A dataset of eco-evidence tools to inform early-stage environmental impact assessments of hydropower development

The datasets described herein provide the foundation for a decision support prototype (DSP) toolkit aimed at assisting stakeholders in determining evidence of which aspects of river ecosystems have been impacted by hydropower. A series of 42 river function indicators were used to characterize divergent aspects of river ecosystems while also serving to consolidate the dimensionality of these complex systems into a manageable number of measures. These indicators were developed from a comprehensive literature review of the environmental impacts of hydropower and are associated with six main categories of impacts to river systems: biota and biodiversity, water quality, hydrology, geomorphology, land cover, and river connectivity.
The three tools comprising the DSP toolkit and associated data include:
1) Science-Based Questionnaire (SBQ): A series of structured survey-style 140 questions for understanding impacts of dams on river ecosystems were developed through a global literature review. A spreadsheet program was developed to summarize the results of questions into evidence of dam impacts on the 42 ecological indicators. Output is provided in tabular and graphical/chart formats.
2) Environmental Envelope Model (EEM): The EEM is a model to predict the likelihood of hydropower impacting indicators based on a several variables. The intended use of the EEM is for situations of new hydropower development where results of the SBQ are incomplete or highly uncertain. A dataset containing attributes of dams, reservoirs, and geospatial information on environmental concerns were compiled and combined with data on ecological indicators measured at those sites. The data were used to develop models predicting impacts of dams on ecological indicators. A total of 247 envelopes and weighting factors, representing the individual effect of each variable on each ecological indicator, were developed in a spreadsheet program.
3) River Function Linkage Assessment Tool (RFLAT): The purpose of RFLAT is to examine causal relationships amongst indicators. Based on literature review, a node and edge dataset was developed representing causal relationships (“edges”) between ecological indicators (“nodes)”. Bayes theorem was used estimate conditional probabilities of inter-indicator relationships based on the output of the SBQ. Nodes and edges were imported into R programming environment to visualize ecological indicator networks.

本数据集为面向水电生态影响评估的决策支持原型（Decision Support Prototype, DSP）工具包提供了核心支撑，该工具包旨在协助利益相关方明确水电开发对河流生态系统各维度产生影响的相关证据。研究团队选取42项河流功能指标，用以刻画河流生态系统的多元特征，同时将这类复杂生态系统的维度整合为数量可控的评估维度。这些指标基于水电环境影响的全面文献综述开发而成，对应河流生态系统的六大主要影响类别：生物群落与生物多样性、水质、水文、地貌、土地覆盖以及河流连通性。

本工具包包含三款配套工具与关联数据集，具体如下：
1) 科学基础问卷（Science-Based Questionnaire, SBQ）：团队通过全球文献综述开发了一套包含140道结构化问卷题目的调研工具，用于评估大坝对河流生态系统的影响。同时配套开发了电子表格程序，可将问卷结果汇总为大坝对42项生态指标产生影响的相关证据。最终输出结果支持表格与图表两种格式。
2) 环境包络模型（Environmental Envelope Model, EEM）：该模型基于多变量数据，预测水电开发对生态指标产生影响的可能性，适用于新水电开发场景中科学基础问卷（SBQ）结果不完备或不确定性较高的情况。研究团队整合了大坝、水库的属性数据以及环境关切点的地理空间信息，并结合对应监测点位的生态指标实测数据，构建了预测大坝对生态指标影响的模型。最终通过电子表格程序生成了247个包络与权重因子，用以表征各变量对单项生态指标的单独影响。
3) 河流功能关联评估工具（River Function Linkage Assessment Tool, RFLAT）：该工具用于探究生态指标间的因果关联。基于文献综述，团队构建了节点-边数据集，其中“边”代表生态指标（“节点”）之间的因果关系。结合科学基础问卷（SBQ）的输出结果，团队利用贝叶斯定理估算指标间关联的条件概率。随后将节点与边数据导入R编程环境，以可视化生态指标网络。