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 thebiota associated with the reservoir change significantly compared to the assemblage before damconstruction in order to match these changed environmental conditions. Some attempts so far havebeen 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 andmigration routes, etc. Few have been done on the performance of aquatilia from the whole-ecosystemperspective. Herein, we evaluate the structural properties of aquatic animals and their complexecological relationships within the ecosystem before and after dam construction based on ecologicalnetwork analysis. In light of the results, we provide useful suggestions for the conservation of theaquatic animals and their habitats, and propose feasible methods for the application of ecologicalnetwork analysis to river ecosystem subjected to human disturbance.