Fish habitat rehabilitation using wood in the world

Abstract

To provide river managers and researchers with practical knowledge about fish rehabilitation, various studies of fish habitat rehabilitation that used wood were reviewed. The review focuses on fish responses, wood installation methods, and geomorphic features of the rehabilitation sites. Most studies were conducted in moderately sized (small and medium) streams with relatively high bed gradients and aimed to improve the habitats of salmonid species. In this stream type, structures spanning the full (log dam) and partial (log deflector) width of the river were most common, and wood structures that created pools and covers were successful in improving fish habitat. Some projects were conducted in moderately sized low-gradient streams, in which wooden devices used to create instream cover were effective for fish assemblages. There were few studies in other aquatic ecosystems. However, well-designed large wood structures, known as engineered log jams, were used in rehabilitation projects for large rivers. In slack-water or lentic systems such as side-channels, estuaries, and reservoirs, small and large wood structures that created cover were used to improve habitat for many fish species. For successful fish habitat rehabilitation projects, the hydrogeomorphic conditions of rehabilitation sites should be carefully examined to avoid physical failure of wood structures. Although artificial wood structures can be used to improve fish habitat in various aquatic ecosystems, they should be considered to be a complementary or interim habitat enhancement technique. The recovery of natural dynamic processes at the watershed scale is the ultimate target of restoration programs.