Publication Date
2026
College
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
Department
School of Applied Health
Document Type
Poster
Description
Monitoring wildlife species during ecological restoration can provide insight to ecosystem recovery. In 2023 and 2024 the four lower dams on the Klamath River were removed, marking the largest dam removal project in the US to date. Following the removals, restoration, led by Resource Environmental Solutions (RES), in the former reservoir footprints has been underway. Several restoration techniques were used, which provided the opportunity to examine the effect treatments have on ecosystem recovery. In May 2025, RES installed audio recording devices across sites in the footprints, allowing us to monitor birds, which are considered good indicators of ecosystem recovery. We compared species richness across sites in varying habitats and treatment types to look at how restoration influenced bird communities.