Can understanding of catchment hydromorphology improve the success of Salmonidae spawning gravelrestoration?

• Main Author: Eckerlid, Sara
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: UmeÃ¥ universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap 2024
• Subjects: River restoration; spawning gravel; Salmonidae; stream power proxy; Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences; Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-226112

The long history of moderating watercourses to accommodate timber floating in northern Sweden lay the ground for river restorations. One restoration method is supplementing spawning gravel for Salmonidae to lay their eggs in. The success of Salmonidae reproduction is essential for the ecology in streams as well as for the economy and culture of Sweden. However, finding appropriate locations for the gravel beds, benefiting their longevity have been difficult. The aim of this study was to investigate if hydraulic and geomorphic characteristics influence mobility of 64 restored spawning beds in 11 streams in the Vindel River catchment, Sweden. Field measurements of the spawning beds condition were taken as percentage remaining and function. Metrics of fluvial power were calculated by geospatial analysis and compared to each other by a correlation model. A linear mixed effects model was made with belonging likelihood test comparing slope, drainage area, stream power proxy, distance to lake upstream, water depth over riverbed, channel width, restoration type and all variables together to the percentage remaining. The result showed that 84% of the spawning beds had moved while 71% of the beds were recorded as functioning. No significant correlation was found between any of the investigated variables by themselves or together and percentage remaining, suggesting other variables influenced mobility of the spawning gravel. Such as variations on a local-scale and variables connected to the northern hemisphere region. The lack of adequate data, subjectivity in the condition measurements and the proxy used for stream power also influenced the result.