Colonization, succession and exotic species invasion on sediment deposits associated with dam removal, Olympic National Park—Eastern Washington University Component
Project ID: J8W07070013
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: Eastern Washington University
Fiscal Year: 2007
Initial Funding: $7,245
Total Funding: $7,245
Project Type: Research
Project Disciplines: Biological
National Park: Olympic National Park
Principal Investigator: Brown, Rebecca
Agreement Technical Representative: Acker, Steven
Abstract: The removal of two dams on the Elwha River in Olympic National Park, scheduled for 2009, will be among the largest planned dam removals in the world. Their removal presents a range of challenges for the science of river restoration. One of the challenges will be to understand processes controlling revegetation and invasive species colonization on sediments that are exposed by dam removal. It is not clear how quickly the sediment within the drained impoundments will become re-vegetated, or how sediment deposition will affect downstream riparian plant communities. To determine the trajectory of vegetation succession within the drained impoundments, the extent to which reservoir sediments will facilitate the colonization of invasive species, and how sediments will affect downstream riparian vegetation, a two part study is being initiated that includes: 1) a study of vegetation colonization and seed bank patterns related to temporal and physical gradients on the deltas of Lake Mills and 2) an experiment simulating the deposition of lake sediments in downstream floodplains. Eastern Washington University will lead part one of this study, which is the subject of this Task Agreement. Western Washington University will lead part two of this study, which is described in a separate Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Task Agreement J8W07070014.
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