Emily Stanley, University of Wisconsin	back to the Center for Limnology home
Martin Doyle, University of North Carolina

Damming of rivers represents one of the most widespread deliberate impacts of humans on the environment.  In the contiguous U.S., fewer than 60 rivers retain 100 km or more of free-flowing channel; rivers in Wisconsin alone contain over 3,600 impoundments.  Fragmentation cause by dams is linked to declines in riparian biodiversity and in charismatic aquatic taxa such sturgeon and salmon, along with many other undesirable alterations.  Yet the decision to removal a dam is complex, controversial, and may have both positive and negative effects.            Our research addresses questions of rates and patterns of change following dam removal, the relationships between geomorphic dynamics and biogeochemical responses, and management and policy implications of dam removal.  Past work has emphasized changes occurring upstream of the dam in the reservoir.  We are now shifting our attention to understand the extent of dam removal impacts by looking downstream.  Specifically, we are focusing on how inputs of reservoir-derived sediments change streambed composition and form, and in turn how sediment changes alter hydrologic, biogeochemical, and metabolic processes in downstream ecosystems following a dam removal.  This work is supported by USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service

Breaching the Rockdale Millpond dam, Koshkonong Creek, WI.

See "Curriculum Vitae" page for pdf's of recent research articles on dam removal
 
 

Special Issue on Dam Removal BioScience 52(8), August 2002

Woolen Mills dam removal- Milwaukee River       photo by P. Kanehl

 
 
 

Initiation of channel formation following draw-down- Baraboo River   Ben Lubbers assisting with water chemistry monitoring

Suresh Sethi nspecting stranded mussels following reservoir drawdown   John Stofleth and Martin Doyle navigating the muddy Baraboo