Large-scale dam removal and ecosystem restoration

Large-scale dam removal and ecosystem restoration

Author: Rebecca McCaffery

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2024-09-20

Total Pages: 405

ISBN-13: 2832553605

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Rivers are vital ecosystems that support aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity and several ecosystem services, including food, water, culture, and recreation. After centuries of building dams on rivers across the world, dam removal projects are now on the rise due to obsolescence, reservoir sedimentation, insufficient return on investment, or river restoration and conservation priorities. Most dam removal projects have focused on smaller structures (< 10 m in structural height), but larger structures have also started to be removed in increasing numbers as practitioners, river managers, conservationists, and the public have gained more experience with the practice. Recent estimates suggest that only a small fraction of dam removals have been scientifically studied, and include mostly small dams and short time scales. Documenting the long-term ecological outcomes of large dam removal (i.e. >10 m tall) represents a new frontier in dam removal research: projects are more recent and provide an opportunity to understand the complex ecological changes that occur with these transformative restoration projects. Here, we aim to collate a diverse array of papers on long-term dam removal research projects involving larger dams (>10 m) to synthesize the issues, outcomes, tools, and experimental designs used to study large dam removal projects from physical, biological, and ecological perspectives. With this collection, we aim to showcase diverse global projects on ecosystem responses to large dam removal; collect perspectives from different disciplines, fields, and geographies; and synthesize the current state of knowledge in this area. We expect that this Research Topic will be informative to ongoing, long-term ecological restoration and monitoring projects related to dam removal as well as to upcoming large dam removal projects. We welcome contributions from all disciplines addressing the physical, ecological, and ecosystem responses to large-scale dam removal. Contributions could include original research in a specific discipline or area, case studies, or synthesis papers that address one or more of these topics in a transdisciplinary approach. Contributors could address any of the following major topics as related to outcomes of large dam removal, alone or in combination: Freshwater, estuarine, and marine aquatic biota; River and reservoir geomorphology; Terrestrial and riparian vegetation; Wildlife; Sedimentation; and Modelling. We would like contributors to highlight key results in their area of study, cross-disciplinary insights, and lessons learned that could inform ongoing monitoring and research efforts in current projects as well as upcoming large dam removals.


Riparian Areas

Riparian Areas

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2002-10-10

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 0309082951

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that wetlands be protected from degradation because of their important ecological functions including maintenance of high water quality and provision of fish and wildlife habitat. However, this protection generally does not encompass riparian areasâ€"the lands bordering rivers and lakesâ€"even though they often provide the same functions as wetlands. Growing recognition of the similarities in wetland and riparian area functioning and the differences in their legal protection led the NRC in 1999 to undertake a study of riparian areas, which has culminated in Riparian Areas: Functioning and Strategies for Management. The report is intended to heighten awareness of riparian areas commensurate with their ecological and societal values. The primary conclusion is that, because riparian areas perform a disproportionate number of biological and physical functions on a unit area basis, restoration of riparian functions along America's waterbodies should be a national goal.


Stream Corridor Restoration

Stream Corridor Restoration

Author:

Publisher: National Technical Info Svc

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 648

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This document is a cooperative effort among fifteen Federal agencies and partners to produce a common reference on stream corridor restoration. It responds to a growing national and international interest in restoring stream corridors.


Ecological Responses to the 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens

Ecological Responses to the 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens

Author: Virginia H. Dale

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-01-16

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 0387281509

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens caused tragic loss of life and property, but also created a unique opportunity to study a huge disturbance of natural systems and their subsequent responses. This book synthesizes 25 years of ecological research into of volcanic activity, and shows what actually happens when a volcano erupts, what the immediate and long-term dangers are, and how life reasserts itself in the environment.


Land Mammals of Oregon

Land Mammals of Oregon

Author: B. J. Verts

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 728

ISBN-13: 9780520211995

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The first comprehensive, up-to-date treatment of mammals of Oregon since Vernon Bailey's THE MAMMALS AND LIFE ZONES OF OREGON was published in 1936. This new book provides a basic reference to mammalian life in the northwestern U.S., with descriptions of 136 extant or recently extirpated species. 122 color and 36 b&w photos, 140 maps, 150 drawings.


Wildlife-habitat Relationships in Oregon and Washington

Wildlife-habitat Relationships in Oregon and Washington

Author: David H. Johnson

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 764

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume provides information about the terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats of Oregon and Washington and the wildlife that depend upon them; it also supports broader and more consistent conservation planning, management, and research. The 27 chapters identify 593 wildlife species, define some 300 wildlife terms, profile wildlife communities, review introduced and extirpated species and species at risk, and discuss management approaches. The volume includes color and bandw photographs, maps, diagrams, and illustrations; and the accompanying CD-ROM contains additional wildlife data (60,000 records), maps, and seven matrixes that link wildlife species with their respective habitat types. Johnson is a wildlife biologist, engineer, and habitat scientist; and O'Neill is director of the Northwest Habitat Institute; they worked together on this publication project as its managing directors. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR


Connectivity Conservation

Connectivity Conservation

Author: Kevin R. Crooks

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-11-02

Total Pages: 675

ISBN-13: 113946020X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

One of the biggest threats to the survival of many plant and animal species is the destruction or fragmentation of their natural habitats. The conservation of landscape connections, where animals, plants, and ecological processes can move freely from one habitat to another, is therefore an essential part of any new conservation or environmental protection plan. In practice, however, maintaining, creating, and protecting connectivity in our increasingly dissected world is a daunting challenge. This fascinating volume provides a synthesis on the current status and literature of connectivity conservation research and implementation. It shows the challenges involved in applying existing knowledge to real-world examples and highlights areas in need of further study. Containing contributions from leading scientists and practitioners, this topical and thought-provoking volume will be essential reading for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners working in conservation biology and natural resource management.


Stream Ecology

Stream Ecology

Author: J. David Allan

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 9401107297

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Running waters are enormously diverse, ranging from torrential mountain brooks, to large lowland rivers, to great river systems whose basins occupy subcontinents. While this diversity makes river ecosystems seem overwhelmingly complex, a central theme of this volume is that the processes acting in running waters are general, although the settings are often unique. The past two decades have seen major advances in our knowledge of the ecology of streams and rivers. New paradigms have emerged, such as the river continuum and nutrient spiraling. Community ecologists have made impressive advances in documenting the occurrence of species interactions. The importance of physical processes in rivers has attracted increased attention, particularly the areas of hydrology and geomorphology, and the inter-relationships between physical and biological factors have become better understood. And as is true for every area of ecology during the closing years of the twentieth century it has become apparent that the study of streams and rivers cannot be carried out by excluding the role of human activities, nor can we ignore the urgency of the need for conservation. These developments are brought together in Stream Ecology: Structure and function of running waters, designed to serve as a text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and as a reference book for specialists in stream ecology and related fields.