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Dam Busters 2026

Dam Removal Effects on Freshwater Mussels and Fishes

See below for resources, links, tips, and a video recording. Webinar originally held April 1, 2026.

Monatiquot River Dam Removal Braintree 2025 Heather Clish (1).jpg

Monatiquot River Dam Removal Restoration Project, 2025

Learn about the effects of dam removal on freshwater mussels and fishes from Dr. Allison Roy, Unit Leader with the U.S. Geological Survey's Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Presented by: Dr. Allison Roy, USGS/UMass Amherst

Download presentation slides here

Recording

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Additional Resources

Abbott, K., A. Roy, and K. Nislow. 2022. Restoring Aquatic Habitats Through Dam Removal. U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife
Service, Cooperator Science Series FWS/CSS-148-2022, Washington, D. C. https://doi.org/10.3996/css92498424
Abbott, K.M. 2023. River restoration through dam removal: Examining ecological responses to small dam removals across
Massachusetts. PhD dissertation, Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/entities/publication/b21e1519-832e-48f0-872d-04bc0507b409
Abbott, K. M., A.H. Roy, F. J. Magilligan, K.H. Nislow, and R.M. Quiñones. 2024. Incorporating climate change into restoration decisions:
perspectives from dam removal practitioners. Ecology and Society 29(3):21. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-15182-290321
Bellmore, J.R., J.J. Duda, L.S. Craig, S.L. Greene, C.E. Torgersen, M.J. Collins, et al. 2017 Status and trends of dam
removal research in the United States. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water 4: e1164. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1164
Bellmore, J.R., G.R. Pess, J.J. Duda, J.E. O’Connor, A.E. East, M.M. Foley, et al. 2019. Conceptualizing ecological responses to dam
removal: if you remove it, what's to come?, BioScience 69 (1): 26–39, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy152
Rogers, J. B., G.V. DiRenzo, A.H. Roy, J. Carmignani, R.S. O’Brien, R.M. Quiñones, and T. Richards. 2025. Watershed forest cover and
habitat restoration can offset some negative impacts of climate change on freshwater fishes and mussels. PLOS Climate 4(12): e0000742.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000742
Zaidel, P.A., A.H. Roy, K.M. Houle, B. Lambert, B.H. Letcher, K.H. Nislow, and C. Smith. 2020. Impacts of small dams on stream
temperature. Ecological Indicators 120:106878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106878

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