THIS PROJECT IS NO LONGER ACTIVE.
While much of the midwest is prairie and cropland, forest has been historically widespread on steep valley slopes and in riparian areas. When trees are introduced into the channel through bank erosion, storm mortality, or beavers, many physical and biological aspects of streams can be affected. While large wood has been studied extensively in mountainous gravel and cobble-bed streams in the northwestern U.S., little is known about the impacts of large wood in low-gradient midwestern streams with sand and gravel beds and deciduous riparian trees. We are investigating the role of large wood in channel morphology, sediment transport and biotic integrity in wadeable streams of Iowa and neighboring states.
Contacts: Bridget Livers, Pete Moore, Dick Schultz