Effects of Habitat Restoration on Fish Communities in Urban Streams

Anna M Lavelle,Michael A Chadwick,Nicolas R Bury,Daniel D A Chadwick,Eleri G Pritchard

doi:10.3390/w13162170

Abstract

Geomorphological alterations, hydrological disconnectivity and water pollution are among the dominant pressures affecting ecological integrity in urban streams. River restoration approaches often involve utilising in-stream structures to encourage flow heterogeneity and promote habitat diversity. However, few studies examine the success of such projects. In this study, fish density, biomass and community structure at paired restored and unrestored reaches across five tributaries of the River Thames were examined. Fish density varied among rivers and reaches but was generally higher at restored sites. Restored sites also exhibited higher overall fish biomass, attributed mainly to the presence of brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) at the River Wandle. Despite higher density and biomass values at restored sites, the community structure analysis did not identify strong links between either river or restoration status using either species-specific density or biomass. Our results highlight that although reach-scale restoration can lead to localised increases in species density and biomass, this may chiefly be due to aggregation owing to preferential habitats created through restoration activities at these sites. Over larger spatial scales, significant improvements to species richness and diversity are likely to be limited due to the poor water quality and disconnected nature of these urban streams. Whilst reach-scale restoration clearly has the potential to provide preferential habitats for fish species, future efforts should focus on improving connectivity for fish across the wider Thames basin network by removing barriers to passage, improving water quality, restoring watershed processes and creating well-connected, diverse habitats which can facilitate the survival of a wide array of fish species throughout their life cycle.

Highlights

Urbanisation impacts stream fish, which can result in alterations to assemblage structure [1,2,3]
The restoration aims for each river were variable, most were focused on increasing flow heterogeneity and enhancing habitat diversity through the implementation of in-channel structures such as woody debris, berms and recycled crushed concrete
More fish were caught at restored reaches than unrestored reaches, as indicated by the non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals

Summary

Introduction

Urbanisation impacts stream fish, which can result in alterations to assemblage structure [1,2,3]. Include modified hydrology [1,7], degraded water quality [8,9,10] and barriers to migration [11,12] To ameliorate these negative impacts, restoration projects are often used to improve the condition of degraded river systems [13,14,15]. Reach-scale restoration projects often involve altering channel geomorphology and modifying flow dynamics to mimic natural or pre-degradation habitat conditions [16,17]. Focused river restoration projects can involve utilising in-stream structures, such as large wood [19], boulders [20] and gravels [21], to engineer flows, regulate sediment transport, promote oxygenation and improve water quality [22] and habitat diversity [23]. The removal of weirs [24], engineering of fish passes [25] and utilisation of flow deflectors [26]

Objectives

Methods

Results