<b>Restoration Rocks. Trialling Gravel and Overburden Skimming for Fish Habitat Restoration</b>

The GOS approach aims to restore braided river morphology and processes, and due to its association with commercial activities, is more cost-effective than pure restoration work. Monthly surveys over late summer-early autumn were used to assess the outcomes of GOS on instream environmental conditions and fish communities. In comparison to unmodified negative control sites, GOS sites more closely resembled natural floodplain morphology, and were associated with greater riffle habitat, wetted width, and number of channels.

Although the differences in native diversity, absolute abundance and relative abundance of fish species between treatments were non-significant, the results suggest some potentially meaningful effects that warrant further investigation. To further ascertain the potential of GOS for instream braided river restoration, we recommend longer-term monitoring alongside future studies which incorporate more sample sites over broader spatial scales.</p>