Impacts of the High-Pressure Bratskoye Hydroelectric Power Station on the Zooplankton of the Bratskoye Reservoir

Abstract

During the growing season of 2022, the studies were carried out in the water area of the Bratsk Reservoir (the Angara River) and in the near-dam site of the Bratsk high-level hydroelectric power station. The ecological effects of the hydroelectric dam on the zooplankton in the regulated section of the river were studied and the impact of the zooplankton downstream drift on the feeding conditions of the fish in the Bratsk Reservoir was assessed. It is established that the water column stratification is a significant factor in the ecological differentiation of plankton communities in the upper reaches of the hydroelectric power station. Unlike the warmed-up layer of the epilimnion, a specific, poor in species, low-abundant and low-productive plankton develops in the cold-water hypolimnion, which enters the dam intakes. A rigorous analysis does not reveal a transformation of the community composition, a statistically significant decrease in abundance and productivity, increased mortality of invertebrates during their passage through the dam, deterioration of the water ecological quality in the lower reaches of the hydroelectric power station. Both live and dead zooplankton drifting downstream from the reservoir makes up a significant proportion of the diet of fish, which during the feeding period come as close as possible to the hydroelectric power station and form aggregations exceeding those in the water area of the Bratsk Reservoir in density. The data obtained testify to the effective adaptation of lake-river planktocenosis to the specific natural and technogenic mode of operation of a large hydraulic structure. The local impact of the Bratsk hydroelectric power station has no ecologically significant negative effect on the plankton of the Bratsk Reservoir and the Angara River ecosystems and has a positive effect on the fish population in the lower reaches through the enrichment of its forage base.