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Baxter, R. M. (1977). Environmental effects of dams and impoundments. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 8:255-183.

The morphology and physical and chemical limnology of man-made lakes, the biology of reservoir ecosystems and the downstream and other effects of impoundments are discussed. Reservoirs are probably best regarded as a distinct type of freshwater ecosystem distinct from both streams and lakes. Because they are frequently built on streams carrying a heavy sediment load, the deposition and distribution of this material is often more important than in natural lakes. Therefore constraints on the nature of the developing biological community are imposed when a new reservoir is constructed. The environmental changes below a dam may be as dramatic as those above it. The effects of future tropical impoundments should be predictable on the basis of the first great African impoundments. The development of reservoirs in temperate regions occurred more gradually and due to this and the lower rate of biological processes, the effects were less dramatic than in the tropics. Large-scale surprises are not expected from future temperate region impoundment. However, much remains to be learned of the importance to man at a more detailed scale, such as the effects on the fur bearing animals in the area, or on resources such as salmon.