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Impoundment of rivers: Sediment regime and its effect on benthos
Author(s) -
Donnelly Thomas W.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
aquatic conservation: marine and freshwater ecosystems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1099-0755
pISSN - 1052-7613
DOI - 10.1002/aqc.3270030407
Subject(s) - benthos , fauna , sediment , period (music) , environmental science , habitat , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , geology , oceanography , benthic zone , paleontology , biology , geotechnical engineering , physics , acoustics
1. A major effect of impoundment of rivers is the coarsening of the sediment of the bed (‘armouring’). The effect occurs over many tens of kilometres at least and develops over a period of years to tens of years. 2. It is postulated that coarsening of the sediment may prevent burrowing benthos from finding suitable habitats and may thus severely diminish the fauna of impounded rivers. 3. The upper Delaware River has a depleted fauna of gomphid dragonflies and unionoid bivalves which probably results from the armouring of the bed resulting from impoundment.