would require engineering to increase and stabilize its depth, which could lead to significant alterations to the hydrology of adjacent floodplains. There has been little ecological work on the hydrology of the river and its impact on floodplains that can underpin a scientific assessment, although it is known that local inhabitants depend on these resources and on ecological processes dictated by the flood pulse of the river. This study will identify the temporal and spatial variability of water levels in the region, assess the extent and diversity of floodplains and wetlands, and determine how alteration of the water-level regime of the river may affect biodiversity and ecosystem services associated with floodplains and wetlands of the Napo River system. Remote sensing techniques will be combined with data from 100s of deployed temperature sensors, water chemistry measurements, and applied in a hydrologic model.The outcomes of this research will improve the current understanding of floodplain-river interactions, and as such, can contribute to the scientific basis upon which decisions about this large development project, as well as about biodiversity and related conservation targets, can be informed.

本研究旨在了解纳波河的水文相互作用和生境多样性，纳波河是亚马逊河的一条主要支流，流经安第斯山脉10万平方公里的林地。这是一个人烟稀少的地区，具有特殊的生物多样性。 低地纳波河（860公里）已被发展集团确定为连接太平洋港口、安第斯公路和亚马逊河主干线的全大陆航运网络的关键环节。将纳波河改造成工业水道的提议需要工程来增加和稳定其深度，这可能会导致邻近洪泛区水文的重大改变。关于该河的水文及其对洪泛区的影响的生态工作很少，可以作为科学评估的基础，尽管人们知道当地居民依赖这些资源和该河洪水脉动所决定的生态过程。这项研究将查明该区域水位的时间和空间变异性，评估洪泛区和湿地的范围和多样性，并确定河流水位状况的改变如何影响与纳波河水系洪泛区和湿地有关的生物多样性和生态系统服务。遥感技术将与来自100多个部署的温度传感器、水化学测量的数据相结合，并应用于水文模型。这项研究的成果将提高目前对洪泛区-河流相互作用的理解，因此，可以为有关这个大型开发项目以及生物多样性和相关保护目标的决策提供科学依据。