2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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5/21/2019 | 9:00 AM - 9:15 AM | LACK OF LONG-TERM EFFECT OF COARSE WOODY DEBRIS DAM RESTORATION ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING AND WATER QUALITY IN COASTAL PLAIN STREAMS | 150 G

LACK OF LONG-TERM EFFECT OF COARSE WOODY DEBRIS DAM RESTORATION ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING AND WATER QUALITY IN COASTAL PLAIN STREAMS

Coarse woody debris (CWD) additions are a simple restoration technique used to mitigate the effects of landscape disturbance on in-stream habitat. Long-term monitoring assessing restoration efficacy is rare. Here, we evaluated the long-term efficacy of stream restorations at Fort Benning Military Installation, GA, 14y after implementation. In 2003, 4 coastal-plain streams were restored with CWD additions, and 3 streams were left unrestored. Post-restoration evaluation continued for 3y and found nutrient uptake and stream metabolism rates initially increased, then decreased over time, and water-quality metrics remained unchanged. In 2017 and 2018, we again measured nutrient uptake, stream metabolism, and water-quality metrics. Nutrient uptake, stream metabolism, and water-quality did not differ between treatment groups, suggesting that CWD dams did not increase ecosystem functioning metrics or improve water-quality after 14y. Watershed-level disturbance (i.e., % bare ground, unpaved roads on steep slopes) in these streams correlates to both ecosystem function metrics, though the relationship appears to have changed over the period of record, suggesting that watershed-level changes influence any observed effect of in-stream restoration . Our dataset is one of the few that have assessed the long-term efficacy of restoration on stream ecosystem function.

Metabolism
Nutrients
Restoration

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Presenters/Authors

Sam Bickley (), Auburn University, slb0035@auburn.edu;