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The effect of dams on biodiversity

Roland Jansson, PhD, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science,
Umeå University.

Dams alter the ecosystems and biodiversity of rivers. In the old industrialised
countries, development now is towards the decommissioning of dams rather
than the construction of new ones, but in many developing countries
exploitation of rivers is proceeding at a fast rate. The question is how dams affect
biodiversity in tropical and subtropical rivers. In many cases, the negative impacts
may be expected to be greater in tropical regions than those seen in temperate
and boreal regions.

Rapids without water. Dams are generally built on rapids and near waterfalls, the fauna and flora of which suffer when the
flow of water decreases or disappears.Photo: Bengt Hallberg, Johnér.
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The construction of large dams had an important role when

Europe and North America were industrialised. It is therefore
not surprising that new dam projects are high on the agenda
in many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. But dams
give rise to extensive changes in riverine ecosystems, and many
riverine species have disappeared or greatly decreased in abun-
dance as a result of impounding and environmental changes
due to dams.

The effects depend on the scale

Dams generally cause a Dams generally cause a decrease in biodiversity, but the effects are
decrease in biodiversity, highly scale dependent. Few species have completely disappeared
but the effects are highly from the developed rivers in Sweden. They remain somewhere
scale dependent. along the river, even though in fewer numbers. On the other hand,
the number of species per river section is radically reduced.
Between a quarter and a third of vascular plants have, on average,
disappeared on a 200 m long stretch of riverbank. However, it is
only a few Swedish species whose existence is primarily threatened
by the development of hydropower. Hydropower is given as the
primary threat for about 5 per cent of the threatened animal
species and 3 per cent of the threatened vascular plant species.
The reason that more species are not threatened is that many
species have viable populations in the rivers that are protected from
exploitation, and also that the flora and fauna of the region are
very young. The species managed to spread to Scandinavia after
the end of the last ice age just under 10,000 years ago, and they
are as a rule generalists with large geographical distributions.

In tropical and subtropical regions many species have very limited

geographical distributions, and a large proportion of the flora
and fauna may be unique to individual river systems. While river
systems in temperate and boreal regions have few endemic fish
species, over half of the fish fauna may be endemic in rivers at
lower latitudes. For instance, 50 per cent of the fish fauna in
the Olifants River in Southern Africa and the Jordan River is
endemic, as well as 42 per cent of the fish species in the Red River
(Yuan Jiang) that runs through China and Vietnam. Other
groups also have many endemics. Both the Mekong and Yangtze
(Chiang Jiang), for instance, have endemic species flocks of closely
related gastropods (over 100 species per river). Exploitation of a
river in these regions implies not only that species will become
rare locally, but may also result in global extinction.

The impact of a dam on biodiversity may be divided into

upstream effects caused by the impounded water, downstream
effects caused by changes in flow and the quality of water

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released, and effects that occur because organisms, materials

and energy are prevented from passing the dam. Dams may also
promote invasion by alien species.

Upstream effects
Construction of a dam generally means that areas upstream of
the dam are flooded and are permenantly put under water. In
some cases, attempts have been made to move large animals
when the reservoir began to be filled, but when these animals
cannot be offered new habitats, this only delays extinction for
some time. In some cases attempts have even been made to
relocate plants that were to be drowned. This happened when
the Itaipu Dam on the frontier between Brazil and Paraguay
was to be filled, which threatened several rare plants. However,
transplantation was unsuccessful.

Some dams affect such large areas that the habitat of entire
species is put under water. One example is the riparian plant
Myricaria laxiflora, the total world dispersion of which will be
flooded when the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze in China
is completely filled in 2009. Material of the species has been
collected and is kept at the Wuhan botanic gardens, in the hope
that it can be reintroduced in the future. But the plant is strongly
adapted to its unique riparian environment: It is dormant from
May to October, and then rapidly grows and sets seed during the
winter when water levels in the river are low. The seeds are spread
by the wind and by floating on the river. Without a natural
water level regime, it is unlikely that the plant can manage to
compete with other plants.

The reservoir is generally much more species poor than the The reservoir is generally
riverine environments it replaces. Fluctuations in water level are much more species poor
often extensive and are temporally controlled by human water than the riverine environ-
needs rather than by natural conditions. The riparian zones are ments it replaces.
often impoverished of species. Riparian vegetation along storage
reservoirs in Sweden and Canada has, on average, decreased by
84 per cent in degree of coverage and by 34 per cent in species
numbers compared with unregulated riverbanks. Owing to the
unnatural water level fluctuations, benthic fauna is more or less
absent within the zone that is periodically drowned and exposed.
In the long term, the productivity of the reservoir greatly
diminishes, since the only photosynthesising organisms that
can cope with the water level fluctuations are pelagic phyto-
plankton that move up and down with the changing water
levels. The fauna is mainly confined to pelagic zooplankton
and the fish that live on these.

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It has been claimed at times that the impoverishment of species

is temporary and that recovery occurs in time when species that
disappeared when the reservoir was filled gradually manage to
recolonise. Little is known about the situation in tropical
regions, but in the north of Sweden, where exploitation of rivers
began as long as about 100 years ago, studies have been made of
how riparian vegetation along reservoirs develops over time.
There was nobody who started any studies when the first dams
were built. Reservoirs of different ages, from a few years up to
70 years of age, were therefore compared. It was found that some
recovery does really take place. The species richness of riparian
plants increased during the first 30 – 35 years, probably as a result
of successive recolonisation. However, species richness was never
as large as along freely flowing rivers in the region, and in
reservoirs that were 35 to 70 years old, species richness decreased
with increasing age, probably because the fine material on the
banks was gradually eroded away.

Downstream effects
Species that are asso- Downstream of dams the habitats along the rivers are altered
ciated with rapids, water- because the sediment and organic material that is normally
falls or the humid micro- carried along by the flowing water is held back by the dam and
climate that arises in sinks to the bottom or is spread on the banks of the reservoir.
their vicinity diminish in Flow in the rapids and waterfalls decreases or completely
numbers or completely disappears when water is diverted to power stations or for
disappear. irrigation. Species that are associated with rapids, waterfalls or
the humid microclimate that arises in their vicinity diminish
in numbers or completely disappear. The local species richness
decreases, but few species are eradicated from the river system.
In Sweden it is primarily a number of rare mosses and lichens,
which do not tolerate desiccation, that have been hit.

Even in the case of these environments there is a risk that species

in tropical regions will be hit harder by dams. One current
example is the Kihansi Ravine in the Udzungwa Mountains in
Tanzania. The Udzungwa Mountains are part of the Eastern
Arc range that is a hot spot for biodiversity and has one of the
world’s oldest continuous rainforests. A stable climate over
millions of years has made it possible for a large number of
endemic species with small geographical distributions to develop.
In 1994 construction of a dam began on the Kihansi River,
partly with Swedish aid. The dam cut off flow of water to the
ravine. After dam construction had already commenced, an
endemic toad species was discovered in the ravine, the Kihansi
spray toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis), together with a large
number of new insect species and at least four endemic plant

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species, including a new species of coffee. All these species

depended on the flow in the mist shrouded ravine. But in spite
of this discovery, dam construction continued, and instead of
letting some of the river water to continue running through the
ravine, an advanced sprinkler system was installed in the ravine
that would replace the spray and mist from the rapids and water-
falls of the ravine. The sprinkler system appears to have rescued
the wetland plants, but the Kihansi toad is by all accounts extinct
in the wild. Ironically, the death blow for the species was probably
a fungal infection that may have been unintentionally intro-
duced by the sprinkler installers or biologists in their attempts
to rescue the species. The Kihansi toad is now found only in
the terraria in the Bronx and Toledos zoos in the US.

Fragmentation
Dispersal and migrations are important for most riverine species,
since the riverine environments are generally dynamic and are
repeatedly destroyed and recreated. The species must therefore
be able to spread and to colonise newly created areas as a substi-
tute for those that have vanished. Access to forage and resources
varies in time and space, which makes it important for many
animals to make use of different parts of the river system during
parts of their life cycles. Dams act as barriers which obstruct the
movement of organisms that swim or passively float on the water.
What is best known is that salmon migrating from the sea are
prevented from migrating up the rivers to spawn, but many other
groups of organisms also suffer. Many aquatic insects, for
instance, reach new areas by voluntarily or involuntarily floating
along with the stream. Large quantities of seeds are spread by rivers
in the same way; some of these strand on the banks, germinate
and become established. The transport of both insects and seeds
is blocked by dams.

Even though the majority of the original salmon species in Tropical rivers also have
North America and Europe are today eradicated or threatened, many fish species
relatively great efforts have been made to bild fish ladders so that migrating from the sea
migrating fish can bypass the dams. But it is difficult to build that have been eradica-
effective fish ladders since salmonid fish tend to follow the ted or greatly reduced
strongest stream, which is generally the outflow from the power because of dams.
station. Tropical rivers also have many fish species migrating from
the sea that have been eradicated or greatly reduced because of
dams. In the Pearl River (Zhujiang), the second largest river in
China, over three thousand dams have been built since 1950.
This has practically eradicated Reeve’s shad (Tenualosa reevesii),
which formerly gave rise to lucrative fishing in both the Pearl
and Yangtze rivers. Several other spectacular fish species, such

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as Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis), Yangtze sturgeon

(Acipenser dabryanus) and Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gla-
dius) have drastically decreased in numbers since dams have
obstructed access to spawning grounds. Where fish ladders have
been constructed, the design has been copied from salmon ladders,
and they have often been ineffective since these fish do not have
the ability of salmonid fish to proceed up fast flowing rapids by
leaping up the ladder. One example is the Pak Mun dam in
Thailand where a fish ladder for 800,000 US dollars could not
be used by the local fish species whose stocks it was hoped to
rescue, since they formed the basis of a fishery important to
local communities.

Dispersal of plants by Dispersal of plants by flowing water is also obstructed by dams.

flowing water is also In boreal rivers, large quantities of the seeds of many species
obstructed by dams. are dispersed by the flowing waters during spring floods. The
seeds can be dispersed over large distances. In an experiment with
dummy seeds in the form of small wooden cubes, the longest
distance covered by the cubes was 150 km. Floating seeds can
only bypass dams if they are sucked into the turbines in the power
station (which is improbable), or if they pass the gates on the
occasions that these are open (which is seldom). Owing to the
barrier effect of dams, the bankside flora along rivers has also
been fragmented. In a free-flowing river the species composition
of the banks changes gradually along the river, but in developed
rivers changes in the composition of the riverbank flora occur
at the dams. Species composition differs between riverbanks
situated upstream and downstream of a dam, even though the
riparian environment is largely similar. It is mainly species whose
fruits and seeds float badly in the water that are found only on
one side of the dam. It is likely that in many cases these species
find it difficult to spread past the dam, since they risk sinking
before they have the chance of a passage. Species whose seeds float
for a long time have a greater chance to get past. The relationship
between the dispersal of riparian plants and dams has been
demonstrated only for rivers in the north of Sweden, but since
dams generally constitute a barrier to dispersal this is probably
true for other areas also.

The barrier effect of dams impacts not only on the populations

whose movements are prevented, but may also have indirect
effects on ecosystems situated upstreams. When fish migrating
from the sea, such as salmon, return from the sea to rivers to
spawn, they can account for a significant import of nutrients
such as phosphorus and nitrogen to the river ecosystems. This
greatly contributes to the growth of riparian forests. In addition,

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they are an important source of food for e.g. grizzly bears and When dams block sal-
white-headed sea eagles along rivers on the west coast of North mon migration and the
America. When dams block salmon migration and the import import of nitrogen and
of nitrogen and phosphorus, this may alter nutrient composition phosphorus, this may
in the entire river ecosystem. Another example of the indirect alter nutrient compo-
ecosystem effects of dams has been documented in Puerto Rico. sition in the entire river
Here, as in other parts of the tropics, there are several species ecosystem.
of sea-migrating crustaceans and fishes. Rivers upstream of dams
have been found to have greatly reduced populations of crusta-
ceans and fishes, which had a number of indirect effects. For
instance, calm flowing stretches had nine times as much biomass
of algae, 20 times as much organic matter on the bottoms, and four
times as much biomass of aquatic insects as rivers without dams.

Invasions by alien species

We live in a time when the exchange of species between biogeo- Environmental changes
graphical regions is greater than perhaps at any time since the caused by dams have
supercontinent Pangea split up about 200 million years ago. made it easier for alien
Intentionally and unintentionally, humans transport a steady species to spread at
stream of species to new regions. Most river systems nowadays the expense of native
house a large proportion of species that originate from other species.
continents. In many cases, environmental changes caused by dams
have made it easier for alien species to spread at the expense of
native species.

Many dams release cold bottom water. This transforms the

environment downstreams, especially in hot regions, to the
detriment of native species. The Colorado River in the west of
North America previously had 32 fish species, two thirds of
which were endemic. Dams have transformed the river from
a turbid warm water river (several native species were blind)
into a cold water river with clear water. At present, 68 alien
species have become established, many of them adapted to
cold water, and most native species are greatly reduced in
abundance or eradicated. In south-west USA tamarisk (Tamarix
spp.), a bush from Asia, has also spread along the rivers, and now
dominates large areas at the expense of native poplar and willow
species. Tamarisk has been favoured by the hydrological changes
caused by dams; for instance, high flows that inundate the
riparian zones and moisten the soil have become much less
frequent. This favours tamarisk that has deep roots which can
reach the groundwater and is therefore less dependent on a
natural flow regime.

In order to mitigate the negative effects of dams, it is essential

to rapidly develop better knowledge of how the biodiversity of

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rivers is affected, especially in those regions of Asia, Africa and

Latin America where new dams are built at a fast rate. A growing
human population necessitates the use of large proportions of
freshwater resources, but one challenge for the future is to do this
in a sustainable manner that does not jeopardise the biodiversity
of the rivers.

Further reading
• D. Dudgeon (2000). Large-scale hydrological changes in tropical
Asia: prospects for riverine biodiversity. Bioscience 50:793-806.

• E. A. Greathouse, C. M. Pringle, W. H. McDowell and J. G.

Holmquist (2006). Indirect upstream effects of dams: con-
sequences of migratory consumer extirpation in Puerto
Rico. Ecological Applications 16:339-352.

• R. Jansson, C. Nilsson, M. Dynesius and E. Andersson (2000).

Effects of river regulation on river-margin vegetation: a compa-
rison of eight boreal rivers. Ecological Applications 10:203-224.

• R. Jansson, C. Nilsson and B. Renöfält (2000). Fragmentation

of riparian floras in rivers with multiple dams. Ecology 81:
899-903.

• K. Krajick (2006). The lost world of the Kihansi toad.

Science 311:1230-1232.

• Y. Liu, Y. Wang and H. Huang (2006). High interpopulation

genetic differentiation and unidirectional linear migration patterns
in Myricaria laxiflora (Tamaricaceae), an endemic riparian
plant in the Three Gorges Valley of the Yangtze River.
Amrican Journal of Botany 93:206-215.

• C. Nilsson, R. Jansson and U. Zinko (1997). Long-term

responses of river-margin vegetation to water-level regulation.
Science 276:798-800.

• World Commission on Dams (2000). Dams and Development

– A new framework for decision making. The Report of the
World Commission on Dams. Earthscan, London.

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R6:2006
ISBN 91-540-5975-5
ISSN 1653-3003
Swedish Research Council Formas
Editors: Birgitta Johansson and Björn Sellberg
Planning group: Lars Bengtsson, Lars O Ericsson,
Jan Lundqvist, Britt Olofsdotter
Translation: Lewis Gruber
Design: Lupo Design
Print: august 2006. Elanders Gotab, Sweden
omslag_Damnbok_0630 06-08-09 09.39 Sida 1

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Photo: Arnulf Husmo. The Alta Dam in Norway.

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