The rapid return of marine-derived nutrients to a freshwater food web following dam removal

Tonra, Christopher M.; Sager-Fradkin, Kimberly A.; Morley, Sarah A.; Duda, Jeffrey J.; Marra, Peter P.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.09.009

Cited by 61 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Although a costly exercise, dam removal is becoming increasingly common in some places (US: Brown et al., ; Denmark, Birnie‐Gauvin, Larsen, Nielsen, & Aarestrup, 2017a). Following the removal of the Elwha Dam in Washington (USA), Tonra, Sager‐Fradkin, Morley, Duda, and Marra () reported returns of Pacific salmon immediately following removal. More time is needed to determine the extent to which these measures result in fisheries recovery.…”

Section: The Missing Pieces: Knowledge and Tools Neededmentioning

confidence: 99%

The future of fish passage science, engineering, and practice

et al. 2017

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Much effort has been devoted to developing, constructing and refining fish passage facilities to enable target species to pass barriers on fluvial systems, and yet, fishway science, engineering and practice remain imperfect. In this review, 17 experts from different fish passage research fields (i.e., biology, ecology, physiology, ecohydraulics, engineering) and from different continents (i.e., North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia) identified knowledge gaps and provided a roadmap for research priorities and technical developments. Once dominated by an engineering-focused approach, fishway science today involves a wide range of disciplines from fish behaviour to socioeconomics to complex modelling of passage prioritization options in river networks. River barrier impacts on fish migration and dispersal are currently better understood than historically, but basic ecological knowledge underpinning the need for effective fish passage in many regions of the world, including in biodiversity hotspots (e.g., equatorial Africa, South-East Asia), remains largely unknown. Designing efficientThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Section: The Missing Pieces: Knowledge and Tools Neededmentioning

confidence: 99%

The future of fish passage science, engineering, and practice

et al. 2017

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“…Warrick et al, ). The sediment pulse substantially altered the riverine and nearshore ecosystem, but by 2014 those impacts of high sediment load had begun to ameliorate and ecological recovery was evident (Cubley & Brown, ; Foley, Warrick, et al, ; S. P. Rubin et al, ; Tonra et al, ).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphic Evolution of a Gravel‐Bed River Under Sediment‐Starved Versus Sediment‐Rich Conditions: River Response to the World's Largest Dam Removal

et al. 2018

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Understanding river response to sediment pulses is a fundamental problem in geomorphic process studies, with myriad implications for river management. However, because large sediment pulses are rare and usually unanticipated, they are seldom studied at field scale. We examine fluvial response to a massive (~20 Mt) sediment pulse released by the largest dam removal globally, on the Elwha River, Washington, United States, in an 11‐year before‐after/control‐impact study of channel morphology and grain size. We test the hypothesis that for a given flow magnitude, greater geomorphic change occurs under sediment‐rich conditions than under sediment‐starved conditions. Channel response to flow forcing was significantly different during the sediment‐pulse peak, 1–2 years after dam removal began, than earlier or later. During peak sediment supply our hypothesis was supported; major geomorphic change occurred under low flows and unit stream power ≤60 W/m2. However, by 4–6 years after dam removal began, rates of geomorphic change and sensitivity to stream power had decreased substantially such that our hypothesis was no longer unequivocally supported. These findings are consistent with a two‐phase conceptual model of dam‐removal response, involving a transport‐limited state followed by a more supply‐limited state. From comparisons with other dam removals and natural sediment pulses, we infer that the longevity of sediment‐pulse signals in gravel‐bed rivers depends upon gradient, river discharge, valley morphology, and sediment grain size. Stream power associated with substantial geomorphic change varies with sediment supply, such that assigning a general threshold stream power to gravel‐bed rivers may be untenable.

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“…As is typical for Mediterranean‐type rivers, the Carmel River flow varies over more than three orders of magnitude seasonally; all of its sediment‐transport capacity occurs during a winter rainy season, with no secondary contribution from spring snowmelt high flows. The ecosystem composition thus also differed from that in previous studies of large dam removals, which have focused on US Pacific Northwest biotic communities (Tonra et al ., ; Allen et al ., ; Claeson and Coffin, ; Quinn et al ., ). Second, whereas most dam removals release stored reservoir sediment by natural river erosion, the majority of sediment impounded by San Clemente Dam remained sequestered by design after dam removal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

River response to large‐dam removal in a Mediterranean hydroclimatic setting: Carmel River, California, USA

Harrison

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Smith

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Dam removal provides a valuable opportunity to measure the fluvial response to changes in both sediment supply and the processes that shape channel morphology. We present the first study of river response to the removal of a large (32‐m‐high) dam in a Mediterranean hydroclimatic setting, on the Carmel River, coastal California, USA. This before‐after/control‐impact study measured changes in channel topography, grain size, and salmonid spawning habitat throughout dam removal and subsequent major floods. During dam removal, the river course was re‐routed in order to leave most of the impounded sediment sequestered in the former reservoir and thus prevent major channel and floodplain aggradation downstream. However, a substantial sediment pulse occurred in response to base‐level fall, knickpoint migration, and channel avulsion through sediment in the former reservoir above the newly re‐routed channel. The sediment pulse advanced ~3.5 km in the first wet season after dam removal, resulting in decreased riverbed grain size downstream of the dam site. In the second wet season after dam removal, high flows (including a 30‐year flood and two 10‐year floods) transported sediment > 30 km downstream, filling pools and reducing cross‐channel relief. Deposition of gravel in the second wet season after dam removal enhanced salmonid spawning habitat downstream of the dam site. We infer that in dam removals where most reservoir sediment remains impounded and where high flows follow soon after dam removal, flow sequencing becomes a more important driver of geomorphic and fish‐habitat change than the dam removal alone. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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The rapid return of marine-derived nutrients to a freshwater food web following dam removal

Cited by 61 publications

References 24 publications

The future of fish passage science, engineering, and practice

The future of fish passage science, engineering, and practice

Geomorphic Evolution of a Gravel‐Bed River Under Sediment‐Starved Versus Sediment‐Rich Conditions: River Response to the World's Largest Dam Removal

River response to large‐dam removal in a Mediterranean hydroclimatic setting: Carmel River, California, USA

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