Shifting food web structure during dam removal-Disturbance and recovery during a major restoration action.

ABSTRACT: We measured food availability and diet composition of juvenile salmonids over multiple years and seasons before and during the world's largest dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington State. We conducted these measurements over three sediment-impacted sections (the estuary and two sections of the river downstream of each dam) and compared these to data collected from mainstem tributaries not directly affected by the massive amount of sediment released from the reservoirs. We found that sediment impacts from dam removal significantly reduced invertebrate prey availability, but juvenile salmon adjusted their foraging so that the amount of energy in diets was similar before and during dam removal. This general pattern was seen in both river and estuary habitats, although the mechanisms driv

SUBMITTER: Morley SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7523948 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature