Ecological risk assessment of hydropower dam construction based on ecological network analysis

Dam construction is regarded as one of the major factors contributing to significant modifications of the river ecosystems, and the ecological risk (ER) assessment of dam construction has received growing attention in recent years. In the present study, we explored the potential ecological risk caused by dam project based on the general principles of the ecological risk assessment. Ecological network analysis was proposed as the usable analytic method for the implement of ecological risk assessment, thus contributing to the modelling of dam-induced risk process. Applying ecological network analysis to the ecological risk assessment of river ecosystems after dam construction, this study may provide important insights into the understanding of how an affected river ecosystem reacts to the artificial perturbation on a whole-ecosystem scale.