We examined the effects of the Zemko Dam removal on the Eightmile River system in Salem, Connecticut, USA. The objective of this research was to quantify spatiotemporal variation in fish community composition in response to small dam removal. We sampled fish abundance over a 6-year period (2005-2010) to quantify changes in fish assemblages prior to dam removal, during drawdown, and for three years following dam removal. Fish population dynamics were examined above the dam, below the dam, and at two reference sites by indicator species analysis, mixed models, non-metric multidimensional scaling, and analysis of similarity. We observed significant shifts in fish relative abundance over time in response to dam removal. Changes in fish species composition were variable, and they occurred within 1 year of drawdown. A complete shift from lentic to lotic fishes failed to occur within 3 years after the dam was removed. However, we did observe increases in fluvial and transition (i.e., pool head, pool tail, or run) specialist fishes both upstream and downstream from the former dam site. Our results demonstrate the importance of dam removal for restoring river connectivity for fish movement. While the long-term effects of dam removal remain uncertain, we conclude that dam removals can have positive benefits on fish assemblages by enhancing river connectivity and fluvial habitat availability.

Dam removal is an increasingly common stream restoration tool. Yet, removing dams from small streams also represents a major disturbance to rivers that can have varied impacts on environmental conditions and aquatic biota. We examined the effects of dam removal on the structure, function, and composition of benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) communities in a temperate New England stream. We examined the effects of dam removal over the dam removal time-series using linear mixed effects models, autoregressive models, non-metric multidimensional scaling, and indicator and similarity analyses. The results indicated that the dam removal stimulated major shifts in BMI community structure and composition above and below the dam, and that the BMI communities are becoming more similar over time. The mixed model analysis revealed that BMI functional groups and diversity were significantly influenced by sample site and several BMI groups also experienced significant interactions between site and dam stage (P < 0.05), while the multivariate analyses revealed that community structure continues to differ among sites, even three years after dam removal. Our findings indicate that stream restoration through dam removal can have site-specific influences on BMI communities, that interactions among BMI taxa are important determinants of the post-dam removal community, and that the post-dam-removal BMI community continues to be in a state of reorganization.

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Little is known about the natural history, biology, and population genetic structure of the Hardhead Silverside, Atherinomorus stipes, a small schooling fish found around islands throughout the Caribbean. Our field observations of A. stipes in the cays of Belize and the Florida Keys found that populations tend to be in close association with the shoreline in mangrove habitats. Due to this potential island‐based population structuring, A. stipes represents an ideal system to examine questions about gene flow and isolation by distance at different geographic scales. For this study, the mitochondrial gene nd2 was amplified from 394 individuals collected from seven different Belizean Cays (N = 175) and eight different Floridian Keys (N = 219). Results show surprisingly high haplotype diversity both within and between island‐groups, as well as a high prevalence of unique haplotypes within each island population. The results are consistent with models that require gene flow among populations as well as in situ evolution of rare haplotypes. There was no evidence for an isolation by distance model. The nd2 gene tree consists of two well‐supported monophyletic groups: a Belizean‐type clade and a Floridian‐type clade, indicating potential species‐level differentiation.