Ecological Dominant Discharge: Developing a New Concept in Stream Ecosystem Studies

生态优势流量：河流生态系统研究的新概念河流流量是河流生态系统的主要影响因素，人类通过灌溉、大坝运行和气候变化对河流流量进行了实质性的改变。众所周知，这些变化会影响河流的物理特性，但对它们的生态影响却知之甚少。我们的目标是系统地分析河流生态系统过程是如何随着流量的不同而变化的，并将这些信息综合成一个单一的指标，我们称之为“生态优势流量”，即在给定地点控制大部分河流生态系统过程的流量。我们将通过研究纽约州北部阿迪朗达克公园（Adirondack Park）的四条河流来研究这一概念（两条经过大坝改造的河流，其中一条定期放水，另两条未经改造的天然河流）。这些河流具有一系列的物理参数（例如，流量的变化）和生态参数（例如，颗粒的运输等）。从这项研究中得到的信息将与受流量调节影响的河流管理高度相关，并指导潜在的河流恢复工作。流量调节的物理和生态影响正在得到更好的理解，但将这些影响统一为一个概念在过去是困难的，生态优势流量的概念将潜在地缓解这些问题。

Ecological Dominant Discharge: Developing a New Concept in Stream Ecosystem Studies River discharge is a primary influence on stream ecosystems, and discharge has been substantially modified by humans via irrigation, dam operation, and climate change. These changes are known to affect the physical properties of rivers, but their ecological impacts are poorly understood. Our goal is to systematically analyze how stream ecosystem processes vary with differences in discharge, and to synthesize this information into a single metric that we call the "Ecological Dominant Discharge," which is that discharge responsible for controlling the majority of stream ecosystem processes for a given site. We will investigate this concept by studying four rivers in the Adirondack Park of upstate New York (2 dam-modified rivers, one of which has regular releases of water and 2 natural, unmodified rivers). These rivers possess a range of both physical parameters (e.g., variations in discharge) and ecological parameters (e.g., transport of particulates, etc.). The information derived from this research will be highly relevant to the management of rivers impacted by flow regulation, and for guiding potential river restoration efforts. The physical and ecological impacts of flow regulation are becoming better understood, but unifying these impacts into a single concept has been difficult in the past, and the concept of ecological dominant discharge will potentially alleviate these problems.