Monitoring Water Bodies Related to El Quimbo Dam, Huila, Colombia

Monitoring water bodies related to El Quimbo Dam, Huila, Colombia

Internship report by: Juan Manuel Peña Reyes (760926651030)

Program: Master of Aquaculture and Marine Resources Management, Wageningen University & Research Centre

Course code: AEW 70424 Report number: P 548 Chair group: Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management

Supervisors: Francisco Torres (Fundación Natura, Colombia) Edwin Peeters (Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands) 2019 Beneficiario COLFUTURO 2015 I Preface

To fulfil the requirements of the MAM program, an internship was performed in agreement with Wageningen University (the Netherlands) and the Fundación Natura (Colombia). In the Netherlands, I did my master thesis with the Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management group of Wageningen University, the thesis was titled, “Effect of individual and group situations on the antipredatory response behavior of the crustacean prey, Gammarus pulex”. After finishing the master thesis, I travelled to Colombia, my home country, and it was there that I visited the Fundación Natura. The Fundación Natura is a colombian organization of civil society, devoted to the conservation, use and management of biodiversity for the generation of social, economic and environmental benefit, in the framework of human sustainable development. In 2020, the Fundación Natura will be national leader in conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity, with international recognition for their contributions through participative and innovative processes aiming at the balance between development and conservation. The Fundación Natura has been working in Colombia for 35 years, developing partnerships with other national and international organizations, such as the IUCN, the Environmental National Forum, Mangrove Action Project, the United Nations and Enel- Emgesa. The work areas in the Fundación Natura include the integral management of climate change, ecological restoration, sustainable forest management, management of river basins, resources management, education, generation of knowledge about biodiversity and communication of information. It was in the Fundación Natura that I knew about the Restoration Project of Tropical Dry Forest, which has been taking place around El Quimbo Dam, in the Department of Huila, Colombia. I realized that I could do an interesting internship work, as part of the Restoration Project of Tropical Dry Forest, and I proposed the idea of performing monitorings on water bodies related to El Quimbo Dam. I knew that I could develop this idea and turn it into a master work, with the important orientation of supervisors from the Fundación Natura and Wageningen University.

I would like to thank Francisco Torres, manager of the Restoration Project of Tropical Dry Forest in the Fundación Natura and Dr. Edwin Peeters, professor at the chairgroup Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management of Wageningen University, for supervising my internship in Colombia, your help was very important to bring this internship to fruition, thank you very much to both. Also, thanks to Wageningen University for giving me the opportunity to finish successfully my master study of Aquaculture and Marine Resources Management. Thanks to the Fundación Natura for giving me the opportunity of having my first professional work experience in an environmental organization in Colombia. Thanks to my colleagues of Fundación Natura who accompanied me during my field excursions, thank you very much to all for their support and good energy during this internship experience.

Summary A monitoring was performed around water bodies associated to the El Quimbo Dam that is located on the Magdalena river, at the south of Huila Department, Colombia. This monitoring study was part of the Ecological Restoration Project of Tropical Dry Forest that is being executed by the Fundación Natura and Enel-Emgesa, which are joining efforts to restore ecosystems that have been affected by the construction of El Quimbo Dam. The construction of El Quimbo Dam began in February, 2011 and the dam was opened in 2015. It is suggested that construction of dams has caused upstream/downstream environmental impacts along river continuums, for example, along the Magdalena-Cauca basin. The Fundación Natura and Enel-Emgesa have been taking measures to mitigate the environmental impacts of El Quimbo Dam´s construction. One of these measures has been the reforestation of 40 km2 of vegetation, to compensate the loss of 30 km2 of vegetation that was cut down to construct the dam. The reforestation, performed by people from the Fundación Natura and Enel-Emgesa, is being developed in three specific zones around El Quimbo Dam. In 2016, the Fundación Natura performed previous studies of biotic and abiotic characterization of water reservoirs located in these three specific zones. Afterwards, in 2017, researchers from the Universidad Surcolombiana and Enel-Emgesa performed water quality studies on water bodies located in the high basin of Magdalena River. The present internship aimed at supplementing those studies executed in 2016 and 2017. During the present internship, biotic and abiotic aspects were analysed in 16 new water bodies to answer the following questions:

-Are there differences in animal diversity among the 16 water bodies studied?.

-Is there similarity in the vegetation composition among the 16 water bodies?.

-Are there differences in abiotic conditions among the water bodies monitored?

The 16 water bodies comprised 3 lakes and 13 streams. For all these water bodies, a field form was used, which consisted in a table organized in 8 columns. Each column contained data of depth, degree of shading, color of water, substrate, vegetation, fauna, water discharge (in the streams) and wind presence (in the lakes). A Shannon index was calculated to measure the fauna diversity along the 16 water bodies located around El Quimbo Dam. For vegetation, the number of trees was counted among the water bodies to find the richest ones in numbers of tree species. Analyses of similarity in composition of tree species were performed between pairs of water bodies as a well as a likely estimation of the most abundant tree species. Finally, environmental impacts of human activities were related to the animal diversity and abiotic aspects observed in the water bodies.

III Contents

Preface……………………………………………………………………………………………..I

Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………..III

1. Introduction………………………………………………………...... 1

2. Material & Methods…………………………………………………………………...... 4 2.1. Sampling locations……………………………………………………………………4 2.2. Data taking…………………………………………………………………………….5 2.3. Measurements………………………………………………………………………...6

3. Results ……………………………………………………………………………………..7

Table 1. Abiotic conditions of water bodies………………………………………….…7

Table 2. Environmental impacts of human activities on water bodies…………...... 10

Table 3. Vegetation species registered in the water bodies………………………...16

Table 4. Animal species registered in the water bodies……………………………..18

3.1. Statistical Analyses………………………………………………………………….20

3.2. Appendix section…………………………………………………………………….25

4. Discussion………………………………………………………………………………...40

5. Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………....42

6. Reflection about my internship in Colombia………………………………………….43

7. References…………………………………………………………………………….....44

1. Introduction

El Quimbo Dam is a concrete faced rock-fill structure and hydroelectric project located at the south of Huila department, on the Magdalena River, around the towns of Gigante, Garzón, Paicol, Tesalia, Altamira and El Agrado, Colombia (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Hydroelectric project of El Quimbo Dam

The towns of Gigante and Paicol are at the north whereas El Agrado and Garzón are at the south of the Huila Department. The dark blue line is the Magdalena River; the light blue area belongs to El Quimbo Dam (Embalse El Quimbo); the light green region is the biotic compensation area, and inside the compensation area, the small dark green spots are the compensation area for the Restoration Pilot Plan (IGAC, Enel-Emgesa, Fundación Natura, 2011).

El Quimbo Dam´s structure is of 151 m high and 632 m long, it was built by the organization Enel-Emgesa, with a cost $837 millions. El Quimbo Dam´s construction began in February, 2011 and finished in 2015. The dam generates 2216 GWh-hours (7980 TJ/year) from a power station of 400 MW, a reservoir of 1824 million cubic meters and an inundated area of 8250 hectares. The dam contributes 8% of energy of Colombia (UNFCC, 2011 and Enel, 2018). El Quimbo Dam is located in the Magdalena-Cauca basin, which extends 1528 km through the western side of Colombia (SIAC, 2011) and holds the 84% of hydroelectric plants, which are built at different altitudes in the Andean mountain range (Jimenez, et al, 2014). It is suggested that the positional altitude of a dam has effects on population dynamics of fish, for example, it is stated that dam waters below 700 m of altitude affect the conservation status of migratory fish species in the Magdalena-Cauca basin (Jimenez, et al, 2014). According to the Serial Discontinuity Concept (SDC), the construction of dams result in upstream-downstream changes in biotic and abiotic patterns along river continuums (Stanford & Ward, 2001). In the Magdalena-Cauca basin, the construction of dams have resulted in upstream-downstream changes in abiotic and biotic patterns, and such changes have been the Magdalena River´s deviation; modification of water courses; shifts in fish migration routes; generation of barriers for fish migration; isolation of fish populations (Jimenez, et al, 2014); dissappearance of fish species in the high part of Magdalena River (Mancera-Rodríguez y Cala 1997); reduction of genetic exchange among fish populations; decrease in genetic variability; modification of fish spawning areas; changes in hábitat use; shifts in fish community structure (Jimenez, et al, 2014); decrease in captures of fish; chemical contamination by aluminium, chlorine and derivatives of concrete (Diaz y Amado, 2017); accumulation of plant material (Jimenez, et al, 2014); lack of oxygen; death of many fish (Cimcool, 2004); submergence of flora and fauna habitats and eviction of people around El Quimbo Dam (Enel, 2018).

The Fundación Natura and Enel-Emgesa have been taking measures to mitigate the impacts of El Quimbo Dam. These measures include the relocation of evicted people, and the rehabilitation of fauna consisting in the chase, capture and relocation of animals, which are then treated in veterinary clinics. Another measures are the repopulation of migratory fish in upstream areas and the reforestation of 110 km2 to compensate the areas that were affected by the construction of El Quimbo Dam (Enel, 2018, Figure 1).

Around El Quimbo Dam, the Fundación Natura currently aims at the reforestation of 40 km2 of vegetation in three specific zones, in which previous studies were performed in 2015 by the Fundación Natura and Emgesa (Natura, 2015). Part of these studies consisted in the physicochemical and biotic characterization of several water reservoirs located in the Pedernal and San José de Belen paths, which are found in one of these three specific zones, near the town of El Agrado. During the biotic characterization, diverse species of animals were observed, such as, rats, white herons, “martín pescador bird”, parrots, “chulo birds or chulos”, rattlesnakes, turtles and frogs. Also, the biotic characterization included the observation of several species of plants, such as, raspayuco, guasimo, algarroba, guadua, igua, saman and dinde trees (Natura, 2015).

Additionally, in 2017, researchers from the Universidad Surcolombiana and Enel-Emgesa performed water quality studies on streams and rivers in the high basin of Magdalena River (Castellanos, et al, 2017).

The present internship aims at supplementing the previous studies performed by the Fundación Natura, Enel-Emgesa and researchers from the Universidad Surcolombiana. During this internship, the monitoring is going to give information about patterns of animal diversity as well as patterns of vegetation abundance along 16 new water bodies around El Quimbo Dam to answer the following questions:

- Are there differences in animal diversity among the 16 water bodies studied?.

- Is there similarity in the vegetation composition among the 16 water bodies?.

- Are there differences in abiotic conditons among the water bodies monitored?

The 16 water bodies are going to include 3 lakes and 13 streams. For animal diversity, the Shannon index is going to be calculated to compare the diversity of animal species among the 16 water bodies located around El Quimbo Dam. The number of plant/tree species is going to be counted among the water bodies to find the most similar ones in number and composition of plant/tree species. Also, the most dominant trees are going to be established by looking at the ones that are seen more frequently during the monitorings. The water discharge is going to be calculated with the “floater method” for each stream, then, the water discharges are going to be compared among the streams to see the most similar ones in water discharge. Also, the monitoring is going to include information about environmental impacts of human activities on the diversity of the 16 water bodies.

2. Material & Methods

2.1. Sampling locations

Monitorings were developed between 7:00 AM and 1:00 PM during the dried and rainy seasons of February and May, 2019, respectively. The monitorings were performed in the south of Huila Department, around the towns of Garzón, El Agrado, Rioloro and Gigante, on the Pedernal and San José de Belén paths, upstream the hydroelectric station El Quimbo (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Sampling locations around El Quimbo Dam

The map is leant towards the right, the town of Gigante is at the North of Huila whereas El Agrado and Garzón are located at the south. Notice the Pedernal and San José de Belén paths among the towns of El Agrado, Garzón and Rioloro. The Hydroelectric station El Quimbo is located at the Northwest of Gigante, on the Magdalena River (Google Earth, 2019).

In Figure 2, the water bodies monitored in the Pedernal path included four points of Buenavista stream, Las Minas stream as well as the lakes of Las Torres, Comejenes and San Pacho.

In the San José de Belén path, a survey was performed in the Mouth of Yaguilga stream, and next to the road towards Garzón, the Yaguilga 1 stream was monitored. In the roads heading to the town of Garzon, the monitorings were performed on the Honda and Las Damas streams. Very near the towns of El Agrado, Garzón and Rioloro, the surveyed streams were the Chimbayaco, Garzón, Rioloro and San Joaquin. In total, 16 water bodies were monitored, which included 13 streams and 3 lakes.

The Garzón and Rioloro streams have the name of their respective towns, San Joaquín stream was located near Garzón whereas the sampling point of Chimbayaco stream was found next to the town of El Agrado. The mentioned water bodies were selected because they were points of easy access and the locations were very well known by colleagues of Fundación Natura, also, it took short time to arrive at those water bodies, between 15 and 30 minutes going by car from the Fundación Natura´s station to the water bodies, the transportation media that were used was the Fundación Natura´s van and bus.

2.2. Data taking

A standar field form was designed for the monitoring of all the 16 water bodies. The standar field form consisted in a table organized in 8 columns containing data of depth, degree of shading, color of water, vegetation, fauna, substrate, water discharge (for the streams/wind presence (for the lakes) and GPS coordinates, the data were taken in the same way in all the water bodies by using the table. The degree of shading, color of water, substrate and wind presence were described by direct qualitative observation. The degree of shading was categorized as “high and little”, depending on the intensity of tree shade reflected by the sun over each water body. The gravel and sandy substrates were determined by looking at the size of particles of each kind of substrate. In the fauna, the monitoring was looking for species of birds, arthropods, invertebrates, zooplankton, reptiles, mammals and fish. The monitorings took place on muddy, sandy and rocky surfaces. The animal species were identified with the help of colleagues from the Fundación Natura, they provided information about the kinds of animals present in the monitored locations. To identify the species of vegetation, small trees growing in the plant nursery where used as reference point. In each small tree, shapes and arrangements of leaves were observed to distinguish taxonomically the trees, also, colleagues from the Fundación Natura helped in the identification of the plant/tree species.

2.3. Measurements

The quantitaive variables to measure were the depth, water discharge, animal diversity and vegetation abundance. By using a metallic ruler and water proof clothes, the depth was measured 5 times in a cross-section of each stream, then, an average depth was calculated for each one of the 13 streams. The average depth in the lakes was measured by visual estimation, taking the metallic ruler´s measure as reference point. For each stream, the water discharge was calculated by using the average depth, the width, and the “floater method”, which consisted in recording the time a floating leaf needed to travel a certain distance in the stream. Then, the average depth, width and leaf´s speed were used in the following formula to calculate the water discharge (Castro, 2009):

( ) ( ) ( ) , where

WD is the water discharge measured in m3/s whereas 0,8 is a coefficient used to calculate the water discharge in rocky substrates, the formula was applicable to the streams monitored.

A Shannon index was calculated to estimate the animal diversity in the 16 water bodies located around El Quimbo Dam. The number of animal species and the abundance of each species were counted in each water body to estimate the Shannon index.

Between pairs of water bodies, the number of plant species shared in common was determined, to find the pairs of water bodies that were more similar in vegetation composition. The number of plant species in common was analyzed among the 16 water bodies, they were all compared from each other forming a matrix of 120 pairs of combinations. Then, a graph was created from this matrix to illustrate the pairs of water bodies that tend to share the highest number of plant species in common.

Finally, aspects of human influence on environment, such as, contamination, deforestatión, fishing activities and Quimbo Dam´s effects were related to the animal diversity and abiotic characteristics of each water body, to visualize a possible model of interaction between human activity and patterns of biodiversity.

3. Results

Registers of abiotic conditons, plant species, animal species and environmental human impacts were obtained during the monitorings of the 16 water bodies, studied during the time of February-May, 2019, in the Department of Huila, Colombia.

The following table include the registers of abiotic conditions, showing comparative information about different physical characeristics observed in the water bodies during the monitorings around El Quimbo Dam (Table 1).

Table 1. Abiotic conditions registered in the water bodies around El Quimbo Dam (February-May, 2019)

Water Water bodies Average discharge/ Water flow Color of water Degree of Substrate depth Wind direction shading presence

Buenavista 25,14 cm 0,59 m3/s East Transparent Much degree Gravel, sand, stream 1 smaller sand, SD 8,93 rocks and leaves trash -Light brown 30,69 cm color in April Much Gravel, sand, Buenavista 2 SD 16,68 0,64 m3/s Northeast -Transparent rocks in May

Gravel, sand, 27,8 cm Little rocks Buenavista 3 0,71 m3/s South Transparent SD 8,58

15,38 cm Very little Gravel, sand, Buenavista 0,71 m3/s Northeast rocks mouth SD 5,34 Transparent

Yaguilga 40 cm 1,17 m3/s Northeast Transparent Little Gravel and stream 1 SD 7,07 rocks

17,44 cm Yaguilga 1,02 m3/s North Transparent Very little Gravel and mouth SD 3,91 rocks

Las Torres 77,1 cm Lentic Brown (sky lake Little wind system and trees Very little Sandy and SD 22,14 reflect on the erosionated water Brilliant silver Comejenes Waves color lake (directly 45 m flowed on the Extreme towards Dark Very little Clay Magdalena SD 7,07 breeze the sometimes River Northeast

Waves San Pacho 45 m Extreme flowed Brilliant silver Humus and lake (directly breeze towards color Very little sand on the SD 7,07 the Magdalena Northeast Dark River) sometimes

37,5 cm Honda stream SD 3,54 2,52 m3/s East Transparent Little Rocky

High degree of shading 16,25 cm 0,52 m3/s towards the Chimbayaco Southeast Transparent sides Rocky stream SD 3,58 Little on the middle of the stream

Rioloro 60,75 cm Rocky and stream 1,13 m3/s West Brown Little sandy SD 9,43

Rocky, 45,2 cm lichens Garzón 9 m3/s Northwest Transparent attached to stream SD 14,79 with some Very high rocks sediment

6,4 cm

Las Minas SD 2,51 stream 0,10 m3/s Southeast Transparent Little and high Rocky

San Joaquin 16,8 cm High Rocky stream 0,18 m3/s Northeast Brown SD 6,72 High shade 47 cm towards the Las Damas 1,50 m3/s sides stream SD 7,26 Southeast Brown Rocky Little on the middle of the stream

 In table 1, the abiotic conditions registered show information about average depth, water discharge, water flow direction, color of water, degree of shading and substrate. The Garzón stream registered the highest value of water discharge whereas Las Minas stream registered the lowest value of water discharge. In Buenavista 2 stream, the color of water changed from light-brown color in April to transparent in May, this change probably was the result of changes in the rain intensity and transportation of sediments, less rain and less transportation of sediments in May probably made the water transparent (Castellanos, et al., 2017). The water flow direction was determined by using the compass function of the GPS.  The water bodies are illustrated in the Appendix Section.

The next table includes information about environmental impacts of human activities on the 16 water bodies. The registers present compararative information about how the monitored water bodies are impacted by human actions and infrastructure (Table 2).

Table 2. Environmental impacts of human activities on the water bodies studied (February-May, 2019)

Locations Contamination Deforestation Fishing Quimbo Dam´s activities effects -Lowered Yes, there is water level Buenavista No fishing when stream 1 Little deforestation, the stream´s -Abundance of contamination conserved water level fish has water body grows declined

-Lowered Yes, there is water level No fishing when Buenavista 2 Little deforestation, the stream´s -Abundance of contamination conserved water level fish has water body grows declined

No Yes, there is -Lowered Buenavista 3 Little deforestation, fishing when water level contamination conserved the stream´s water body water level -Abundance of grows fish has declined

-Lowered water level -Abundance of Yes, fish has Buenavista accumulation of Yes Yes, there is declined mouth vegetal material fishing when -Trees have the stream´s been cut down water level to build the grows dam. -Presence of death trees

-Lowered High, There is little water level contaminated fishing when Yaguilga water go into Yes the stream´s -Abundance of stream 1 the stream water level fish has through water grows declined pipes coming from the towns -Trees have of El Pital and El been cut down Agrado to open space for the dam´s water

-Lowered There is little water level fishing when Yes, Yes the stream´s -Abundance of Yaguilga accumulation of water level fish has mouth vegetal material grows declined

-Trees have been cut down to open space for the dam´s water

Las Torres Little lake contamination Yes No fishing No effects

- Fish catches have been lowered

-Trees have been cut down to open space for the dam´s water Comejenes Yes, Yes Yes lake accumulation of - Presence of vegetal material death trees next to the lake -Magdalena River´s deviation

-Abundance of fish has declined

-Fish catches have been lowered

-Trees have been cut down San Pacho Yes, Yes Yes to open space lake accumulation of for the dam´s vegetal material water

- Presence of death trees next to the lake

-Magdalena River´s deviation

-Lowered water level

-Abundance of fish has No fishing declined Little Yes Honda stream contamination -Trees have been cut down to open space for the dam´s water

-Lowered water level

-Abundance of fish has declined High contamination, a -Trees have lot of garbage, been cut down Chimbayaco dead animal Yes No fishing to open space stream remains and for the dam´s toxic waste water

Rioloro Little No -Lowered stream contamination deforestation, Very little water level conserved fishing water body -Abundance of fish has declined

-Lowered water level

High contamination, a -Abundance of Garzón lot of garbage, Yes No fishing fish has stream dead animal declined remains and toxic waste -Trees have been cut down to open space for the dam´s water

-Lowered water level

-Abundance of fish has declined

-Trees have Las Minas Little Yes No fishing been cut down stream contamination to open space for the dam´s water

Residues fall San Joaquin from stream aquaculture Yes No fishing No effects lakes and crops

No -Lowered Las Damas Little deforestation, No fishing water level stream contamination conserved water body -Abundance of fish has declined

 In table 2, the most contaminated streams are the Garzón, Chimbayaco and San Joaquin, these streams are very closed to towns and other contamination sources (Figure 4).  In San Pacho and Comejenes lakes the captures of fish have declined due to the construction of El Quimbo Dam. The Comejenes and San Pacho lakes´s waters are part of the Magdalena River, which has changed its course after the construction of the dam. This change in course direction of Magdalena River has resulted in decrease of fish catches, this information was provided by fishermen of San Pacho and Comejenes lakes. During the monitoring, low catches of migratory fish were obtained, only one specimen of the species, Prochilodus magdalenae, and one specimen of the species, Cyphocharax magdalenae were caught.  The Prochilodus magdalenae, the Cyphocharax magdalenae and other fish are illustrated in the Appendix Section, in the Comejenes and San Pacho lakes parts.

The following table presents the different kinds of vegetation, accompanied with their respective varieties of plants and trees observed in the 16 water bodies (Table 3).

Table 3. Vegetation species registered in the water bodies around El Quimbo Dam (February-May, 2019)

Locations Vegetation Plant species type

Buenavista Forest Guadua, Cocoa, Rubber, Yarumo, Cuesco palm, Caracolí and stream 1 Cucuta trees Buenavista 2 Forest Carbón, Guadua, Bilibil, Caracolí and Rubber trees Forest trees: Chichato, Capote, Yarumo, Cedro and Nogal trees. Forest and Buenavista 3 grasses Grasses over the shore.

Forest, Forest trees: Chichato, Pindo, fallen palm Buenavista grasses and mouth shrubs Grasses: Saboya grass

Shrubs: Arrayanes

Yaguilga 1 Forest and Forest trees: Caracolí, Pindo, Valso and samán. Grasses on the grasses shore.

Yaguilga Grasses and Cocullina grass mouth bareland Las Torres Forest and Shrub trees: Payande, Raspayuco, Guayabo, Simaron, lake shrubs Caguanzo, Guasimo, Vainillo and Mataratón. Presence of solitary and colonial aquatic plants. Comejenes Forest and Forest trees:, Igua, Samán, Guasimo, Vainillo lake shrubs Shrubs: Raspayuco, Matarratón San Pacho Forest and Forest trees:, Igua, Samán, Guasimo, Vainillo lake shrubs Shrubs: Raspayuco, Matarratón Honda stream Forest and Forest trees: Igua, Pindo, Valso, Fique shrubs Shrub: Verbena Chimbayaco Forest and Cúcutas, Carbón, Bilibil, Guasimo, Sangregao, Tigrillo and stream shrubs Palmicha. Rioloro Forest Pindo, Caracolí, Yarumo, Carbón, Cachingo and Guamo trees. stream Garzón Forest Guadua, Carbonero, Cachingo and Guamo trees stream Las Minas Forest and Forest trees: Algarroba, Callo, Capote and Dinde stream shrubs Shrub trees: Lianas, Guasimo, Guayabo, Payande Forest trees: Carbón, Dinde, Guamo, Caracolí, Bilibil and San Joaquin Forest and Caguanejo stream shrubs Shrub trees: Lianas

Las Damas Forest Palmichas, Yarumo, Igua, Carbón, Caracolí and Chambimba stream trees

 The tree varieties that tend to be more abundant are the Caracolí, Yarumo, Pindo, Guasimo and Igua (Figure 6, in statistical analyses section).  The vegetation species are illustrated in the Appendix Section.

The last table includes information of the different animal species registered in the 16 water bodies, showing the total number of animal species for each location (Table 4)

Table 4. Animal species registered in the water bodies around El Quimbo Dam (February-May, 2019)

Athropods/ Species Locations Birds non- Zooplankton Reptiles Mammals Fish quantity vertebrates (seen animals) Leaf cutter ants, corconchas ants, brown- green Chau arthropod, Buenavista chau one jumper stream 1 parrot insect, Small fish termites, _   (possibly, 10 crab “cuchas” carcass, enreda bees and a, grashopper chapulín

Chau Cutting-leaf chau ants, Buenavista 2 parrot, butterflies, bluebirds floating Cucha fish, 11 ,chilacos insects, _ Turtle  sardines mosquitoes and one fly

Chau Buenavista 3 chau Dragonflies, Cucha fish, parrots, butterflies, _   sardines 8 bluebirds black ants , chilacos

Gluclises Buenavista ,Chamon mouth ,Chulos and bird Butterfly _    5 flying in spiral

Yaguilga Cicadas, _ stream 1 Chulos butterflies    3 Herons, Yaguilga wild mouth ducks  _  Cows  4 and kaicas Pitufui, Dragonflies, Little martín butterflies, arthropods Las Torres pescador floating- swimming 3  Cows  9 lake ,red beak jumper cm below the duck, insects water surface kaicas Chulos, mojarra fish, white Cyphocharax herons, magdalenae, Comejenes pericas, Prochilodus lake hawke, Floating- magdalenae, chamón, jumper    Saccoderma the insects hastata and 12 martín the agujeto pescador fish bird San Pacho Wild lake ducks, Small (part of martín African sardines, a Magdalena pescador bees, gras-    criolla mojarra 9 River in El , kaicas, shoppers Quimbo chulos Dam) and herons _ 4 Honda Chulos, Butterflies    stream kaicas and ants Ants, Chimbayaco butterflies stream Chulos and _    4 cicadas.

Rioloro Chulos Butterflies, stream cicadas     3 

Garzón One bird A Butterfly     2 stream Las Minas Butterfly, stream  ants and _   _ 3 cicadas.

San Joaquin   _   _ 0 stream Las Damas Chulos Butterflies     3 stream and cicadas

 In table 4, the Comejenes lake presented the highest number of animal species.  Practically no animal species was observed in the San Joaquin stream  “” means that the animal may have been present and it was not seen during the monitoring.  “_” means absent at the moment of monitoring.

3.1. Statistical Analyses

The following graph shows the variation in animal diversity among the 16 water bodies located in the Pedernal and San Jose de Belén paths as well as in the roads and near towns (Figure 3).

2 Shannon 1,8 Evenness 1,6 Lineal (Shannon) 1,4 Lineal (Evenness) 1,2 1 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0

Figure 3. Variation in animal diversity among the water bodies

 In figure 3, a Shannon index was calculated for the 16 water bodies.  The water bodies located in the Pedernal path show the highest diversity of animal species, with the exception of Las Minas stream that showed low diversity.

 In the towns, the Chimbayaco and San Joaquín streams show the lowest diversity of animal species, this low diversity is also seen in the Honda stream located near the roads.  Towards the towns, there is a point of equilibrium between the indexes of Shannon and Evenness.

The next graph presents the relation between the environmental human impacts and animal diversity measured in the 16 water bodies around El Quimbo Dam (Figure 4). .

1,8 Shannon 1,6

1,4 Evenness

1,2

0,8

0,6

0,4

0,2

Honda

Rioloro

Garzón

Las torres Las

Las minas Las

Yaguilga 1 Yaguilga

San pacho San

Las damas Las

Comejenes

Chimbayaco

San Joaquin San

Buenavista 1 Buenavista 2 Buenavista 3 Buenavista

Yaguilga mouth Yaguilga

Mouth Buenavista Mouth

CONTAMINATION CONTAMINATION CONTAMINATION CONTAMINATION CONTAMINATION CONTAMINATION

DEFORESTATION DEFORESTATION DEFORESTATION DEFORESTATION DEFORESTATION

HIGH CONTAMINATION HIGH CONTAMINATION HIGH

QUIMBO DAM QUIMBO EFFECTS DAM QUIMBO EFFECTS DAM QUIMBO EFFECTS DAM QUIMBO EFFECTS DAM QUIMBO EFFECTS DAM QUIMBO EFFECTS Figure 4. Relation between the environmental human impacts and animal diversity in the water bodies

 In figure 4, two or three environmental impacts may be affecting one or more water bodies. The water bodies are grouped into several categories of environmental human impacts, and they are related with the animal diversity of each water body.  A downward trend in animal diversity is observed among the water bodies located around El Quimbo Dam.  The lowest values of animal diversity tend to be seen in the Chimbayaco, Garzón and San Joaquin streams, the most contaminated ones.

The following graph shows the numbers of vegetation and animal species counted in the different water bodies throughout the distinct locations around El Quimbo Dam (Figure 5).

14 Number of animal species 12 Number of plant/tree species 10 Lineal (Number of animal species) Lineal (Number of plant/tree species) 8 6 4 2 0

Figure 5. Comparison in the number of vegetation and animal species among the locations  In Figure 5, there is a downward trend in the number of animal species from the Pedernal path to the town of Garzón, also, there is a slight decrease in the number of vegetation species.  An equilibrium point, between the numbers of vegetation and animal species, is observed towards the San José de Belén path.  The highest number of animal species is seen in the three points of Buenavista stream as well as in Las Torres, Comejenes and San Pacho Lakes. The Buenavista mouth, the Yaguilga mouth and Las Minas streams show low numbers of animal species, probably due to deforestation by man (Figure 4).  The lowest number of vegetation species was observed in the Yaguilga mouth, which was surrounded by Cocullina grass (Table 3).  In the roads, the Yaguilga 1, Honda and Las Damas streams showed similarity in their numbers of vegetation and animal species.  The Garzón stream presented the lowest number of animal species.

The next graph presents the general abundance of specific species of trees, there are trees that are more abundant than others along the monitored water bodies (Figure 6)

4,5 4 Abundance 3,5 3 2,5 2 1,5 1 0,5

Igua

Callo

Bilibil

Valso Fique

Pindo

Dinde Nogal

Cedro

Cocoa

Tigrillo Lianas

Samán Cucuta

Vainillo Capote

Carbón Guamo Rubber

Yarumo

Guadua

Caracolí

Verbena

Chichato Payande

Guasimo

Palmicha

Cachingo

Algarroba

Caguanzo Arrayanes

Matarratón

Sangregao

Raspayuco

Chambimba

Cocullinagrass

Palmade cuesco GuayaboSimarron Figure 6. Abundance of tree species along the water bodies studied

 In Figure 6, the most abundant trees were the Caracolí, Yarumo, Pindo, Guasimo and Igua (Table 3). The following graph shows the number of shared plant/tree species between pairs of water bodies, this analysis was performed to see the pairs of water bodies that tend to be the most similar ones in composition of plant/tree species (Figure 7)

4,5 4 Number of shared plant/tree species 3,5 3 2,5 2 1,5 1 0,5 0 Pairs of water 3 pairs 5 pairs 12 pairs 35 pairs 65 pairs bodies

Figure 7. Number of shared plant/tree species between different pairs of water bodies

 120 pairs of combinations in a matrix containing the 16 water bodies.  3 pairs of water bodies are the most similar ones in the composition of plant/tree species, these 3 pairs of water bodies have 4 species of plant/trees in common. The most similar water bodies are the Torres-Comejenes, Torres-San Pacho and Comejenes-San Pacho.  65 pairs are the most different ones in composition of vegetation, for example, Las Damas and the Buenavista 1 streams are one of the most different from each other.

The following illustration shows the variations in depth among the 16 water bodies, there are water bodies that are deeper than others (Figure 8)

70 60 Depth cm 50 SD 40 30 20 10 0

Figure 8. Variations in depth among the water bodies

 The Rioloro stream is the deepest one whereas Las Minas stream is the shallowest one. The Buenavista mouth, Yaguilga mouth and Chimbayaco streams are the most similar ones in water depth. Las Minas stream presented the lowest water depth.

The next graph presents a comparative analysis of human impacts on the water discharge and depth of the streams monitored, these impacts are related to the construction of El Quimbo Dam, contamination and deforestation (Figure 9).

10 9 8 Depth 7 Water discharge 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Figure 9.Compararison of human impacts on the water discharge and depth of streams

 Depth is expressed in m, water discharge is in m3/s  The Garzón stream presents the highest water discharge and it appears that this stream may be the least affected one by the construction of El Quimbo Dam.  The Garzón stream is the most affected by contamination, thus, the highest proportions of toxic waste probably are transported along the Garzón stream.  Las Minas stream presented the lowest values of depth and water discharge, probably due to Quimbo Dam effects and deforestation.

25 3.2. Appendix Section

The following photographs show the abiotic and biotic aspects monitored in the Buenavista stream 1. Buenavista stream 1

 This is the first point of Buenavista stream, located in the coordinates East 819281 longitude and Northwest 743591 latitude, at 764 m.a.s.l, on the Pedernal path, at 7,81 km from the town El Agrado, in the Department of Huila, Colombia. The monitoring took place in February 7, 2019.

Transparent water, shades of trees Sand and gravel substrates and rocky substrate *The gravel presents stones of bigger size

Leaves trash substrate Guadua tree

Jumper insect Brown-green arthropod

Ripped off cortex by Tree branch taken away by heavy wind the stream´s flood

The following photographs show the changes in color of water observed in the Buenavista stream 2. Buenavista stream 2

April 2, 2019 May 9, 2019 *Light brown water *Transparent water

 The second point of Buenavista stream is located in the coordinates East 817022 longitude, Northwest 743814 latitude, at 810 m.a.s.l, on the Pedernal path, 5,95 km from El Agrado. The monitorings took place on April 2 and May 9, 2019.

The next photographs show some tree species, substrate and color of water observed in the Buenavista stream 3. Buenavista stream 3

 This is the third point of Buenavista stream, located in the coordinates East 815277 longitude, Northwest 747101 latitude, at 915 m.a.s.l, on the Pedernal path, at 7,3 km from El Agrado. The monitoring took place on May 8, 2019. Notice the rocky substrate and transparent water of the stream.

Chichato tree Capote tree

The next photographs show the mouth of Buenavista stream, including its types of vegetation as well as the source and old mouth of Buenavista stream

Mouth of Buenavista in El Quimbo Dam

 This is the mouth of Buenavista stream, located in the coordinates East 821073 longitude, Northwest 744625 latitude, at 662 m.a.s.l, on the Pedernal path, at 9.91 km from El Agrado. The monitoring took place on May 13, 2019. Notice the great deforestation by man as well as the dried trees, forests, shrubs and grasslands around the stream.

Alto Buenavista Old mouth of Buenavista stream *Source of Buenavista stream *Where the San Pacho lake is found now

Grasses over the mouth´s shore Plants over sandy substrate

The next illustrations show the abiotic and biotic aspects monitored in Las Torres lake. These aspects include the reflection of sunlight, sky and trees over the water, the species of vegetation and presence of cattle raising seen in the lake.

Las Torres lake

 Las Torres lake is located in the coordinates East 821302 longitude, Northwest 745968 latitude, at 750 m.a.s.l, on the Pedernal path, at 10 km from El Agrado. The monitoring took place on April 1, 2019. Notice the great erosion next to the lake as well as the sandy substrate.

Sunlight´s direct hit over the water Reflection of trees and sky

Payande tree Guasimo, Vainillo and Matarratón

Solitary plant Colonial plant

Cattle raising´s footprints

The next photographs illustrate the Comejenes lake and the species of fish caught there by fishermen Comejenes lake

 The Comejenes lake is located in the coordinates East 822047 longitude, Northwest 744716 latitude, at 722 m.a.s.l, on the Pedernal path, at 11 km from El Agrado. Notice the dried trees and scattered trunks over the water surface. The monitoring took place in April and May. In May, the Cyphocharax magdalenae, Prochilodus magdalenae, Saccoderma hastata and Agujeto fish were seen.

Mojarra fish Cyphocharax magdalenae *The bocachico´s mother

Prochilodus magdalenae Saccoderma hastata *Bocachico *Sardine

Agujeto *Probably belonging to the family Ctenoluciidae

The next photographs show the Honda stream and some of its varieties of vegetation

Honda stream

 The Honda stream is located in the coordinates East 835989 longitude, Northwest 753064 latitude, at 808 m.a.s.l, under the road to the town of Gigante. Notice the cascade and the rocky substrate. The monitoring took place on April 3, 2019.

Igua tree Pindo

Verbena plant

The following photographs present the Yaguilga stream as well as its varieties of vegetation and substrates.

Yaguilga stream

* The Yaguilga stream is located in the coordinates East 815934 longitude, Northwest 738789 latitude, at 774 m.a.s.l, under the road to the town of Garzón. The monitoring took place on April 4, 2019. Notice the rocky substrate, shrubs, forest and grasses next to the stream.

Caracolí Pindo *The caracolí is the biggest tree

Valso Small grasses on the shore

Rocky substrate

The following photograph shows the mouth of Yaguilga stream.

Mouth of Yaguilga stream in El Quimbo Dam

 The mouth of Yaguilga stream is located in the coordinates East 821358 longitude, Northwest 740144 latitude, at 737 m.a.s.l, on the San José de Belén path, at 7.56 km from the town of Garzón. Notice the bareland and Cocullina grass around the stream. The monitorings took place on May 7, 2019.

The next illustrations show the Chimbayaco stream as well as its species of vegetation

Chimbayaco stream

* The Chimbayaco stream is located in the coordinates East 811860 longitude, Northwest 741632 latitude, at 807 m.a.s.l, next to the town of El Agrado. Notice the transparent water, the rocky substrate, and the shade of trees over one side of the stream. The monitoring took place on April 4, 2019.

Sangregao Tigrillo

Palmicha

The next photograph shows Las Damas stream, the picture was taken from the bridge

Las Damas stream

* Las Damas stream is located in the coordinates East 824173 longitude, Northwest 733286 latitude, at 650 m.a.s.l, under the road towards Garzón. The monitoring was performed on April 5, 2019. Notice the abundant vegetation around the stream and shades of trees over the water.

The next photographs present the Garzón stream and two of the tree species observed in the place. Garzón stream

* The Garzón stream is located in the coordinates East 828124 longitude, Northwest 734858 latitude, at 700 m.a.s.l, just next to the town of Garzón. Notice the shade of trees over the stream, the great volumen of water, the rocky substrate and lichens attached to the rocks. The monitoring was performed on May 7, 2019.

Cachingo tree Guamo tree

The following illustrations show the San Joaquin stream and two of the tree species observed in the sampling point San Joaquín stream

* The San Joaquin stream is located in the coordinates East 821781 longitude, Northwest 745942 latitude, at 834 m.a.s.l and 3,60 km from Garzón. Notice the shade of trees, the rocky substrate and the contaminated water. The monitoring took place on May 10, 2019.

Dinde tree Guamo tree

The following photographs show Las Minas stream and two plant varieties registered in the place of sampling Las Minas stream

* Las Minas stream is located in the coordinates East 820976 longitude, Northwest 745572 latitude, at 600 m.a.s.l, at 10,7 km from El Agrado. Notice the abundant vegetation, the rocky substrate and the very low water level at the sampling point. The monitoring was performed on May 13, 2019.

Algarroba Lianas

The next illustrations show the lake San Pacho and a mojarra criolla fish seen in the place Reservoir San Pacho

 The lake of San Pacho is located in the coordinates East 823081 longitude, Northwest 745874 latitude, at 713 m.a.s.l, on the Pedernal path, at 11.54 km from the town of El Agrado. Notice the dried trees, grasses on the shore, vegetated mountains around the lake, and the silver color of the water. The silver color of the lake probably is perceived by the reflection of sunlight and clouds on the water. The monitoring was performed on May 14, 2019.

Criolla mojarra

The following photographs show the Rioloro stream as well as some of its varieties of plants and tree species. Rioloro stream

*The sampling point of Rioloro stream is located in the coordinates East 829087 longitude, Northwest 747963 latitude, at 665 m.a.s.l and 613 m from the town of Rioloro. Notice the abundant vegetation and the brown color of the water. The monitoring took place on May 17, 2019.

Pindo Caracolí

Yarumo

4. Discussion

The results suggest that there were differences in animal diversity among the 16 water bodies studied. There is a downward trend in the animal diversity from the Pedernal path to the town of Garzón (Figure 3). The water bodies located in the Pedernal path showed higher diversity of animal species than in San José de Belén, the roads and towns. In the Pedernal path, there was similarity in the Shannon animal diversity among the first and third points of Buenavista stream, the Comejenes and San Pacho lakes, these water bodies presented the highest animal diversity, and their communities of animals tend to be more heterogeneus in number of individuals (Figure 3). On the other hand, Las Minas, Honda and Chimbayaco streams presented very low animal diversity, which probably is explained by the low number of animal species observed in these streams (Figures 3 and 5). Towards the towns, an equilibrium point was observed between the indexes of Shannon and Evenness, which may suggest that animal communities tend to be more homogeneus near the towns, and evidence of this may be found in the Garzón stream. The Garzón stream registered the highest Evenness index, the lowest abundance of animal species and one of the lowest values of animal diversity observed during this monitoring, just two animal species were seen (Figure 3, Figure 5, Table 4). In the Garzón stream, the low animal diversity probably is due to the high contamination (Figure 4 and Table 2) consisting of garbage near the stream and polluted water (Maitland, 1995).

Towards the San José de Belen path, an equilibrium between the number of animal and plant species was observed (Figure 5). The abundance of animal species decreased from El Pedernal path to the roads and towns, also, a slight decrease in the number of plant species was seen (Figure 5). The observed decrease in animal abundance probably was due to higher levels of contamination, more deforestation and reduction of natural habitat closer to the roads and towns. The Pedernal path tends to contain the highest numbers of plant species, which may explain the highest diversity and highest abundance of animal species in this location (Figure 5 and Figure 3). The mouth of Yaguilga stream, in San José de Belen, is the most different water body in vegetation composition, maybe due to high deforestation by man, which transformed the natural habitat into cattle raising´s land, where high abundance of Cocullina grass was seen (Appendix section, Yaguilga mouth part). Not all the 16 water bodies were similar in vegetation composition, in most of the cases, the water bodies were very different from each other in their composition of plant species. Just 3 pairs of water bodies had the highest number of plant species in common whereas 65 pairs were completely different (Figure 7). This complete difference in vegetation composition may be the result of the high deforestation around El Quimbo Dam region, 30 km2 of trees have been cut down in this region for the construction of the dam (UNFCC, 2011), an evidence of this deforestation can be seen in the mouth of Buenavista stream (Appendix section).

There were differences and similarities in abiotic conditions in the water bodies studied, variations of depth and water discharge were observed among the streams monitored. The Rioloro stream presented the highest depth of 60,75 cm whereas Las Minas stream showed the lowest depth of 6,4 cm. The three points of Buenavista stream were in a similar depth range of 20-30 cm; the mouths of Buenavista and Yaguilga streams as well as the Chimbayaco stream were in a similar depth range of 10-20 cm; the Yaguilga 1, Honda, Garzón and Las Damas streams were in a similar depth range of 40-50 cm (Table 1 and Figure 8). The observed variations of depth and water discharge may be the result of differences in rain patterns among the monitored locations and effects produced by human activities. The low water level, observed in the mouths of Yaguilga and Buenavista streams, may be caused by high deforestation, which may mean, no trees, low water retention in the ground, and thus low water level. From the deforestation, cut down trees may be releasing plant material into the waters, as may be happening in the mouth of Buenavista stream (see Appendix section). The observed deforestation took place to construct El Quimbo Dam, which may have altered the aquatic dynamics of Buenavista and Yaguilga mouths, making them shallow. Therefore, the effects of El Quimbo Dam and deforestation may have had influence on the low water level and low water discharge in these mouths (Figure 9). El Quimbo Dam´s effects and deforestation may have also influenced on the lowest levels of water discharge and depth observed in Las Minas stream (Figure 9), and these water´s lowest levels may have made Las Minas stream poor in animal diversity (Figure 3 and Figure 4).

This monitoring practice presented strong and weak points. The strong points were the organization of data taking, the replication of the observation method, the orientation given by colleagues of Fundación Natura and the mutual cooperation with them. The use of the 8-columns-table made the sampling process organized, and thus, an observation protocol was established and replicated in all the monitoring locations. There was good cooperative and team work with the colleagues of Fundación Natura. Thus, the organized protocol, the cooperation and team work produced data of good precisión. A weak point was the missing of animal species that could not be seen, probably these animals were hidden in the vegetation, for example, there may have been scorpions and rattlesnakes that may have not been seen during the monitorings because these animals may have been hidden under the plants, next to the water bodies. Also, many species of birds were heard singing, and the dense vegetation didn´t allow the sighting of many bird species that were singing. Lastly, the monitorings only took place during the morning and many animals have nocturnal habits, such as bats. The positive side of this is to recognize that many animals species are present in spite of not seeing them, this opens the perspective and space for the development of more detailed biodiversity studies in the future, and this present monitoring study is a first glimpse in the knowledge of the biodiversity of these 16 water bodies related to El Quimbo Dam.

5. Conclusions - The highest animal diversity was observed in the three points of Buenavista stream and in the lakes of Comejenes and San Pacho.

-There was a decrease in the number of animal and plant species from the Pedernal path to the towns. The highest decrease in animal diversity was observed towards the town of Garzon.

-The Garzón stream presented one of the lowest numbers of animal species, probably due to high degree of contamination in the stream.

-The Garzón stream presented the highest homogeneity in the communities of animals.

-The San Joaquín stream presented the lowest diversity of animal species as well as the lowest abundance of animals.

-Las Minas, Honda and Chimbayaco streams presented very low animal diversity.

-The highest similarity in vegetation compostion was observed in three pairs of water bodies, such as, Las Torres-Comejenes, Las Torres-San Pacho and Comejenes-San Pacho.

-The mouth of Yaguilga stream is the most different in vegetation composition, the Yaguilga stream´s mouth is surrounded by the Cocullina grass.

-The Caracolí, Yarumo, Pindo, Guasimo and Igua trees were the most abundant trees among the water bodies studied (See Appendix section).

-The Garzón stream registered the highest water discharge whereas Las Minas showed the lowest water discharge.

-The Rioloro stream presented the highest depth whereas Las Minas stream showed the lowest depth.

-El Quimbo Dam effects and deforestation may be two causes of the very low water levels and low animal diversity in Las Minas stream.

-The mouths of Buenavista and Yaguilga streams presented low water level ranges. The low depth of these mouths probably is caused by deforestation and effects of El Quimbo Dam.

43 6.Reflection about my internship in Colombia

In this part of the report, I am going to reflect about my internship experience in the Fundación Natura and all the important knowledge I have learned in this interesting colombian organization. During this internship, I performed activities and underwent experiences to achieve my learning and personal goals.

Learning goals

- Gaining outdoor practice working in aquatic ecosystems and developing social life

In the beginning, I didn´t have much practice doing outdoor research and most of my research experience had taken place in laboratories. However, I was always interested in doing outdoor research, and I found a good opportunity in the Fundación Natura. In this organization, I had the chance to perform monitorings in aquatic ecosystems around El Quimbo Dam, in the Department of Huila, Colombia. During my internship experience, I could expand the aquatic ecology knowledge that I had learned during my master studies at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. At the personal level, working in the Fundación Natura helped me to develop my social life, there was good chemistry between the colleagues of Fundación Natura and me. In the beginning I struggle a little bit in my interaction with the people there, but then the interaction started to improve during the time I became more adapted to the organization. My confidence working there increased and I felt more confident approaching people. There was a time when I started to acquire the speaking accent of my colleagues, people in Huila speak with a special accent, so speaking like them meant that I could reach a good level of interactive connection with those colleagues of Fundación Natura, they even invited me for the celebrations of Saint Peter in June, time when the Huila Department is full of parties. My cooperative skills also increased during the internship, I achieved good communication with my colleagues and I was always in the “speed up”, meaning very attentive to what they were telling me, so I could respond to them assertively and efficiently, I really achieved great personal development in the Fundación Natura. From February to May, I felt that I increased in my skills to work outside in the field, the Buenavista stream was the aquatic ecosystem where I performed my first outdoor monitoring that consisted in the taking of information about depth, dregree of shading, color of water, vegetation, fauna, substrate, water discharge/wind presence and GPS coordinates. I wrote this information on a table organized in 8 columns, then, I used this same table to write the information in the other 15 water bodies.

- Learning to use the Geographic Positioning System, GPS

The first time I saw a GPS, I didn´t have any idea of how to use it, but then I realized that using the GPS was very easy and that I just needed to have the curious attitude to discover the diverse functions of the GPS. I used this device for the first time in the reservoir Las Torres, where my fieldguide explained me the way to turn on the GPS and give the first geographic positioning system lectures, after this explanation, I marked my

44 first GPS coordinate point in the reservoir Las Torres. Afterwards, I wanted to learn more about GPS functions and I discover the compass one, with which I got to determine the water current direction in the ravines. For example, I learned that the Buenavista ravine´s water flows in several directions, throughout different heights, until reaching its mouth in El Quimbo Dam. Also, with the GPS, I learned to determine the distance between each water body and its nearest town. In the future, I hope to learn more about GPS functions for my next monitorings.

- Acquiring knowledge of ecological restoration strategies

I didn´t know much about the ecological restoration strategies before starting the internship, however, I acquired a first knowledge of these strategies when I did my first visit to Huila. I learned that these strategies consisted of specialized techniques to plant trees in different specific zones of El Quimbo Dam region. I had the opportunity to plant a small Caracolí plant and develop monitoring studies on trees, which was also a good opportunity to acquire outdoor work experience. In the beginning, I didn´t know much about the vegetation of tropical dry forest, I was curious in knowing more about the small plants that grew many meters high, so I decided to walk through the plant nursery to see the plants and learn to recognize them by their physical features and names. Now, I can distinguish several of those plants, some of which I have registered for this aquatic ecology monitoring report. Also, I had the opportunity to taste the Cocoa and Guamo´s fruits for the first time.

In conclusion, the internship in the Fundación Natura has been an excellent opportunity to have my first professional experience in an environmental organization in Colombia and expand my aquatic ecology knowledge that I learned during my master studies at the Wageningen University, the Netherlands. I hope to keep learning and doing more interesting research of high level, trascendence and impact.

7. References

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- UNFCC. "Clean Development Mechanism: Project Design Document". El Quimbo Hydroelectric Project. UNFCCC. pp. 2–5, 16–17, 44–47. Retrieved 9 June 2011.

-Usma J.S., M. Valderrama, M. D. Escobar, R. E. Ajiaco-Martínez, F. Villa-Navarro, F. Castro, H. Ramírez-Gil, A.I. Sanabria, A. Ortega-Lara, J. Maldonado-Ocampo, J. C.Alonso y C. Cipamocha. 2009. Peces dulceacuícolas migratorios en Colombia. Pp. 103 – 131. En: Amaya, J.D. y L.G. Naranjo (eds). Plan Nacional de las Especies Migratorias: Diagnóstico e identificación de acciones para la conservación y el manejo sostenible de las especies migratorias de la biodiversidad en Colombia. MAVDT – WWF, 214 pp.

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- Villa-Navarro, F. A., García-Melo, L. J., Zúñiga-Upegui, P. T., García-Melo, J. E., Quiñones-Montiel, J. M., Albornoz-Garzón, J. G., & Ángel-Rojas, V. J. (2014). Historia de vida del bagre Imparfinis usmai (Heptapteridae: Siluriformes) en el área de influencia del proyecto hidroeléctrico El Quimbo, alto río Magdalena, Colombia. Biota Colombiana, 15(2).