Recreating shallow bottom habitats - a measure benefiting biodiversity and sustainable energy production in regulated lakes?

Hydropower is crucial for Sweden's electric power supply and the transition to a fossil-free society, but it also has a strong negative impact on biodiversity and ecosystem functions of our waters.

Efforts to reduce environmental impact are currently focused on running water, while lake environments receive very little attention.

In lakes regulated for power generation, the ecologically important shallow bottoms have been destroyed by unnatural water level fluctuations and there is a great need for innovative measures to restore their function and enhance biodiversity.

In this project, we will test three novel methods for reconstructing habitat and function: (i) artificial floating bottoms, (ii) impoundments of drained areas in reservoirs, and (iii) small floating islands for nesting birds.

We will investigate how plants, algae, benthic invertebrates, fish, bird and biodiversity are affected, which will allow us to evaluate if these measure should be implemented on a larger scale.