eprintid: 10202590 rev_number: 7 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/20/25/90 datestamp: 2024-12-20 08:55:36 lastmod: 2024-12-20 08:55:36 status_changed: 2024-12-20 08:55:36 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Champkin, James D creators_name: Bašić, Tea creators_name: Haubrock, Phillip J creators_name: Balzani, Paride creators_name: Sayer, Carl D creators_name: George, Laura K creators_name: Godard, Michael J creators_name: Vilizzi, Lorenzo creators_name: Copp, Gordon H title: Short-term growth, movement and response of European eel Anguilla anguilla to re-meandering of a small English chalk stream ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B03 divisions: C03 divisions: F26 keywords: River Glaven, restoration, mark-and-recapture, fish passage, Before-After-Control-Impact note: © J.D. Champkin et al., Published by EDP Sciences 2024. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY-ND (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/). abstract: In recent decades, the population of European eel Anguilla anguilla has strongly declined and the stock is outside safe biological limits. Freshwater habitat degradation has been cited as a key causal factor in the European eel decline, but there are limited studies assessing the responses of this species to river habitat restoration efforts. This study utilized mark-and-recapture data from annual electrofishing surveys conducted between 2009 and 2014 to describe European eel population density and size structure (length, weight) in the River Glaven − a chalk stream in eastern England. Short-term effects of river restoration on European eel were assessed via a Before-After-Control-Impact experimental design. Of the recaptured individuals, 73% were sedentary and the rest mobile. Despite re-meandering work increasing habitat heterogeneity in the restoration reach relative to the control reach, no change in European eel density or size structure was detected across treatments and time. While length and weight increased in the downstream control reach over the study period, density declined. This can be attributed to various local stressors such as barriers to European eel migration, as well as broader range-scale causes including climatic and oceanic factors. Although further research is ideally necessary to ensure adequate sample sizes, as well as to provide long-term monitoring of eel responses to river restoration, this study emphasizes the need for whole-catchment efforts in European eel conservation that combine river–floodplain restoration with greatly improved fish passage. date: 2024 date_type: published publisher: EDP Sciences official_url: https://doi.org/10.1051/kmae/2024021 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 2344058 doi: 10.1051/kmae/2024021 lyricists_name: Sayer, Carl lyricists_id: CSAYE52 actors_name: Sayer, Carl actors_id: CSAYE52 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Knowledge & Management of Aquatic Ecosystems number: 425 article_number: 23 citation: Champkin, James D; Bašić, Tea; Haubrock, Phillip J; Balzani, Paride; Sayer, Carl D; George, Laura K; Godard, Michael J; ... Copp, Gordon H; + view all <#> Champkin, James D; Bašić, Tea; Haubrock, Phillip J; Balzani, Paride; Sayer, Carl D; George, Laura K; Godard, Michael J; Vilizzi, Lorenzo; Copp, Gordon H; - view fewer <#> (2024) Short-term growth, movement and response of European eel Anguilla anguilla to re-meandering of a small English chalk stream. Knowledge & Management of Aquatic Ecosystems (425) , Article 23. 10.1051/kmae/2024021 <https://doi.org/10.1051/kmae%2F2024021>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10202590/1/Champkin_et_al_2024_Glaven_eel_response_river_remeandering.pdf