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Temporal and Spatial Quantification of Fine‐Sediment Accumulation Downstream of Culverts in Brook Trout Habitat
Author(s) -
Lachance Stephanie,
Dubé Maryse,
Dostie Renaud,
Bérubé Pierre
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/t06-169.1
Subject(s) - culvert , trout , sediment , hydrology (agriculture) , habitat , environmental science , upstream and downstream (dna) , downstream (manufacturing) , salvelinus , streams , fontinalis , geology , fishery , geotechnical engineering , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , upstream (networking) , biology , geomorphology , engineering , telecommunications , computer network , operations management , computer science
We quantified fine‐sediment accumulation annually from 2000 to 2003 after culvert construction in five Laurentian Shield streams containing brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis . A significant spatial pattern (section effect) was observed in which the accumulation was lowest upstream of the culvert (section 1), peaked in the section directly below the culvert (section 2), and slightly decreased in sections further downstream (sections 3‐5) without returning to upstream levels. The accumulation was always significantly higher downstream of the culvert than in section 1. The temporal pattern (period effect) was also significant; accumulation was lowest several weeks after construction, peaked at one full year after construction, and decreased at 2‐3 years postconstruction. Fine‐sediment accumulation differed significantly among all periods. The downstream distance at which sediment accumulation returned to upstream levels varied from 358 and 1,442 m below the culvert. Owing to the accumulated sediment, which probably originates primarily from construction sand or road erosion, habitat downstream of a culvert is in many cases of lower quality for brook trout incubation and rearing. Recommendations for minimizing culvert impacts on fish habitat are discussed.