Does flow modification cause geomorphological and ecological response in rivers?
A literature review from an Australian perspective By: Dr Natalie Lloyd, Assoc. Prof. Gerry Quinn, Assoc. Prof. Martin Thoms, Prof. Angela Arthington, Dr Ben Gawne, Dr Paul Humphries, Assoc. Prof. Keith Walker This report reviews a subset of refereed and unrefereed Australian and international literature to assess the evidence for ecological responses to flow modifications in rivers. The studies we examined produce overwhelming evidence that both river ecology and river geomorphology change in response to flow modification. Specifically, 87% of the studies reviewed demonstrate an ecological and/or geomorphological effect(s) of flow modification 83% of variables demonstrate an ecological and/or geomorphological effect(s) of flow modification all the studies in which the change to flow was measured or could be determined from gauge data (n = 30) demonstrated an ecological and/or geomorphological effect(s) of flow modification all of the 9 studies investigating geomorphological responses
