Habitat Simulation and Comparison for the Ictalurus Punctatus Species within a River Reach, in Order to Create an Ecological Park
| Main Authors: | Ezequiel Garcia-Rodriguez, Luis A. Ochoa-Franco, Adrian I. Cervantes-Servin |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2014
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| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/2837436 |
Daftar Isi:
- In this work, the Ictalurus punctatus species estimated available physical habitat is compared with the estimated physical habitat for the same but modified river reach, with the aim of creating an ecological park, along a length of 5500 m. The river reach studied here is part of the Lerma River, whose Basin is located in the Central-West zone of Mexico, entailing a 3% (53 591 km2) of the Country land. The Lerma River originates at the Almoloya Lagoon, in the West of Mexico City, and it discharges its water into the Chapala Lake, after having traveled along five Mexican States, through its length of 708 km. The studied river reach is part of a 12 000 meter meander with an average width of 50 m that remains isolated from the River Lerma dynamics most of the year, with a near to zero flow. To determine the effect of ecological park construction, on physical hábitat of the Lerma river stretch of study, first, the available habitat for the Ictalurus punctatus species was estimated through the simulation of the physical habitat, by using surveying, hydraulics, and habitat information gotten at the river reach in its actual situation. Second, it was estimated the available habitat for the above species, upon the simulation of the physical habitat through the proposed modification for the eclogical park creation. Third, it is presented a comparison between both scenarios in terms of available habitat estimated for Ictalurus punctatus species, concluding that in cases of adult and spawning life stages, changes in the channel to create an ecologica park would produce a considerable loss of potentially usable habitat (HPU), while in the case of the juvenile stage HPU remains virtually unchanged, and in the case of stage fry the HPU would increase due to the presence of speeds and depths of lesser magnitude, due to the presence of minor flow rates and lower volume of the wet channel.