From Fragmentation to Recovery: Hydropower Impacts on River Connectivity and Fish Diversity Conservation in China’s Dongjiang River

This study quantified the Habitat Connectivity Index (DCI) of cascade dams in the mainstream of the Dongjiang River, revealing the non-linear relationship between dam passability (p) and connectivity restoration. Results showed that DCI increased slowly when <i>p</i> < 0.6 (with the magnitude of increase not exceeding 10.41), whereas an exponential response emerged when <i>p</i> > 0.8 (specifically, DCI rose by 16.53 as p increased from 0.8 to 0.9). Time-series analysis indicated that the number of dams increased from 3 to 16 between 1970 and 2020, which plunged the natural-state DCI (set at 100) to 9.01 (representing a 90.99% decrease); notably, 78.14% of the total connectivity loss occurred during the 2000-2010 period. Spatial heterogeneity analysis demonstrated that enhancing the passability of Jiantan Dam increased DCI by 4.68 (under the baseline condition of <i>p</i> = 0.8), whereas the same intervention on Sulei Dam only led to a 0.58 increase in DCI. This finding highlights the importance of key nodes for connectivity restoration and provides a scientific basis for prioritizing the enhancement of connectivity at such nodes in subsequent ecological governance. A 2024 fish community survey found that 84.2% of the recorded species were native (64 out of 76), while only 18.8% of the total individuals (617 individuals) were migratory; the dominant species were identified as generalist residents, including Oreochromis zillii, Cirrhinus molitorella, and Hemiculter leucisculus. This study identifies 0.8 as a critical threshold for connectivity restoration and provides a spatial decision-making framework for prioritizing the restoration of key dams.