DOI: 10.5061/dryad.12jm63z36
title: Data from: Integrating ecological niche and hydrological connectivity models to assess the impacts of hydropower plants on an endemic and imperiled freshwater turtle

description: We built this dataset to assess the impacts of hydropower plants on the
 distribution of an endemic and imperiled freshwater turtle with very
 unique ecological requirements, the Williams' side-necked turtle
 (Phrynops williamsi). To prevent and mitigate impacts, we prioritized
 sites for species conservation by classifying planned HPP locations
 according to their predicted adverse effects on species distribution. The
 dataset has two files: i) species occurrence records and ii) hydropower
 plant data. The first dataset was fully built by the authors and the
 second was modified from the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency
 (ANEEL) georeferenced data system.
description: Species occurrence
 records We built a presence-only database based on our
 own fieldwork records, data from six scientific collections (i.e., Museu
 de Ciências Naturais da Fundação Zoobotânica do Rio Grande do Sul, Museu
 de Ciências da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul,
 Museu de História Natural Capão da Imbuia, Colección de la Universidad de
 la República (Uruguay), Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay,
 University of Michigan Muzeum of Zoology, and Museo Miguel Lillo de
 Ciencias Naturales (Argentina)), and literature records with pictures or
 voucher specimens that allowed validation of species taxonomic
 identification. The identification of the specimens was
 checked because <em>P</em>. <em>williamsi</em>
 occurs in sympatry with <em>P. hilarii </em>in Rio Grande do
 Sul and <em>P. geoffroanus</em> in Paraná, which refutes the
 observation that the species does not occur in sympatry with other
 congeners, as mentioned by Rhodin and Mittermeier (1983). Part of the
 species-occurrence dataset was published by Kunz et al. (2018). We
 obtained 96 species records that were cleaned, removing (i) 44 records
 with imprecise coordinates and (ii) 17 locations where HPPs were built
 after the species record, retaining 35 geographical coordinates for the
 ecological niche modeling (Table S1). To avoid sampling bias, we filtered
 the species occurrence data set using the environmental space (following
 Varela et al., 2014), which revealed that all species records were
 environmentally distinct. Once our study was based on a species records
 dataset and did not involve capture of animals, permissions for field work
 or ethical approval from an animal ethics committee were not
 necessary. Hydroelectric power plant data
 We obtained the data of hydroelectric projects from the SIGEL
 (Georeferenced Information System for the Electric Sector) database of
 ANEEL (the Brazilian National Electric Energy Agency). ANEEL regulates and
 supervises the production, transmission, distribution, and sale of
 electric energy in Brazil (https://sigel.aneel.gov.br/). By the SIGEL
 system, ANEEL makes available georeferenced information (i.e., the
 shapefile of the dam point) about the operation and expansion of the
 Brazilian electric system. In Brazil, hydroelectric power plants are
 classified according to the capacity of electricity production or the
 extent of the reservoirs (ANA, 2005): micro hydropower (MH) produces up to
 1kW, small hydropower (SH) produces from 1 kW to 30 kW or have reservoirs
 up to 3 km<sup>2</sup> (but exceptionally some up to 13
 km<sup>2</sup> are acceptable; Damasceno et al. 2014), and
 large hydropower (LH) generates above 30 kW or more than it when the
 project does not match the SH specifications. Using the SIGEL, we obtained
 687 HPP records within our modeling background delimitation (see Study
 Area section) and reclassified the 16 ANEEL licensing classes into 3
 categories: i) in operation (252 MHs,  121 SHs, and 33 LHs); ii) under
 construction (5 MHs and 43 SHs); and iii) planned (66 MHs, 154 SHs, and 13
 LHs).