Size-dependent effects of dams on river ecosystems and implications for dam removal outcomes
| Author(s) | Brown, Rebecca L. | |
| Author(s) | Charles, Don | |
| Author(s) | Horwitz, Richard J. | |
| Author(s) | Pizzuto, James E. | |
| Author(s) | Skalak, Katherine | |
| Author(s) | Velinsky, David J. | |
| Author(s) | Hart, David D. | |
| Date Accessioned | 2024-08-30T17:02:57Z | |
| Date Available | 2024-08-30T17:02:57Z | |
| Publication Date | 2024-08-13 | |
| Description | This article was originally published in Ecological Applications. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.3016. © 2024 The Author(s). Ecological Applications published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. | |
| Abstract | Understanding the relationship between a dam's size and its ecological effects is important for prioritization of river restoration efforts based on dam removal. Although much is known about the effects of large storage dams, this information may not be applicable to small dams, which represent the vast majority of dams being considered for removal. To better understand how dam effects vary with size, we conducted a multidisciplinary study of the downstream effect of dams on a range of ecological characteristics including geomorphology, water chemistry, periphyton, riparian vegetation, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish. We related dam size variables to the downstream–upstream fractional difference in measured ecological characteristics for 16 dams in the mid-Atlantic region ranging from 0.9 to 57 m high, with hydraulic residence times (HRTs) ranging from 30 min to 1.5 years. For a range of physical attributes, larger dams had larger effects. For example, the water surface width below dams was greater below large dams. By contrast, there was no effect of dam size on sediment grain size, though the fraction of fine-grained bed material was lower below dams independently of dam size. Larger dams tended to reduce water quality more, with decreased downstream dissolved oxygen and increased temperature. Larger dams decreased inorganic nutrients (N, P, Si), but increased particulate nutrients (N, P) in downstream reaches. Aquatic organisms tended to have greater dissimilarity in species composition below larger dams (for fish and periphyton), lower taxonomic diversity (for macroinvertebrates), and greater pollution tolerance (for periphyton and macroinvertebrates). Plants responded differently below large and small dams, with fewer invasive species below large dams, but more below small dams. Overall, these results demonstrate that larger dams have much greater impact on the ecosystem components we measured, and hence their removal has the greatest potential for restoring river ecosystems. | |
| Sponsor | We thank the following colleagues from the Patrick Center for Environmental Research at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the University of Delaware, and the University of Maine for their important roles in the field and laboratory: Quill Bickley, Jamie Carr, Josh Collins, Erin Hagan, Carol Hamel, Heidi Hertler, Lara Jarusewic, Patricia Jenkins, Amanda Kindt, Mike Littman, Paul Kiry, Lont Marr, Tim Nightengale, Kevin O'Donnell, Paul Overbeck, Marina Potapova, Nate Saxe, Mark Schadler, Roger Thomas, Matt Wilhelm, and Diane Winter. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources assisted with fish sampling in the Gunpowder River. We are particularly grateful to Tom Johnson and Danielle Kreeger for their contributions to the development and design of this study. Major funding for this research was provided by a Growing Greener Grant (ME-351413) from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP). Christer Nilsson and two anonymous reviewers provided comments that greatly improved the manuscript. Additional support was provided by NSF-1539071 for the Future of Dams project. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of PA DEP. | |
| Citation | Brown, Rebecca L., Don Charles, Richard J. Horwitz, James E. Pizzuto, Katherine Skalak, David J. Velinsky, and David D. Hart. 2024. “ Size-Dependent Effects of Dams on River Ecosystems and Implications for Dam Removal Outcomes.” Ecological Applications e3016. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.3016 | |
| ISSN | Ecological Applications | |
| URL | https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/34909 | |
| Language | en_US | |
| Publisher | Ecological Applications | |
| dc.rights | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ | |
| Keywords | benthic macroinvertebrate | |
| Keywords | channel morphology | |
| Keywords | fishes | |
| Keywords | hydraulic residence time | |
| Keywords | large dam | |
| Keywords | periphyton | |
| Keywords | riparian vegetation | |
| Keywords | river restoration | |
| Keywords | small dam | |
| Keywords | stream ecosystem | |
| Keywords | stressor–response | |
| Keywords | water chemistry | |
| Title | Size-dependent effects of dams on river ecosystems and implications for dam removal outcomes | |
| Type | Article |
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