The Wrack: Articles

On Monday, Dr. John Lichter of Bowdoin College was the featured speaker for our monthly Lunch 'n Learn. He shared his research and posed many intriguing quesitons: What ecosystem traits provide resilience after a disturbance? Is there a link between social and ecological resilience? How much do ecosystems depend on diversity? Dr. Lichter went on to give an interesting historical account of the Kennebec River system:

1710s: Overfishing was happening

1720s: Land was being cleared on a large scale

1730s: Dams were installed

1780s: Agriculture was well established

1860s: Water pollution was happening on an industrial scale

1960s: Invasive species were present

Between 1930 and 1970, dissolved oxygen levels dropped in the Kennebec River, but the levels rebounded significantly following the passage of the Clean Water Act. Although this is encouraging data, Dr. Lichter reminded the audience that there is still a long way to go in terms of recovery efforts.

There were once 20 million herring in the Kennebec River, whereas now there are only 3 million. This drop is related more to obstacles in fish passage (i.e. dams), rather than water quality. The hypothesis is that dams in Maine are preventing the full recovery of fish. An individual female alewife lays 150,000 eggs, so the impact of her (and the many other alewives swimming alongside her) not being able to pass dams upstream to lay her eggs is huge.

A piece of Dr. Lichter's talk that I found most interesting was his presentation of data taken at Benton Falls on the Sebasticook River. When a pump was installed to pump water over the dam at that site, it also sent fish over the dam, increasing their spawning numbers. Later, when a fish elevator was installed to lift fish over the dam, the spawning numbers increased again. Finally, when the dam was removed, the number of fish increased even more.

Before heading back to Bowdoin, Dr. Lichter posed for this photograph with two of his former Bowdoin students who now work at the Reserve: Kate Reichert, Environmental Education Fellow; and Alex Van Boer, Research Intern

I cannot believe it’s been six months since I left the Wells Reserve at the end of my MCC term. Last November, having spent the summer and fall gaining valuable field experience, I headed home to pursue my next career goal: admission to graduate school. It was a daunting but surprisingly natural transition, as my experiences at the Reserve prepared me well for this next phase.

Last Thursday 44 participants from 12 towns in Maine and New Hampshire along with local businesses, regional and state planners, and non-profits attended the Coastal Training Program's Strengthening Town Centers and Transforming Commercial Corridors workshop with Randall Arendt.

In the summer of 2009, Marissa Hammond came to us as a wide-eyed UNE freshman with little experience in research science. She has since blossomed into a NOAA scholarship award winner who has been accepted into a highly respected graduate program in fisheries management and policy. Here is what she had to say about how the Wells Reserve played a part in that journey…

I am currently a senior at the University of New England, where I’m pursuing a degree in Marine Biology and Environmental Studies. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to intern at the Wells Reserve studying larval and juvenile fish in the Webhannet Estuary.

The Wells Reserve boundary stretches well beyond the familiar Laudholm campus, as our partnership with the USFWS Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge means the reserve includes most salt marsh habitats within the Town of Wells. So when birder Brian Harris photographed a Barnacle Goose (with Mallard and American Black Ducks) on the Moody marsh, he documented a new species for both the refuge and the reserve. For the reserve, this would be species number 265.