Do hydroelectric projects affect aquatic plants? The case of Marathrum foeniculaceum (Podostemaceae) in two rivers, Southeastern Costa Rica
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22458/urj.v9i2.1754Keywords:
Phenology, hydroelectric project, water, General Valley, Convento River, Union RiverAbstract
In recent years, natural phenomena have increasingly generated strong and untimely changes in river flow (e.g. the increasingly frequent El Niño and La Niña), but hydroelectric projects are among the main anthropic factors. One potentially affected organism is the plant Marathrum foeniculaceum. To evaluate the potential effects of anomalous change, I simulated the changes in flow through changes in rock position (emerged and submerged) in the Unión River and Convento River, Costa Rica. I studied the phenological behavior of 1 260 individuals in six rocks per river in three replicates (2013, 2014 and 2015). There is evidence of a decrease in flowering duration with respect to natural conditions, due to the correlation between moisture change, wilt progression, phenophase progression and flowering. Fruiting took longer, with no correlation with environmental parameters. On average, the duration from the floral buds to the opening of the fruits was of 20 days, whereas naturally it can extend for several months of the dry season. The average number of flowers per individual was less than two, while in natural conditions it is usually greater than five. Reproductive success was less than 30%; About 60% less than under natural conditions. The frequent changes of flow involved the death of the plants in less than 13 days. Because the reproductive period is seasonal, these flow changes during the rest of the year would cause the plants to die without leaving offspring (seeds), demonstrating one of the adverse and under-estimated effects of hydroelectric projects on aquatic ecosystems.References
Álvarez-Mora, M. (2013). Proyectos hidroeléctricos privados chocan con comunidades del Pacífico Sur por uso del agua. Ambientico, 237-238, 40-46. Recuperado de https://goo.gl/akHXah
Anderson, E., Pringle, C., & Rojas, M. (2006). Transforming tropical rivers: an environmental perspective on hydropower development in Costa Rica. Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst., 16, 679-693. doi: 10.1002/aqc.806
Anderson, E., Pringle, C., & Freeman, C. (2008). Quantifying the extent of river fragmentation by hydropower dams in the Sarapiquí River Basin, Costa Rica. Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst., 18, 408-417. doi: 10.1002/aqc.882
Brandt, A., & Swenning, J. (1999). Sedimentological and Geomorphological effects of reservoir flushing: The Cachí Reservoir, Costa Rica, 1996. Geografiska Annaler, 81(3), 391-407. doi: 10.1111/j.0435-3676.1999.00069.x
Burger, W. (1983). Podostemaceae. Flora Costaricensis. Fieldiana Botany. n.s., 13, 1-8.
Chacón, R. (1993). Aspectos de la influencia del fenómeno de El Niño en el clima costarricense. Revista Geográfica de América Central, 27, 63-66. Recuperado de https://goo.gl/snY9t5
Crow, G., & Philbrick, C. (2014). Podostemaceae. En: B. Hammel, M. Grayum, C. Herrera y N. Zamora. (Eds.), Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica. (Haloragaceae-Phytolaccaceae) (pp. 322-336). Saint Louis, Estados Unidos: Miss. Bot. Gard. Press.
Farah-Pérez, A. (2016). Fragmentación del hábitat por represas hidroeléctricas para la ictiofauna dulceacuícola en Costa Rica (Tesis de licenciatura). Universidad de Costa Rica, San José.
Hall, J., Kirn, V., & Yanguas-Fernández, E. (Eds.). (2015). Managing Watersheds for Ecosystem Services in the Steepland Neotropics. Washington, United States: Interamerican Development Bank. doi: 10.18235/0000163
Hammel, B., Grayum, M., Herrera, C., & Zamora, N. (Eds.). (2004). Manual de plantas de Costa Rica I. Introducción. Saint Louis, Estados Unidos: Miss. Bot. Gard. Press.
Hanson, P., Springer, M., & Ramírez, A. (2010). Introducción a los grupos de macro invertebrados acuáticos. Rev. Biol. Trop., 58, 3-37. doi: 10.15517/rbt.v58i4.20080
Korenblik, A., Leggett, T., & Shadbold, T. (2016). World Wildlife Crime Report 2016: Trafficking in Protected Species. Viena, Austria: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Recuperado de https://goo.gl/R6wLwm
Martínez, L. (2003). Efectos del caudal sobre la colonización de algas en un río de alta montaña tropical (Boyacá, Colombia). Caldasia, 25(2), 337-354. Recuperado de https://goo.gl/5vRUYD
Miranda-Farah, E. (2013). Proyecto Hidroeléctrico San Rafael. Estudio de impacto ambiental. San José, Costa Rica: Gestión Ambiental de Proyectos (GAPRO).
Osborn, J., O’neill, S., & El-Ghazaly, G. (2000). Pollen morphology and ultrastucture of Marathrum schiedeanum (Podostemaceae). Grana, 39, 221-225. doi: 10.1080/00173130052017253
Philbrick, C., & Retana, A. (1998). Flowering phenology, pollen flow, and seed production in Marathrum rubrum (Podostemaceae). Aquatic Botany, 62(3), 199-206. doi: 10.1016/S0304-3770(98)00090-4
Philbrick, T., Bove, C., & Stevens, H. (2010). Endemism in Neotropical Podostemaceae. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 97(3), 425-456. doi: 10.3417/2008087
Reyes-Ortega, I., Sánchez-Coronado, E., & Orozco-Segovia, A. (2009). Seed germination in Marathrum schiedeanum and M. rubrum (Podostemaceae). Acuatic Botany, 90(1), 13-17. doi: 10.1016/j.aquabot.2008.04.011
Tippery, N., Philbrick, T., Bove, C., & Les, D. (2011). Systematics and Phylogeny of Neotropical Riverweeds (Podostemaceae: Podostemoideae). Systematic Botany, 36(1), 105-118. doi: 10.1600/036364411X553180
Vargas-Rojas, G. (2011). Botánica general: desde los musgos hasta los árboles. San José, Costa Rica: EUNED.
Vörösmarty, C., McIntyre, P., Gessner, M., Dudgeon, D., Prusevich, A., Green, P., Glidden, S., Bunn, S., Sullivan, C., Liermann, C., & Davies, P. (2010). Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity. Nature, 467(7315), 555-561. doi: 10.1038/nature09440
WWF (World Wide Foundation). (2016). Living Planet Report 2016. Risk and Resilience in a New Era. Gland: WWF International. Recuperado de https://goo.gl/hbzkfZ
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Note: This abstract contains an incorrect copyright due to technical issues. Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal
All journal contents are freely available through a CC BY 4.0 license.
CC BY 4.0 is a Creative Commons: you can copy, modify, distribute, and perform, even for commercial reasons, without asking permission, if you give appropriate credit.
Contents can be reproduced if the source and copyright are acknowledged according to the Open Access license CC BY 4.0. Self-storage in preprint servers and repositories is allowed for all versions. We encourage authors to publish raw data and data logs in public repositories and to include the links with all drafts so that reviewers and readers can consult them at any time.
The journal is financed by public funds via Universidad Estatal a Distancia and editorial independence and ethical compliance are guaranteed by the Board of Editors, UNED. We do not publish paid ads or receive funds from companies.