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Salmon‐driven bed load transport and bed morphology in mountain streams
Author(s) -
Hassan Marwan A.,
Gottesfeld Allen S.,
Montgomery David R.,
Tunnicliffe Jon F.,
Clarke Garry K. C.,
Wynn Graeme,
JonesCox Hale,
Poirier Ronald,
MacIsaac Erland,
Herunter Herb,
Macdonald Steve J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2007gl032997
Subject(s) - bed load , streams , sediment transport , hydrology (agriculture) , sediment , river morphology , environmental science , channel (broadcasting) , alluvium , bedform , stream bed , ecosystem , geology , drainage basin , ecology , geomorphology , geography , biology , geotechnical engineering , computer network , cartography , engineering , computer science , electrical engineering
Analyses of bed load transport data from four streams in British Columbia show that the activity of mass spawning salmon moved an average of almost half of the annual bed load yield. Spawning‐generated changes in bed surface topography persisted from August through May due to lack of floods during the winter season, defining the bed surface morphology for most of the year. Hence, salmon‐driven bed load transport can substantially influence total sediment transport rates, and alter typical alluvial reach morphology. The finding that mass‐spawning fish can dominate sediment transport in mountain drainage basins has fundamental implications for understanding controls on channel morphology and aquatic ecosystem dynamics, as well as stream responses to environmental change and designing river restoration programs for channels that have, or historically had large spawning runs.