The application of physical habitat simulation model on ecological flow decision
物理栖息地模型在中华鲟自然繁殖生态流量决策中的应用

The national-level protected species of Chinese sturgeon is targeted as a study to explore the different operation measures of Three Gorges Dam and Gezhouba Dam impact on the Chinese sturgeon spawning habitat. A physical habitat simulation model of Chinese sturgeon is established by considering the fish habitat needs, the suitable habitat area derived from the model is used to quantify impact of the different operations on the spawning habitat quality. Then the surveyed abundance of eggs and populations of Chinese sturgeon are used to verify and evaluate the reliability and practicability of this model. The results showed that the curve of the average annual change in suitable habitat area have the same trend with the Chinese sturgeon abundance curve, and thus infer suitable habitat area may reflect the quality of Chinese sturgeon spawning habitat; The model is used to make a decision on the ecological flow based on different scenario simulation. The physical habitat model can effectively quantify the effects of flow rate change on the target species habitat quality, it could provide assessment and decision-making methods for the ecological flow operation of Chinese sturgeon spawning habitat.