Rose, NL; Shilland, EM; Shilland, JD; Roberts, L; UCL MSc Aquatic Science participants, .; (2017) Establishing a monitoring programme for the Allt a’Mharcaidh river restoration project: Monitoring sites and initial surveys. (ECRC Research Report 181 ). UCL Environmental Change Research Centre: London, UK.

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Abstract

The Allt a’Mharcaidh is a stream located on the western side of the Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland. The catchment rises to 1111m above sea level (ECN, 2015) and drains via the River Feshie to the River Spey. Although originally naturally meandering, a stream section of approximately 1150m was artificially straightened in the early1800s (Henderson, 2014) to power saw-mills on the River Feshie and to ease the floating of timber downstream. Despite changes in ownership and catchment land-use over the intervening two centuries, this section of the Mharcaidh has remained straightened. In 2014, a restoration programme for the site was initiated with several objectives (Henderson, 2014) including: 1. enhancing sediment transport to improve the morphology of the straightened channel; 2. improving the stream’s connection with the flood plain; 3. creating erosion and deposition features to improve stream habitat. This was implemented through the addition of woody debris along the stream and the (re-)opening of sediment sources to allow for gravel injection. In addition, riparian tree planting has been undertaken along the course of the straightened section (Spey Fishery Board, 2014). In October 2015, a programme of monitoring at the Allt a’Mharcaidh was established by UCL MSc Aquatic Science students to ascertain changes in stream morphology and substrate at a location where woody debris had recently been introduced. A second ‘control’ section, with no added debris, was later established a few hundred metres upstream. The aim of this monitoring programme is to develop a long-term data-set of morphological changes during MSc field classes undertaken annually in October. This document describes the initial condition of the ‘experimental’ and ‘control’ sampling stretches of the Mharcaidh at the start of this programme as a base-line against which to assess any future change.

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