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University of Massachusetts Amherst

Dams

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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Mapping Sandbars In The Connecticut River Watershed Through Aerial Images For Floodplain Conservation, Bogumila Backiel Mar 2018

Mapping Sandbars In The Connecticut River Watershed Through Aerial Images For Floodplain Conservation, Bogumila Backiel

Masters Theses

Active geomorphic features of rivers like sandbars provide habitat for endangered and threatened riparian plant and animal species. However, human development has altered flow and sediment regimes, thus impairing formation of sandbars and islands. Large scale mapping of the fluvial geomorphology in river ecosystems like the Connecticut River is are necessary to understand the dynamics of these features and preserve habitat. Orthophotographs from 2012 from United States Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA), National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) were used to develop a model in ArcGIS Pro to identify fluvial geomorphic features in the Connecticut River and 12 of …

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Ecological Consequences Of Lost Anadromous Forage Fish In Freshwater Ecosystems, Steven R. Mattocks Nov 2016

Ecological Consequences Of Lost Anadromous Forage Fish In Freshwater Ecosystems, Steven R. Mattocks

Masters Theses

Beginning in the early 1600s, dam construction in New England obstructed anadromous fish access to spawning grounds during migration. As a result, anadromous forage fish populations have declined, which has impacted freshwater, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems. To determine the impacts of dams on anadromous forage fish and freshwater ecosystems, I used historical and current data to estimate population changes in alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) from 1600-1900. A significant reduction in spawning habitat occurred in New England as a result of 1,642 dams constructed between 1600 and 1900, resulting in 14.8% and 16.6% lake and stream habitat remaining by 1900, …

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