Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID VA 2025 Skelton

Fish Community Response after Dam Removal: Diversity Recovery and Short-and-Long Term Impacts

Institute: Virginia
Year Established: 2025 Start Date: 2026-01-01 End Date: 2026-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $9,040 Total Non-Federal Funds: $9,042

Principal Investigators: James Skelton

Project Summary: Freshwater fish numbers are declining, and dams are a major contributing factor. Many dams are now obsolete or dilapidated, and many conservationists are advocating for their removal. My research will study the effects of dam removal on fish communities ? defined as clusters of different fish species living in the same area. I have two aims. First, to investigate how fish communities change after dam removal. Second, to determine the timeline for that change and whether response time varies for different species. For this project, I will use DNA collected from water samples to study the fish at different sites in the Chesapeake Bay watershed throughout Virginia. I will compare fish communities where dams have been removed to comparable sites where dams still exist, and to sites where dams have never existed. To study the timeline of restoration, dam removal dates range from 2004 ? 2024.