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Article
Peer-Review Record

Spatiotemporal Response of Fish Aggregations to Hydrological Changes in the Lower Pearl River, China, during the Main Spawning Season

Water 2022, 14(11), 1723; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14111723
by Zhi Wu 1,2, Shuli Zhu 1,2, Yuefei Li 1,2, Yuguo Xia 1,2, Yingqiu Zhang 1,2, Xinhui Li 1,2 and Jie Li 1,2,3,*
Reviewer 1:
Water 2022, 14(11), 1723; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14111723
Submission received: 24 April 2022 / Revised: 19 May 2022 / Accepted: 25 May 2022 / Published: 27 May 2022

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Overview

In the manuscript Spatiotemporal response of fish aggregations to hydrological changes in the lower Pearl River, China, during the main spawning season, the authors made hydroacoustic surveys were undertaken monthly in 2016 to monitor the distribution and behavior of fish, in river section downstream of the Changzhou Dam (CZD), stretching ~350 km to the Pearl River estuary. They conducted monthly hydroacoustic monitoring under the normal operation mode of the CZD during the main spawning season. The aim of the study was to gain an understanding of the fish density and the temporal and spatial response of fish downstream of the CZD to changes in the flow pattern.

The manuscript is well written, the field data is robust, both spatial and temporal aspects. And the theme is of global importance, as it addresses the operation of a hydroelectric plant (discharge), correlating with abundance, and suggestions for conservation for endangered fish species.

My comments are described in text boxes in the attached manuscript document. The needs of the adjustments are mostly in writing, both in complementation and in the position of various information.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Review

Paper title: Spatiotemporal response of fish aggregations to hydrological changes in the lower Pearl River, China, during the main spawning season

 

The authors conducted a monthly hydroacoustic monitoring field study from March to September 2016 to reveal general patterns in fish density and the temporal and spatial distribution as a response to the normal operation mode of the Changzhou Damthe (Pearl River, China) the during the main spawning season. The authors found significant fluctuations in fish density and size of fish. Both parameters were higher during the water discharge rising stage. These results may have important implications for management and conservation purposes.

 

All these reasons explain the relevance of the paper by Zhi Wu and co-authors submitted to "Water".

 

General scores.

 

The data presented by the authors are original and significant. The study is correctly designed and the authors used appropriate collecting methods. In general, the statistical analyses are performed with good technical standards. The authors conducted careful work that may attract the attention of a wide range of specialists focused on fish biology.

 

Recommendations.

The authors should provide a detailed description of the statistical methods and software they used to process and compare their data.

Table 2. The authors should include superscript letters with average values to represent significant differences.

 

Specific comments.

L 23. Change “compared with” to “compared to”

L 38. Change “effects to” to “effects on”

L 39. Change “to larval” to “on larval”

L 53. Change “reported on” to “reported about”

L 139. Change “space” to “spaces”

L 152. Change “compared with during the falling stage” to “compared to the falling stage”

L 161. Change “when compared with” to “when compared to”

L 162. Change “except for in April” to “except for April”

L 170. Change “in the different months” to “in different months”

L 177. Change “from in March” to “from March”

L 179. Change “To analysis” to “To analyze”

L 182. Change “compared with” to “compared to”

L 184. Change “stages was” to “stages were”

L 194. Change “represents” to “represent”

L 203. Change “except in March” to “except March”

L 215. Change “correlated to” to “correlated with”

L 235. Change “the stronger is” to “the stronger”

L 256. Change “mass” to “biomass”

L 257. Change “ranges from 134 to 213 cm” to “range from 134 to 213 mm”

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors responded to most of the suggestions for adjustments, answering all questions. However, I consider it necessary for the authors to write a paragraph that deals with the biological aspects of the spawning period of fish in the river basin studied, in order to justify the increase and decrease in fish densities (according to the hydroacoustic surveys), and the respective seasonalities.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

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