New Paper on Elwha Dam Removals in Biological Conservation

I am very happy to share our recent paper on the historic dam removals on the Elwha River, WA, USA has been published in Biological Conservation. "The rapid return of marine-derived nutrients to a freshwater food web following dam removal" reports results from our stable isotope work on American Dippers, salmon, and aquatic invertebrates before and after the removal of the Elwha Dam.  Removal of that dam resulted in almost immediate recolonization of spawning habitat cut off to salmon for a century.  We found that the removal restored a species interaction at the aquatic-terrestrial boundary, with American Dippers now receiving rich marine-derived nutrients from salmon, previously unavailable to them.  These nutrients have dramatic positive impacts on the productivity of rivers and associated forests, and their return signifies an important step in the recovery of the ecosystem following dam removal.  You can watch a short Audio Slides presentation on the work to the right, and contact me for a reprint. Many thanks to my co-authors: Kim Sager-Fradkin, Sarah Morley, Jeff Duda, and Pete Marra.