Dammutrivning i Nianån

Posted by Daniel Nyqvist | Dam removal

NRRV bedriver just nu flera studier av ekologiska effekter av dammutrivningar. I en studie undersöks ekologin i Gnarpån och Nianån (båda i Hälsingland) före och efter utrivningen av flera dammar. En mängd lokaler undersöks före och efter dammutrivningarna, både i de aktuella vattendragen och i opåverkade kontroller (Åtjärnsbäcken). Lokaler elfiskas för att studera förändringar i fisksamhället, bottenfauna provtas, vattenhastigheter, vattenkemi och bottensubstrat mäts in och landväxter inventeras. Dessutom har gruppen tagit vävnadsprover av fisk, flodpärlmussla, alger, terrestra växter, spindlar och akvatiska invertebrater för att undersöka förändringar i älvnärvaron av marina (eller bräkta) näringsämnen på olika platser i näringsväven.

Förra veckan revs dammen vid Sofieholms kraftverk i Nianån. Jessica Dolk är fältassistent i projektet och rapporterar om dammrivningen:

“Runt lunchtid torsdagen den 24/8 tog grävmaskinen sin första ansträngning för att avveckla Sofieholms kraftverk som utgjort ett vandringshinder i Nianån sedan 1909. Efter att smidigt tuggat sig igenom tuben var det dags att riva ut den gamla dammen. Många hade samlats för att följa händelseförloppet, både lokalbefolkning och sportfiskare, samt media.

Innan man rev dammen och släppte på vattnet elfiskades den gamla torrfåran (som nu blir huvudfåran) och fåran nedanför kraftverket för att sumpa fisken för att sedan släppa tillbaka den. SVTs Mitt i naturen fanns på plats, så också Sportfiskarna som följde utrivningen med kameror, både från land och från luften med en drönare. Detta för att göra en film om avvecklingen av det gamla kraftverket

Nianån hyser stora biologiska värden och genom utrivning och återställning gynnas b la havsöring, flodnejonöga, sik och andra vandrande arter, samt stationära organismer. Projektet med avvecklingen som nu alltså står klart ger havsöringen tillgång till tusentals kvadratmeter lekbottnar.

I och med avvecklingen kommer även ett tre hektar stort naturreservat att bildas.”

Dammen vid Sofieholms kraftverk i Nianån rivs.


En spindel av släktet Dolmedes, funnen under provtagningarna.


Denis Lefage och Rachel Bowes provtar evertebrater.

NRRV i media

Posted by Daniel Nyqvist | Nyheter

Under sommarmånaderna har NRRV-forskares arbete eller expertis uppmärksammats i olika media. Hallandsposten skrev om passagestudier med ålyngelstudier i Laholm och intervjuade Jonas Elghagen, Lutz Eckstein intervjuades angående den invasiva lupinen i Värmlands Folkblad,och en av Anders Nilssons senaste artiklar – om hur mört-braxen-hybrider är känsligare för predation än braxen och mört –  uppmärksammades av The Economist.

The principle behind downstream fish passage solutions using low sloping intake racks. The fish is swept and guided a long a beta rack to a bypass at the racks downstream end.

Hydropower dams block migration routes and disrupt longitudinal connectivity in rivers, thereby posing a threat to migratory fish species. Various fish passage solutions have been implemented to improve connectivity with varying success. For downstream migrating fish, low sloping turbine intake racks are used to guide fish to bypasses. Current knowledge, however, is based on hydropower plants with intake capacities <72 cms. There is also a trade-off between electricity generation and fish guidance (smaller bar spacing – better for fish, larger bar spacing – better for hydropower). Currently, gap widths/bar spacings of 10-20 mm are recommended but behavioral guidance effects open up the possibility of larger bar spacings.

During the autumn, Karlstad University in collaboration with Vattenfall and NINA will, experimentally study the behavior and passage performance of downstream migrating eels approaching a variety of low sloping intake racks. The experiments will be conducted in a new large experimental flume – Kungsrännan – at Vattenfalls laboratory in Älvkarleby. We will study the passage behavior and performance of eels for alpha racks – inclined from the bottom up – and beta racks – angled from one side of the channel to the other – with different gap-widths (10-30 mm).

For this, we are looking for one or two interested and ambitious laboratory assistants to join us in Älvkarleby. The assistants will be salaried and needed from September to November. Housing in the area can be provided. Are you interested in joining us? Contact Olle Calles or Daniel Nyqvist for more information.

On 28-29 August, 2017, a workshop on “Research and Teaching for Sustainability and Stewardship will be organized at Karlstad University. The workshop’s goals are to “introduce sustainability and stewardship topics to faculty and students at Kau and to develop research and teaching collaborations for future projects.”  The first day will be spent on presentations about international perspectives of sustainability and stewardship. On the second day Karlstad University’s Education for Sustainable Development and Service Research Center research groups will present some of their related research. See detailed schedule below:

Monday 28 August

13.15: Ricardo Rozzi, University of North Texas, USA & Universidad de Magallanes, Chile: Earth Stewardship and biocultural ethics”

13.45: Shan Gao, Soochow University, China: “Environmental Ethics: A perspective from China”

14.15: Maria Teresa LaValle, UNTREF/SADAF, Argentina: “A perspective from Argentina”

14.45: John Piccolo, KAU: “A moral compass for planetary boundaries”

15.15: Coffee break

15.45 – 17.00 Discussions 

Tuesday 29 August

10.00: Niklas Gericke, KAU: “The effect of education for sustainable development in the Swedish school system”

10.30: Teresa Berglund/Daniel Olsson, KAU: “Case studies in Education for Sustainable Development”

11:00: Bo Enquist & Samuel Petros Sebhatu, KAU: “Stewardship and Hyper norms for Systemic Governance in Global Society”

11.30: Discussions

12.00: Lunch

13.15-15.00: Discussions

All talks will be given in Room 5F322, at Karlstad University. Everyone is welcome to attend the workshop. Register to john.piccolo@kau.se if you wish to attend.

Rachel Bowes has recently joined the NRRV-research group. Here she writes about her previous work and what she intends to do as a postdoc at Karlstad University:

rachel3

Rachel Bowes (right) with Brendan Martin, sampling algae.

“Hello! I’m Rachel Bowes and I am so excited to be joining NRRV! I just wanted to take a moment and tell you a little about me and my previous research. I have always had a deep appreciation and fascination for the natural world, and this has developed over the years into an insatiable desire to learn everything I possibly can about it. Not only do I want to discover, but I want to share these findings with everyone, and protect the Earth that I care about so much.

I completed my doctorate in May 2016 from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas (KU). My dissertation was entitled: Temporal Analysis of River Food Webs. Rivers and their tributaries are the arteries of the planet, pumping freshwater to wetlands and lakes and out to sea. Understanding energy flow up trophic levels, nutrient cycling pathways, and relative importance of terrestrial and aquatic carbon sources supporting aquatic consumers in large river food webs is essential in planning for wildlife conservation, environmental protection, and floodplain management. The principal goal of my dissertation was to understand better the factors controlling the complexity of river food webs through time.

rachel

Rachel Bowes (right) with Holly Lafferty, seining for fish in the Kansas River.

At a shorter time scale, I first looked at how season and food availability affect fish in rivers. I employed bulk tissue stable isotope analysis to determine trophic position of fish in the field, over different seasons, and fish in the lab, under different amounts of nutrient stress.

In the remaining chapters of my dissertation, I utilized a new technique, applying nitrogen and carbon stable isotope analysis of amino acids to samples to determine trophic position and carbon food sources over time.  First, I demonstrated the utility these new methods in a controlled feeding experiment in the laboratory, determining fish trophic positions. I showed that the new methods seemed to offer more accuracy and precision in trophic position estimates when compared to more traditional methods of bulk tissue isotope analysis. With these new analytical methods, I proposed multidimensional metrics for use with compound specific analyses of food webs, as well as other multidimensional community measures (e.g., fatty acids, ordinal traits). Then, I evaluated long-term historical changes in trophic position and food sources of fish museum specimens using amino acid stable isotope analyses of both the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

rachel2

Rachel Bowes (right) in the laboratory at University of Kansas.

Rivers are among the most extensively altered ecosystems on earth. Over 60% of the world’s large river basins are now affected by dams for irrigation, urban development, navigation, and energy production. Many countries are recognizing the negative implications of these impoundments and are now actively removing dams. For my post-doc research here at Karlstad, I will be using my expertise in stable isotopes to look at river connectivity and the implications of dam removal on river ecosystems. There are several potential facets that we will be looking at, including fish movement, population genetics, and transfer of nutrients from marine to freshwater to terrestrial ecosystems. Stay tuned for more developments coming soon!

If you want to follow my current research and its progress, learn more about specific projects I have been involved in previously, or read about my diverse teaching experiences, please visit my website: rebowesecology.com. You can also follow me on Twitter @EcologyRachel.”

2012-08-15 14.06.19

River Klarälven, Värmland, Sweden.

A position as “Senior lecturer in biology with specialisation in landscape ecology” is open for applicants at Karlstad University. The position is full time and permanent employment. It “…involves teaching ecology at the undergraduate level, teaching specialisation courses in conservation biology, evolutionary biology or behavioural ecology, as well as relevant courses at the Master level – primarily in conservation biology. The successful applicant may also be required to teach courses in the teacher education programme or other courses in the biology programme. The position also involves complementing the research already conducted in the biology group, as well as supervising future doctoral students. We expect the successful applicant to develop new externally funded research projects together with researchers in the River Ecology and Management research group. Cooperation with the education research group SMEER is also possible…”

Last day of application is 2017-09-30. Read more about the position, and apply, on kau.se.