Abstract
To address the species decline in aboriginal fish in the Yarlung Tsangpo River Basin and the lack of research on the habitat characteristics of fish spawning grounds, this paper studied the changing trends in runoff in spawning grounds and the habitat conditions characteristics of Schizopygopsis younghusbandi during the spawning period. In conventional approaches, inaccurate statistical results are obtained when a full river section is taken as the region to be assessed, so a new method for determining the statistical boundaries of characteristic indexes was proposed. By combining hydrological analyses, mathematical statistics, and numerical simulations, the statistical boundary of the index was determined, and a suitable range for the habitat characteristic indexes for the spawning field was finally obtained. The results showed that (1) the maximum percentage of the statistical boundary for the spawning grounds was 39% near the banks on both sides of the river; (2) the flow during the spawning period exhibited small variations, a short duration and a fluctuation cycle and was dominated by water rising events, and the interannual growth trend in the daily flow was obvious; and (3) during the spawning period, the flow velocity of the fish habitat was small, the turbulence level of the fluid was low, and the flow regime was stable. A suitable range for the habitat characteristic index of the target fish provided the basic data for the protection of aboriginal fish and was beneficial to maintain the balance of aquatic ecological system in the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The results of this study contribute to the rational development of water resources in the basin and the protection of species diversity and water environment.
Highlights
The Yarlung Tsangpo River is one of the highest rivers in the world and possesses abundant and unique fish resources [1,2]
A suitable range for the habitat characteristic indexes of S. younghusbandi during the spawning period was obtained by hydrological analysis, mathematical statistics, and numerical simulation
Combined with the ecological habitats of fish, a statistical boundary was calculated with shoal and water temperature as the constraints
Summary
The Yarlung Tsangpo River is one of the highest rivers in the world and possesses abundant and unique fish resources [1,2]. Its special plateau geology and climate conditions have a significant impact on the living habitats of local fish and cause the fish to show obvious regional characteristics during the long-term adaptation process. These fish have characteristics of slow growth and late sexual maturity, and they are environmentally sensitive [3]. Factors such as human activity [1] and climate change have changed the hydrologic characteristics of the river. The structure and function of the ecosystem have been gradually altered, affecting the physiological activities and the physical habitat of the biological community and leading to a gradual decline in aboriginal fish resources. The scopes and depths of investigations have varied, fish resources in discontinuous field investigations were found to have been reduced from 43 species to 23 species from
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