Amphibian Abundance and Wetland Habitat Following Dam Removal in the Elwha River Basin

Dam removal has become increasingly applied and accepted as an effective tool for restoration. However, research investigating ecological response to dam removal, specifically wildlife, remains sparse. As the site of the world\u27s largest dam removal project, the Elwha river system offers a unique opportunity to better understand wildlife response to dam removal. We investigated how amphibian abundance and wetland habitat characteristics differ between the wetlands of the largest former reservoir site and those of a site upriver, unaffected by dam removal. We surveyed wetlands in the two sites for amphibian abundance and collected data on six habitat variables relating to vegetation and water quality. We used Poisson regression to fit models describing effects of each habitat variable on local abundance of amphibian species. We determined the relative empirical support for each model using information theoretic methods. Amphibians can be used as a direct metric for assessing a stream’s ability to support aquatic biota. Thus, our findings indicate the progress of wetland restoration at the dam removal site. Our results determine the relative importance of wetland habitat characteristics which can be used to inform future restoration projects