https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2023.2153
Impacts of the Koka hydropower dam on macroinvertebrate assemblages in the Awash River Basin in Ethiopia
Submitted: 3 September 2023
Accepted: 13 November 2023
Published: 13 December 2023
Accepted: 13 November 2023
Abstract Views: 1371
PDF: 218
Supplementary: 41
HTML: 11
Supplementary: 41
HTML: 11
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
The Koka hydropower dam is one of the oldest large dams in Ethiopia. Damming is one of the anthropogenic activities impacting the distribution of aquatic life forms. However, to date, little attention has been focused on the dam’s impacts on the river macroinvertebrate assemblages in Ethiopia. The objective of this study was, therefore, to assess the impacts of the Koka hydropower dam on macroinvertebrate assemblages in the Awash River basin in Ethiopia. In the three river reaches on the Awash River (upstream near the source of the river, midstream above the dam, and downstream below the dam), a total of 15 sites were selected for sampling. The statistical analysis tested the null hypothesis that there are no differences in macroinvertebrate assemblage patterns or a range of univariate metrics between the three river reaches. Additional analyses involved the identification of taxa responsible for significant differences in macroinvertebrate structure (e.g., percentage similarity) and an exploration of the variables that structure macroinvertebrates (e.g., canonical correspondence analysis). In the upstream, midstream, and downstream reaches of the Awash River, we recorded a total of 73 taxa belonging to 43 families and 12 orders. Trichoptera was the dominant order in the upstream river reach, whereas Diptera dominated the midstream and downstream river reaches. The diversity of macroinvertebrates decreased from upstream to midstream and downstream. The three river reaches differed significantly in Shannon and Simpson diversity indices, % EPT, EPT taxa abundance, total taxa richness, evenness index, % collectors, and % scrapers. In this study, we observed that macroinvertebrate assemblage differences and spatial patterns were significantly associated with values of river flow changes (velocity), phosphate concentration, and substrate index. The findings of this study have broad implications for the assessment of the impacts of dam construction on the rivers of the studied region in the future.
Adeba D, Kansal M, Sen S, 2015. Assessment of water scarcity and its impacts on sustainable development in Awash basin, Ethiopia. Sustain Water Resour Manage 1:71-87.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-015-0006-7
APHA, 2005. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 19th ed. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC.
Barbour MT, Gerritsen J, Snyder B, Stribling J, 1999. Rapid bioassessment protocols for use in streams and wadeable rivers: periphyton, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish. US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Washington, DC.
Brooks AJ, Haeusler T, Reinfelds I, Williams S, 2005. Hydraulic microhabitats and the distribution of macroinvertebrate assemblages in riffles. Freshwater Biol 50:331-344.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2004.01322.x
Bussi G, Whitehead PG, Jin L, Taye MT, Dyer E, Hirpa FA, et al., 2021. Impacts of climate change and population growth on river nutrient loads in a data scarce region: the Upper Awash River (Ethiopia). Sustainability 13:1254.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031254
Cairns JR, Prall JR, 1993. A history of biological monitoring using benthic macroinvertebrates, p. 159-194.In: DM Rosenberg and VH Resh (eds.), Freshwater biomonitoring and benthic macroinvertebrates. Springer, New York.
Cattaneo F, Guillard J, Diouf S, O'Rourke J, Grimardias D, 2021. Mitigation of ecological impacts on fish of large reservoir sediment management through controlled flushing - The case of the Verbois dam (Rhone River, Switzerland). Sci Total Environ 756:144053.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144053
Clarke KR, Gorley RN. 2006. PRIMER v6: User Manual/Tutorial. PRIMER-E Ltd.
Clarke KR, Somerfield PJ, Gorley RN, 2008. Testing of null hypotheses in exploratory community analyses: similarity profiles and biota-environment linkage. J Expe Mar Biol Ecol 366:56-69.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2008.07.009
Cummins K, 1974. Structure and function of stream ecosystems. Bioscience 24:631-641.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1296676
Degefu DM, He W, Zhao JH, 2015. Hydropower for sustainable water and energy development in Ethiopia. Sustain Water Resour Manage 1:305-314.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-015-0029-0
Degefu F, Lakew A, Tigabu Y, Teshome K, 2013. The water quality degradation of upper Awash River, Ethiopia. Ethiop J Environ Stud Manag 6:58-66.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/ejesm.v6i1.7
Deinet S, Scott-Gatty K, Rotton H, Marconi V, McRae L, Baumgartner LJ, et al., 2020. The Living Planet Index (LPI) for migratory freshwater fish – Technical Report. World Fish Migration Foundation. Available from: https://worldfishmigrationfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/LPI_report_2020.pdf
Dudgeon D, 1999. Tropical Asian streams: zoobenthos, ecology and conservation. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong: 844 pp.
Englmaier GK, Hayes DS, Meulenbroek P, Terefe Y, Lakew A, Tesfaye G, et al., 2020. Longitudinal river zonation in the tropics: Examples of fish and caddisflies from the endorheic Awash River, Ethiopia. Hydrobiologia 847:4063-4090.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04400-0
Extence CA, Balbi DM, Chadd RP, 1999. River flow indexing using British benthic macroinvertebrates: a framework for setting hydroecological objectives. Regul River 15:543-574.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1646(199911/12)15:6<545::AID-RRR561>3.0.CO;2-W
Gernaat DEHJ, Bogaart PW, Vuuren DPv, Biemans H, Niessink R, 2017. High-resolution assessment of global technical and economic hydropower potential. Nat Energy 2:821-828.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-017-0006-y
Getachew M, Mulat WL, Mereta ST, Gebrie GS, Kelly-Quinn M, 2020. Challenges for water quality protection in the greater metropolitan area of Addis Ababa and the upper Awash basin, Ethiopia – time to take stock. Environ Rev 29:87-99.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2020-0042
Getachew M, Mulat WL, Mereta ST, Gebrie GS, Kelly-Quinn M, 2022. Refining benthic macroinvertebrate kick sampling protocol for wadeable rivers and streams in Ethiopia. Environ Monit Assess 194:196.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09594-x
Gracey EO, Verones F, 2016. Impacts from hydropower production on biodiversity in an LCA framework - review and recommendations. Int J Life Cycle Assess 21:412-428.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1039-3
Hagos YG, Andualem TG, Mengie MA, Ayele WT, Malede DA, 2022. Suitable dam site identification using GIS-based MCDA: a case study of Chemoga watershed, Ethiopia. Appl Water Sci 12:69.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-022-01592-9
Harrison J, 2009. Guides to the Freshwater Invertebrates of Southern Africa. Volume 10: Coleoptera Guides to the Freshwater Invertebrates of Southern Africa. Volume 10: Coleoptera. Water Research Commission Report: 263 pp.
Hauer FR, Lamberti GA, 2011. Methods in stream ecology. Academic Press, San Diego: 674 pp.
Hauer FR, Resh VH, 2017. Macroinvertebrates, p. 297-319. In: F.R. Hauer and G.A. Lamberti (eds.), Methods in stream ecology. Academic Press, San Diego.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-416558-8.00015-9
Jones J, Murphy J, Collins A, Sear D, Naden PS, Armitage P, 2012. The impact of fine sediment on macro-invertebrates. River Res Appl 28:1055-1071.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.1516
Jowett IG, Richardson J, 1990. Microhabitat preferences of benthic invertebrates in a New Zealand river and the development of in‐stream flow‐habitat models for Deleatidium spp. New Zeal J Mar Fresh 24:19-30.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00288330.1990.9516399
Ko NT, Suter P, Conallin J, Rutten M, Bogaard T, 2020. Aquatic macroinvertebrate community changes downstream of the hydropower generating dams in Myanmar-potential negative impacts from increased power generation. Front Water 2:573543.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2020.573543
Kunz MJ, Wüest A, Wehrli B, Landert J, Senn DB, 2011. Impact of a large tropical reservoir on riverine transport of sediment, carbon, and nutrients to downstream wetlands. Water Resour Res 47:W12531.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2011WR010996
Lenat D, Penrose, 1996. History of the EPT taxa richness metric. Bull N Am Benthol Soc 13:305-306.
Li F, Cai Q, Fu X, Liu J, 2009. Construction of habitat suitability models (HSMs) for benthic macroinvertebrate and their applications to instream environmental flows: A case study in Xiangxi river of Three Gorges Reservoir Region, China. Prog Nat Sci 19:359-367.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnsc.2008.07.011
Lowe S, 2009. Guides to the Freshwater Invertebrates of Southern Africa. Volume 8: Insecta II. Hemiptera, Megaloptera, Neuroptera, Trichoptera and Lepidoptera. Afr J Aquat Sci 34:203-204.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2989/AJAS.2009.34.2.13.900
Matthaei CD, Werthmüller D, Frutiger A, 1997. Invertebrate recovery from a bed-moving spate: the role of drift versus movements inside or over the substratum. Arch Hydrobiol 140:221-235.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1127/archiv-hydrobiol/140/1997/221
Mbaka JG, Wanjiru MM, 2015. A global review of the downstream effects of small impoundments on stream habitat conditions and macroinvertebrates. Environ Rev 23:257-262.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2014-0080
McRae L, Deinet S, Freeman R, 2017. The diversity-weighted Living Planet Index: Controlling for taxonomic bias in a global biodiversity indicator. PLoS One 12:0169156.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169156
Merritt R, Cummins K, Berg M, Novak J, Higgins M, Wessell K, Lessard J, 2002. Development and application of a macroinvertebrate functional-group approach in the bioassessment of remnant river oxbows in southwest Florida. J N Am Benthol Soc 21:290-310.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1468416
Merritt R, Cummins K, Hauer F. 2006. Trophic relationships of macroinvertebrates, p. 585-609. Methods in stream ecology. Academic Press, San Diego.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012332908-0.50036-X
Mersha AN, de Fraiture C, Masih I, Alamirew T, 2021. Dilemmas of integrated water resources management implementation in the Awash River Basin, Ethiopia: irrigation development versus environmental flows. Water Environ J 35:402-416.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/wej.12638
Montana Department of Environmental Quality, 2012. Sample collection, sorting, taxonomic identification, and analysis of benthic macroinvertebrate communities standard operating procedure. Accessed: 6 June 2021. Available from: https://deq.mt.gov/files/Water/WQPB/QAProgram/Documents/WQPBWQM-009_rev3_Final.pdf
Nathan B, Hannah C, Dubniczki H, Natasha G, Howard A, Castilleja O, et al., 2017. Ecology for all. American Institute of Biological Sciences, Oxford University Press.
Nelson SM, Lieberman DM, 2002. The influence of flow and other environmental factors on benthic invertebrates in the Sacramento River, USA. Hydrobiologia 489:117-129.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023268417851
Nilsson C, Reidy CA, Dynesius M, Revenga C, 2005. Fragmentation and flow regulation of the world's large river systems. Science 308:405-408.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1107887
Petts GE, Maddock I, 1994. Flow allocation for in-river needs, p. 289-307. In: P Calow and GE Petts, (eds.), The River's handbook: hydrological and ecological principles. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444313871.ch15
Poff NL, Allan JD, Bain MB, Karr JR, Prestegaard KL, Richter BD, et al., 1997. The natural flow regime. BioScience 47:769-784.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1313099
Poff NL, Hart DD, 2002. How dams vary and why it matters for the emerging science of dam removal: an ecological classification of dams is needed to characterize how the tremendous variation in the size, operational mode, age, and number of dams in a river basin influences the potential for restoring regulated rivers via dam removal. BioScience 52:659-668.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2002)052[0659:HDVAWI]2.0.CO;2
Reis J, Culver TB, McCartney M, Lautze J, Kibret S, 2011. Water resources implications of integrating malaria control into the operation of an Ethiopian dam. Water Resour Res 47:W09530.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2010WR010166
Schael D, 2010. Guides to the Freshwater Invertebrates of Southern Africa. Volume 9: Diptera. Afr J Aquat Sci 34:303-304.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2989/AJAS.2009.34.3.12.988
Schmutz S, Moog O, 2018. Dams: ecological impacts and management, p. 111-127. In: S Schmutz and J Sendzimir (eds.), Riverine ecosystem management: science for governing towards a sustainable future. Springer, Cham.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73250-3_6
Serfas DH, 2012. Assessing the impacts of dams on nutrient and sediment loading in the Kalamazoo river using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT). Master Thesis, Western Michigan University.
Sharma CM, Sharma S, Borgstrom R, Bryceson I, 2005. Impacts of a small dam on macroinvertebrates: a case study in the Tinau river, Nepal. Aquat Ecosyst Health Manage 8:267-275.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14634980500218332
Siziba N, 2017. Effects of damming on the ecological condition of urban wastewater polluted rivers. Ecological Engineering 102:234-239.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2017.02.019
Sumudumali RGI, Jayawardana JMCK, 2021. A review of biological monitoring of aquatic ecosystems approaches: with special reference to macroinvertebrates and pesticide pollution. Environ Manage 67:263-276.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-020-01423-0
Ter Braak CJ, Wiertz J, 1994. On the statistical analysis of vegetation change: a wetland affected by water extraction and soil acidification. J Veg Sci 5:361-372.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3235860
United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2017. Volunteer Stream Monitoring: A Methods Manual. Accessed: 17 May 2023. Available from: http://www.water-research.net/Waterlibrary/Lake/STREAM.PDF
Wang J, Ding C, Heino J, Jiang X, Tao J, Ding L, et al., 2020. What explains the variation in dam impacts on riverine macroinvertebrates? A global quantitative synthesis. Environ Res Lett 15:124028.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc4fc
Wang Q, Chen Y, 2010. Status and outlook of China's free-carbon electricity. Renew Sustain Energ Rev 14:1014-1025.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2009.10.012
World Commission on Dams, 2000. Dams and development: A new framework for decision-making: The report of the World Commission on dams. Earthscan, Oxford: 404 pp.
Winton RS, Calamita E, Wehrli B, 2019. Reviews and syntheses: Dams, water quality and tropical reservoir stratification. Biogeosciences 16:1657-1671.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-1657-2019
Wolmarans CT, Kemp M, de Kock KN, Wepener V, 2017. The possible association between selected sediment characteristics and the occurrence of benthic macroinvertebrates in a minimally affected river in South Africa. Chem Ecol 33:18-33.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02757540.2016.1261121
Xu M, Wang Z, Pan B, Yu G, 2014. The assemblage characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates in the Yalutsangpo River, the highest major river in the world. Front Earth Sci 8:351-361.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-014-0414-2
Zhang AT, Gu VX, 2023. Global Dam Tracker: A database of more than 35,000 dams with location, catchment, and attribute information. Sci Data 10:111.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02008-2
Edited by
Michela Rogora, National Research Council, Water Research Institute (CNR-IRSA), Verbania Pallanza, ItalySupporting Agencies
Ethiopian Institute of Water Resources of Addis Ababa UniversityHow to Cite
Getachew, Melaku, Seid Tiku Mereta, Geremew Sahlu Gebrie, Worku Legesse Mulat, and Mary Kelly-Quinne. 2023. “Impacts of the Koka Hydropower Dam on Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in the Awash River Basin in Ethiopia”. Journal of Limnology 82 (1). https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2023.2153.
Copyright (c) 2023 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Similar Articles
- Xing Wang, Binghui Zheng, Lusan Liu, Lijing Wang, Development and evaluation of the Lake Multi-biotic Integrity Index for Dongting Lake, China , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 74 No. 3 (2015)
- Letícia de Morais, Bárbara de Oliveira Sanches, Gilmar B. Santos, Philip R. Kaufmann, Robert M. Hughes, Joseline Molozzi, Marcos Callisto, Assessment of disturbance at three spatial scales in two large tropical reservoirs , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 76 No. 2 (2017)
- Edyta Buczyńska, Stanisław Czachorowski, Paweł Buczyński, Joanna Pakulnicka, Edyta Stępień, Agnieszka Szlauer-Łukaszewska, Robert Stryjecki, Andrzej Zawal, Environmental heterogeneity at different scales: key factors affecting caddisfly larvae assemblages in standing waters within a lowland river catchment , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 76 No. 2 (2017)
- Luciana Falci Theza Rodrigues, Beatriz F. Jabour Vescovi Rosa, Haroldo Lobo, Alex Campos Divino, Roberto da Gama Alves, Diversity and distribution of oligochaetes in tropical forested streams, southeastern Brazil , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 74 No. 3 (2015)
- Oscar Wembo Ndeo, Torsten Hauffe, Diana Delicado, Alidor Kankonda Busanga, Christian Albrecht, Mollusk communities of the central Congo River shaped by combined effects of barriers, environmental gradients, and species dispersal , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 76 No. 3 (2017)
- Leilane T.F. Schwind, Rodrigo L. Arrieira, Juliana D. Dias, Nadson R. Simões, Claudia C. Bonecker, Fabio A. Lansac-Tôha, The structure of planktonic communities of testate amoebae (Arcellinida and Euglyphida) in three environments of the Upper Paraná River basin, Brazil , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 75 No. 1 (2016)
- Dimitar D. Doychev, Longitudinal recovery gradient of macroinvertebrates during different hydrological scenarios in a downstream river reach , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 82 (2023)
- Guojia Huang, Qiuhua Li, Xiaoqing Wang, Mengshu Han, Lei Li, Jing Xiao, Yipeng Liu, Responses of phytoplankton functional groups to environmental factors in the Maixi River, southwest China , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 77 No. 1 (2018)
- Erica E. Scheibler, M. Cristina Claps, Sergio A. Roig-Juñent, Temporal and altitudinal variations in benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in an Andean river basin of Argentina , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 73 No. 1 (2014)
- María I. Ríos-Pulgarín, Isabel C. Gil-Guarín, Mario Barletta, Néstor J. Mancera-Rodríguez, Effects of the hydrological cycle on the phycoperiphyton assemblage in an Andean foothill stream in Colombia , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 75 No. s1 (2016): Proceedings of the 6th National Congress of Limnology
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
