The shadow of the Balbina dam: A synthesis of over 35 years of downstream impacts on floodplain forests in Central Amazonia
The Balbina hydropower dam in the Central Amazon basin, established in the Uatumã River in the 1980s, is emblematic for its socio‐environmental disaster. Its environmental impacts go far beyond the reservoir and dam, however, affecting the floodplain forests (igapó) in the downstream area (dam shado...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Aquatic conservation 2021-05, Vol.31 (5), p.1117-1135 |
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creator | Schöngart, Jochen Wittmann, Florian Faria de Resende, Angélica Assahira, Cyro Sousa Lobo, Guilherme Rocha Duarte Neves, Juliana Rocha, Maíra Biem Mori, Gisele Costa Quaresma, Adriano Oreste Demarchi, Layon Weiss Albuquerque, Bianca Oliveira Feitosa, Yuri Silva Costa, Gilvan Vieira Feitoza, Gildo Machado Durgante, Flávia Lopes, Aline Trumbore, Susan E. Sanna Freire Silva, Thiago Steege, Hans Val, Adalberto Luis Junk, Wolfgang J. Piedade, Maria Teresa Fernandez |
description | The Balbina hydropower dam in the Central Amazon basin, established in the Uatumã River in the 1980s, is emblematic for its socio‐environmental disaster. Its environmental impacts go far beyond the reservoir and dam, however, affecting the floodplain forests (igapó) in the downstream area (dam shadow), which have been assessed using a transdisciplinary research approach, synthesized in this review.
Floodplain tree species are adapted to a regular and predictable flood pulse, with high‐ and low‐water periods occurring during the year. This was severely affected by the operation of the Balbina dam, which caused the suppression of both the aquatic phase at higher floodplain elevations and the terrestrial phase at lower floodplain elevations (termed the ‘sandwich effect’).
During the period of construction and reservoir fill, large‐scale mortality already occurred in the floodplains of the dam shadow as a result of reduced stream flow, in synergy with severe drought conditions induced by El Niño events, causing hydraulic failure and making floodplains vulnerable to wildfires.
During the operational period of the dam, permanent flooding conditions at low topographical elevations resulted in massive tree mortality. So far, 12% of the igapó forests have died along a downstream river stretch of more than 125 km. As a result of flood suppression at the highest elevations, an encroachment of secondary tree species from upland (terra firme) forests occurred.
More than 35 years after the implementation of the Balbina dam, the downstream impacts caused massive losses of macrohabitats, ecosystem services, and diversity of flood‐adapted tree species, probably cascading down to the entire food web, which must be considered in conservation management.
These findings are discussed critically, emphasizing the urgent need for the Brazilian environmental regulatory agencies to incorporate downstream impacts in the environmental assessments of several dam projects planned for the Amazon region. |
doi_str_mv | 10.1002/aqc.3526 |
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Floodplain tree species are adapted to a regular and predictable flood pulse, with high‐ and low‐water periods occurring during the year. This was severely affected by the operation of the Balbina dam, which caused the suppression of both the aquatic phase at higher floodplain elevations and the terrestrial phase at lower floodplain elevations (termed the ‘sandwich effect’).
During the period of construction and reservoir fill, large‐scale mortality already occurred in the floodplains of the dam shadow as a result of reduced stream flow, in synergy with severe drought conditions induced by El Niño events, causing hydraulic failure and making floodplains vulnerable to wildfires.
During the operational period of the dam, permanent flooding conditions at low topographical elevations resulted in massive tree mortality. So far, 12% of the igapó forests have died along a downstream river stretch of more than 125 km. As a result of flood suppression at the highest elevations, an encroachment of secondary tree species from upland (terra firme) forests occurred.
More than 35 years after the implementation of the Balbina dam, the downstream impacts caused massive losses of macrohabitats, ecosystem services, and diversity of flood‐adapted tree species, probably cascading down to the entire food web, which must be considered in conservation management.
These findings are discussed critically, emphasizing the urgent need for the Brazilian environmental regulatory agencies to incorporate downstream impacts in the environmental assessments of several dam projects planned for the Amazon region.</description><identifier>ISSN: 1052-7613</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1099-0755</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1002/aqc.3526</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>Oxford: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc</publisher><subject>Amazonia ; basins ; Cascading ; Dams ; dams (hydrology) ; disturbance ; Downstream ; Downstream effects ; Drought ; Ecological research ; Ecosystem services ; ecosystems ; El Nino ; El Nino phenomena ; Encroachment ; Environmental assessment ; Environmental impact ; Flood predictions ; flood pulse ; Flooding ; Floodplains ; Floods ; Food chains ; Food webs ; Forests ; highlands ; Hydroelectric dams ; Hydroelectric power ; hydropower dam ; igapó ; long‐term ecological research (LTER) ; Mortality ; Plant species ; Reservoir construction ; Reservoirs ; River basins ; Rivers ; Shadows ; Species ; Stream discharge ; Stream flow ; tree mortality ; trees ; Uatumã River ; wildfire ; Wildfires</subject><ispartof>Aquatic conservation, 2021-05, Vol.31 (5), p.1117-1135</ispartof><rights>2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><oa>free_for_read</oa><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-c3996-4d2ba40c4e7f4814ba67383e830772290e45e6aef54cf9ce68d79e6f56d39c323</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c3996-4d2ba40c4e7f4814ba67383e830772290e45e6aef54cf9ce68d79e6f56d39c323</cites><orcidid>0000-0002-7320-0498 ; 0000-0001-9180-356X ; 0000-0002-5714-5935 ; 0000-0002-8587-5943 ; 0000-0002-7696-9657 ; 0000-0002-2050-9897 ; 0000-0003-3885-6202 ; 0000-0002-0909-9639 ; 0000-0001-7351-7164 ; 0000-0001-5771-4643 ; 0000-0002-5517-8821 ; 0000-0002-3823-3868 ; 0000-0001-8441-2106 ; 0000-0002-8738-2659 ; 0000-0001-6095-1674 ; 0000-0002-6825-9508 ; 0000-0002-3684-2635 ; 0000-0001-6398-9045 ; 0000-0002-9875-1122 ; 0000-0001-8702-7131</orcidid></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><linktopdf>$$Uhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002%2Faqc.3526$$EPDF$$P50$$Gwiley$$H</linktopdf><linktohtml>$$Uhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002%2Faqc.3526$$EHTML$$P50$$Gwiley$$H</linktohtml><link.rule.ids>314,776,780,1411,27901,27902,45550,45551</link.rule.ids></links><search><creatorcontrib>Schöngart, Jochen</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Wittmann, Florian</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Faria de Resende, Angélica</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Assahira, Cyro</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Sousa Lobo, Guilherme</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Rocha Duarte Neves, Juliana</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Rocha, Maíra</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Biem Mori, Gisele</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Costa Quaresma, Adriano</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Oreste Demarchi, Layon</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Weiss Albuquerque, Bianca</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Oliveira Feitosa, Yuri</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Silva Costa, Gilvan</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Vieira Feitoza, Gildo</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Machado Durgante, Flávia</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Lopes, Aline</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Trumbore, Susan E.</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Sanna Freire Silva, Thiago</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Steege, Hans</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Val, Adalberto Luis</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Junk, Wolfgang J.</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Piedade, Maria Teresa Fernandez</creatorcontrib><title>The shadow of the Balbina dam: A synthesis of over 35 years of downstream impacts on floodplain forests in Central Amazonia</title><title>Aquatic conservation</title><description>The Balbina hydropower dam in the Central Amazon basin, established in the Uatumã River in the 1980s, is emblematic for its socio‐environmental disaster. Its environmental impacts go far beyond the reservoir and dam, however, affecting the floodplain forests (igapó) in the downstream area (dam shadow), which have been assessed using a transdisciplinary research approach, synthesized in this review.
Floodplain tree species are adapted to a regular and predictable flood pulse, with high‐ and low‐water periods occurring during the year. This was severely affected by the operation of the Balbina dam, which caused the suppression of both the aquatic phase at higher floodplain elevations and the terrestrial phase at lower floodplain elevations (termed the ‘sandwich effect’).
During the period of construction and reservoir fill, large‐scale mortality already occurred in the floodplains of the dam shadow as a result of reduced stream flow, in synergy with severe drought conditions induced by El Niño events, causing hydraulic failure and making floodplains vulnerable to wildfires.
During the operational period of the dam, permanent flooding conditions at low topographical elevations resulted in massive tree mortality. So far, 12% of the igapó forests have died along a downstream river stretch of more than 125 km. As a result of flood suppression at the highest elevations, an encroachment of secondary tree species from upland (terra firme) forests occurred.
More than 35 years after the implementation of the Balbina dam, the downstream impacts caused massive losses of macrohabitats, ecosystem services, and diversity of flood‐adapted tree species, probably cascading down to the entire food web, which must be considered in conservation management.
These findings are discussed critically, emphasizing the urgent need for the Brazilian environmental regulatory agencies to incorporate downstream impacts in the environmental assessments of several dam projects planned for the Amazon region.</description><subject>Amazonia</subject><subject>basins</subject><subject>Cascading</subject><subject>Dams</subject><subject>dams (hydrology)</subject><subject>disturbance</subject><subject>Downstream</subject><subject>Downstream effects</subject><subject>Drought</subject><subject>Ecological research</subject><subject>Ecosystem services</subject><subject>ecosystems</subject><subject>El Nino</subject><subject>El Nino phenomena</subject><subject>Encroachment</subject><subject>Environmental assessment</subject><subject>Environmental impact</subject><subject>Flood predictions</subject><subject>flood pulse</subject><subject>Flooding</subject><subject>Floodplains</subject><subject>Floods</subject><subject>Food chains</subject><subject>Food webs</subject><subject>Forests</subject><subject>highlands</subject><subject>Hydroelectric dams</subject><subject>Hydroelectric power</subject><subject>hydropower dam</subject><subject>igapó</subject><subject>long‐term ecological research (LTER)</subject><subject>Mortality</subject><subject>Plant species</subject><subject>Reservoir construction</subject><subject>Reservoirs</subject><subject>River basins</subject><subject>Rivers</subject><subject>Shadows</subject><subject>Species</subject><subject>Stream discharge</subject><subject>Stream flow</subject><subject>tree mortality</subject><subject>trees</subject><subject>Uatumã 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shadow of the Balbina dam: A synthesis of over 35 years of downstream impacts on floodplain forests in Central Amazonia</title><author>Schöngart, Jochen ; Wittmann, Florian ; Faria de Resende, Angélica ; Assahira, Cyro ; Sousa Lobo, Guilherme ; Rocha Duarte Neves, Juliana ; Rocha, Maíra ; Biem Mori, Gisele ; Costa Quaresma, Adriano ; Oreste Demarchi, Layon ; Weiss Albuquerque, Bianca ; Oliveira Feitosa, Yuri ; Silva Costa, Gilvan ; Vieira Feitoza, Gildo ; Machado Durgante, Flávia ; Lopes, Aline ; Trumbore, Susan E. ; Sanna Freire Silva, Thiago ; Steege, Hans ; Val, Adalberto Luis ; Junk, Wolfgang J. ; Piedade, Maria Teresa 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webs</topic><topic>Forests</topic><topic>highlands</topic><topic>Hydroelectric dams</topic><topic>Hydroelectric power</topic><topic>hydropower dam</topic><topic>igapó</topic><topic>long‐term ecological research (LTER)</topic><topic>Mortality</topic><topic>Plant species</topic><topic>Reservoir construction</topic><topic>Reservoirs</topic><topic>River basins</topic><topic>Rivers</topic><topic>Shadows</topic><topic>Species</topic><topic>Stream discharge</topic><topic>Stream flow</topic><topic>tree mortality</topic><topic>trees</topic><topic>Uatumã River</topic><topic>wildfire</topic><topic>Wildfires</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Schöngart, Jochen</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Wittmann, Florian</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Faria de Resende, Angélica</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Assahira, Cyro</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Sousa Lobo, Guilherme</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Rocha Duarte Neves, 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J.</au><au>Piedade, Maria Teresa Fernandez</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>The shadow of the Balbina dam: A synthesis of over 35 years of downstream impacts on floodplain forests in Central Amazonia</atitle><jtitle>Aquatic conservation</jtitle><date>2021-05</date><risdate>2021</risdate><volume>31</volume><issue>5</issue><spage>1117</spage><epage>1135</epage><pages>1117-1135</pages><issn>1052-7613</issn><eissn>1099-0755</eissn><abstract>The Balbina hydropower dam in the Central Amazon basin, established in the Uatumã River in the 1980s, is emblematic for its socio‐environmental disaster. Its environmental impacts go far beyond the reservoir and dam, however, affecting the floodplain forests (igapó) in the downstream area (dam shadow), which have been assessed using a transdisciplinary research approach, synthesized in this review.
Floodplain tree species are adapted to a regular and predictable flood pulse, with high‐ and low‐water periods occurring during the year. This was severely affected by the operation of the Balbina dam, which caused the suppression of both the aquatic phase at higher floodplain elevations and the terrestrial phase at lower floodplain elevations (termed the ‘sandwich effect’).
During the period of construction and reservoir fill, large‐scale mortality already occurred in the floodplains of the dam shadow as a result of reduced stream flow, in synergy with severe drought conditions induced by El Niño events, causing hydraulic failure and making floodplains vulnerable to wildfires.
During the operational period of the dam, permanent flooding conditions at low topographical elevations resulted in massive tree mortality. So far, 12% of the igapó forests have died along a downstream river stretch of more than 125 km. As a result of flood suppression at the highest elevations, an encroachment of secondary tree species from upland (terra firme) forests occurred.
More than 35 years after the implementation of the Balbina dam, the downstream impacts caused massive losses of macrohabitats, ecosystem services, and diversity of flood‐adapted tree species, probably cascading down to the entire food web, which must be considered in conservation management.
These findings are discussed critically, emphasizing the urgent need for the Brazilian environmental regulatory agencies to incorporate downstream impacts in the environmental assessments of several dam projects planned for the Amazon region.</abstract><cop>Oxford</cop><pub>Wiley Subscription Services, Inc</pub><doi>10.1002/aqc.3526</doi><tpages>19</tpages><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7320-0498</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9180-356X</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5714-5935</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8587-5943</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7696-9657</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2050-9897</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3885-6202</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0909-9639</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7351-7164</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5771-4643</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5517-8821</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3823-3868</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8441-2106</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8738-2659</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6095-1674</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6825-9508</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3684-2635</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6398-9045</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9875-1122</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8702-7131</orcidid><oa>free_for_read</oa></addata></record> |
fulltext | fulltext |
identifier | ISSN: 1052-7613 |
ispartof | Aquatic conservation, 2021-05, Vol.31 (5), p.1117-1135 |
issn | 1052-7613 1099-0755 |
language | eng |
recordid | cdi_proquest_miscellaneous_2552024928 |
source | Wiley Online Library Journals Frontfile Complete |
subjects | Amazonia basins Cascading Dams dams (hydrology) disturbance Downstream Downstream effects Drought Ecological research Ecosystem services ecosystems El Nino El Nino phenomena Encroachment Environmental assessment Environmental impact Flood predictions flood pulse Flooding Floodplains Floods Food chains Food webs Forests highlands Hydroelectric dams Hydroelectric power hydropower dam igapó long‐term ecological research (LTER) Mortality Plant species Reservoir construction Reservoirs River basins Rivers Shadows Species Stream discharge Stream flow tree mortality trees Uatumã River wildfire Wildfires |
title | The shadow of the Balbina dam: A synthesis of over 35 years of downstream impacts on floodplain forests in Central Amazonia |
url | https://sfx.bib-bvb.de/sfx_tum?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2025-01-28T15%3A16%3A06IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-proquest_cross&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=The%20shadow%20of%20the%20Balbina%20dam:%20A%20synthesis%20of%20over%2035%20years%20of%20downstream%20impacts%20on%20floodplain%20forests%20in%20Central%20Amazonia&rft.jtitle=Aquatic%20conservation&rft.au=Sch%C3%B6ngart,%20Jochen&rft.date=2021-05&rft.volume=31&rft.issue=5&rft.spage=1117&rft.epage=1135&rft.pages=1117-1135&rft.issn=1052-7613&rft.eissn=1099-0755&rft_id=info:doi/10.1002/aqc.3526&rft_dat=%3Cproquest_cross%3E2552024928%3C/proquest_cross%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&disable_directlink=true&sfx.directlink=off&sfx.report_link=0&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_pqid=2524642744&rft_id=info:pmid/&rfr_iscdi=true |