About this Research Topic
Hydropower is a renewable and clean energy source since it relies on the natural water cycle and no greenhouse emissions are released into the atmosphere, but its development frequently induces marked environmental alterations. Increasing environmental awareness has prompted the widespread research of new management strategies aimed at mitigating the impacts of hydropower on riverine ecosystems. However, the implementation of environmental conservation measures is generally underdeveloped, often limited to the release of minimum flows, neglecting the full range of alterations of the hydrological, thermal, and sediment transport regimes. Therefore, in order to achieve effective preservation of riverine ecosystems, it is crucial to define a set of standards that can be incorporated within management objectives and policies, accounting for the full range of environmental alterations.
Though many studies are available characterizing the ecological effects of hydropower schemes, the management aspects based on scientific evidence are often neglected, as well as the normative frameworks that govern hydropower management and policy. Moreover, many researchers have been focused on developing flow-ecology relationships in environments impacted by hydropower, while only a few have investigated the ecological effects of thermal and sediment alterations. Besides the priority attributed to economic and social interests, in many countries, these knowledge gaps hinder the development of ecosystem-based management criteria, which may support water resource managers and environmental regulators when aiming to improve the ecological sustainability of hydropower schemes. To address these critical knowledge gaps, numerous studies are needed that document the response of key biological components of the impacted ecosystems to the multitude of environmental pressures induced by hydropower. Besides environmental impact monitoring and assessment, in all of these studies, normative and management aspects specifically characterizing each case study need to be clearly presented and discussed. Since significant differences in hydropower development, regulations, and mitigation measures distinguish different countries, researchers from around the world can provide a diverse set of insights, to stimulate comparisons, to promote examples and guidelines to follow and to draw conclusions at a wider scale, regardless of the specificities related to the geographical context.
The Research Topic goal is to provide new insights on the environmental sustainability of hydropower production through a collection of studies focusing on its current environmental impact and by explicitly integrating ecology with management and legislation. We encourage the submission of manuscripts on recent advancements on this topic, clearly documenting pros and cons, as well as a potential extension of mitigating strategies to other contexts.
We welcome:
1) Reviews and mini-reviews on what we already know about hydropower development, its environmental consequences in different countries, and local policies or management objectives adopted to design and operate the analyzed schemes.
2) Original research articles covering specific themes related to hydropower impact, including the ecological effects of thermal alteration, sediment management practices, and multiple interacting pressures.
3) Emerging developments that minimize the ecological consequences of hydropower systems.
4) Studies explicitly integrating ecological consequences of hydropower with management strategies and legislation.
Though many studies are available characterizing the ecological effects of hydropower schemes, the management aspects based on scientific evidence are often neglected, as well as the normative frameworks that govern hydropower management and policy. Moreover, many researchers have been focused on developing flow-ecology relationships in environments impacted by hydropower, while only a few have investigated the ecological effects of thermal and sediment alterations. Besides the priority attributed to economic and social interests, in many countries, these knowledge gaps hinder the development of ecosystem-based management criteria, which may support water resource managers and environmental regulators when aiming to improve the ecological sustainability of hydropower schemes. To address these critical knowledge gaps, numerous studies are needed that document the response of key biological components of the impacted ecosystems to the multitude of environmental pressures induced by hydropower. Besides environmental impact monitoring and assessment, in all of these studies, normative and management aspects specifically characterizing each case study need to be clearly presented and discussed. Since significant differences in hydropower development, regulations, and mitigation measures distinguish different countries, researchers from around the world can provide a diverse set of insights, to stimulate comparisons, to promote examples and guidelines to follow and to draw conclusions at a wider scale, regardless of the specificities related to the geographical context.
The Research Topic goal is to provide new insights on the environmental sustainability of hydropower production through a collection of studies focusing on its current environmental impact and by explicitly integrating ecology with management and legislation. We encourage the submission of manuscripts on recent advancements on this topic, clearly documenting pros and cons, as well as a potential extension of mitigating strategies to other contexts.
We welcome:
1) Reviews and mini-reviews on what we already know about hydropower development, its environmental consequences in different countries, and local policies or management objectives adopted to design and operate the analyzed schemes.
2) Original research articles covering specific themes related to hydropower impact, including the ecological effects of thermal alteration, sediment management practices, and multiple interacting pressures.
3) Emerging developments that minimize the ecological consequences of hydropower systems.
4) Studies explicitly integrating ecological consequences of hydropower with management strategies and legislation.
Keywords: hydropower, intake, reservoir, hydrological regime, thermal alteration, sediment management, monitoring, bioindicators, ecological consequences, scientific criteria for management, policy
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
