Evaluation of the changed properties of aquatic animals after dam construction using ecological network analysis

Dam construction results in variations of hydrology, river morphology and habitat and the biota associated with the reservoir change significantly compared to the assemblage before dam construction in order to match these changed environmental conditions. Some attempts so far have been made to ascertain the changed properties of aquatilia due to dam construction. Most of them, however, were focused on perturbances to single factors, such as rearing habitats, reproduction and migration routes, etc. Few have been done on the performance of aquatilia from the whole-ecosystem perspective. Herein, we evaluate the structural properties of aquatic animals and their complex ecological relationships within the ecosystem before and after dam construction based on ecological network analysis. This study provides a feasible way for integral ecosystem evaluation with the application of ecological network analysis to river ecosystem subjected to human disturbance.