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

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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.