Flume simulations of salmon bioturbation effects on critical shear stress and bedload transport in rivers

Nest (redd) construction by female salmonids involves sequences of pit excavation and filling that winnow fines, loosen grains, and moves sediment downstream into a tailspill mound shaped like a dune. Prior research suggests that such bioturbation may destabilize streambeds by reducing friction between grains and converging flow that elevates shear stress on tailspills. Bed stability may alternatively be enhanced by form drag from redds that lowers basal shear stress, an effect that varies with the proportion of the bed that is occupied by redds (P). I used simulated redds and water‐worked (“unspawned”) beds in a laboratory flume to evaluate these competing influences on critical conditions and bedload transport in experiments with P = 0.11 (1 redd), 0.29 (2 redds), and 0.38 (3 redds). Results from competence (largest grain) and reference transport rate estimates of Shields stress indicate that particle entrainment inversely related to P. Bedload transport rates also increased as exponential functions of P and the boundary shear stress that exceeded critical conditions. Therefore, redd form drag did not overcome the destabilizing effects of redd construction. Instead, grain mobility and bedload transport increased with P because larger bed areas were composed of relatively loose grains and redd topography that experiences elevated shear stresses, as suggested in prior research. By winnowing fines and increasing bed surface mobility that exposes small particles in subsurface areas to flow, bioturbation by salmon can mitigate fine sedimentation of streambeds, which suggests an active role for salmon in restoring fish habitat in streams.