Université de Sherbrooke
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Dominique Gravel
Katrine Turgeon
Start: 2022-08-29
End: 2024-12-20

Project

Long-term Effects of Hydroelectric Reservoir Impoundment on Fish Communities
My master's project focuses on the long-term effects of the impoundment of hydroelectric reservoirs on fish communities in the context of rapid energy growth in Quebec. It aims to determine if biomass evolves similarly both within and between communities. To address this question, I apply the Living Planet Index (LPI) to biomass time series, and I use a hierarchical generalized additive model, which is a modified version of the LPI that accounts for different sources of variability in the data and the fact that species respond as an assemblage. Preliminary results suggest that communities respond heterogeneously to the impoundment of reservoirs, with some species showing a marked initial increase in biomass, while others maintain stable biomass levels throughout the study period.

Keywords

Reservoirs, Impoundment, community ecology, Fish, Time series, HGAMs, LPI