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<p>Damming-induced fragmentation is arguably the most pronounced anthropogenic disturbance of global river systems, yet its spatio-temporal evolution remains poorly understood due to constraints in&#xa0;dam information, particularly in rapidly developing regions like China. Here we establish a spatially and temporally explicit inventory of Chinese riverine reservoirs and assess the long-term trajectory of damming impacts on river fragmentation during 1970–2020. We find that the number of dams rocketed from 1019 to 17,414, promoting a nearly-fourfold rise in total capacity. Consequently, ~62% of the main rivers, accounting for 90% of the total river discharge in China, have become fragmented. In particular, intensified dam construction in the 1980s and early-21st century substantially altered the free-flowing conditions of main rivers in China, including the&#xa0;Yangtze and Yellow&#xa0;rivers. Over five decades, free-flowing main rivers in China decreased by 38.9%, weakening fluvial ecosystems and threatening long-distance migratory fish species. Notably, our fine-resolution results show that small rivers are fragmented at lengths 3-16 times greater than previously reported, revealing the ongoing river fragmentation spreading to fragile high-altitude headwaters. This underscores the urgent need to consider the societal and eco-environmental effects of such a severely fragmented river system, and aligns with the UN SDGs in promoting sustainable practices.</p><p></p>

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Exacerbating dam-induced fragmentation in China’s river systems

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2025年6月3日

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  • Fan Chenyu,
  • Linghong Ke,
  • Jida Wang,
  • Jim Best,
  • Yunlin Zhang,
  • Yongwei Sheng,
  • Kai Liu,
  • Tan Chen,
  • Fanxuan Zeng,
  • Pengfei Zhan,
  • Jingying Zhu,
  • Jian Cheng,
  • Chunqiao Song

摘要

Damming-induced fragmentation is arguably the most pronounced anthropogenic disturbance of global river systems, yet its spatio-temporal evolution remains poorly understood due to constraints in dam information, particularly in rapidly developing regions like China. Here we establish a spatially and temporally explicit inventory of Chinese riverine reservoirs and assess the long-term trajectory of damming impacts on river fragmentation during 1970–2020. We find that the number of dams rocketed from 1019 to 17,414, promoting a nearly-fourfold rise in total capacity. Consequently, ~62% of the main rivers, accounting for 90% of the total river discharge in China, have become fragmented. In particular, intensified dam construction in the 1980s and early-21st century substantially altered the free-flowing conditions of main rivers in China, including the Yangtze and Yellow rivers. Over five decades, free-flowing main rivers in China decreased by 38.9%, weakening fluvial ecosystems and threatening long-distance migratory fish species. Notably, our fine-resolution results show that small rivers are fragmented at lengths 3-16 times greater than previously reported, revealing the ongoing river fragmentation spreading to fragile high-altitude headwaters. This underscores the urgent need to consider the societal and eco-environmental effects of such a severely fragmented river system, and aligns with the UN SDGs in promoting sustainable practices.