Despite the potential importance of tree species in influencing the processes of wood recruitment, transport, retention, and decay that control river wood budgets, focus has been relatively limited on this theme within fluvial wood research. Furthermore, one of the least investigated topics is the belowground living wood component of riparian trees. This paper presents observations of the morphology and age of buried stem and coarse root structures of eight Populus nigra individuals located in the riparian woodland of two sites on the middle to lower Tagliamento River, Italy. This species was selected because of its wide distribution along European rivers and its frequent dominance of riparian woodland.Each tree was excavated by hand to expose a minimum of half of the root system with complete exposure of the main axis. Smaller roots were then removed and larger protruding roots cut back to permit access to the main axis. The excavated structures were photographed from multiple angles for photogrammetric modelling; the structure and character of the exposed sediments around the tree's main axis were recorded; and wood samples were taken from the main aboveground stem(s), sections of the main buried axis, and major roots for dendrochronological analysis. Results from these field observations and laboratory dating of the wood samples were combined to describe the belowground morphology of each tree and to draw inferences concerning the impact of fluvial disturbances. Common features of these excavated structures included: (i) rooting depths to below the bar surface where the original tree established, with many young roots also existing at depth; (ii) translocation of the main buried axis in a downstream direction; (iii) a main buried axis comprised mainly of stems that have become buried and then generated new shoots, including multistem patches, and adventitious roots; (iv) the presence of steps and bends in the main buried axis associated with the generation of coarse lateral roots, that reflect the sedimentary structure of the surrounding aggraded bank sediments; and (v) grafting of roots within and between some sampled trees.Overall, the sampled trees possessed extremely complex three-dimensional buried wood structures that permeate bank sediments and tie the tree and aggraded bank sediments to basal gravels. These properties and the considerable amount of underground wood that is present have great significance for anchoring trees and giving uprooted trees and root wads a propensity to snag once they enter the fluvial system. Furthermore, the ability of this underground biomass to sprout suggests that uprooted and remaining components of root networks following tree uprooting may sprout, generating new vegetation canopies that can trap mobile wood. Overall, this underground wood offers many traits that may tighten wood budgets, and it is likely that other riparian Salicaceae species with similar traits may have similar wood budget impacts.

Following analysis of morphological (including dendrochronological and sedimentological) aspects of buried stem and coarse root structures of eight mature P. nigra individuals located within two sites along the middle to lower Tagliamento River, Italy (Holloway et al., 2016), this paper introduces information on the historical processes of vegetation development and river flow and links this to the form of these eight trees. Aerial images and flow time series are assembled to reconstruct the flood history, potential recruitment periods, and vegetation cover development in the vicinity of the studied trees. This information is combined with previous morphological evidence to reconstruct the development history of each tree via three-element summary diagrams showing (i) a time series of floods, aerial imagery dates, and potential recruitment periods, with colour-coded bars indicating likely key stages in the development of the tree; (ii) colour-coded overlays on an SfM photogrammetric model of each tree; and (iii) colour-coded text boxes providing explanatory annotations. The combined morphology-process analysis reveals complex three-dimensional underground structures, incorporating buried stems, shoots, and adventitious roots that are sometimes joined by grafting, linking the standing tree with the buried gravel surface on which it was recruited. Analysis of process data provides a firm basis for identifying and dating influential flow disturbance events and recruitment windows and shows that a relatively small number of flood events have significantly impacted the studied trees, which are mainly but not exclusively the largest floods in the record. Nevertheless, we stress that all suggested dates are best estimates in the light of the combined evidence. There is undoubted potential for building different interpretations of belowground woody structure development in light of such evidence, but we feel that the form and timing of the developmental trajectories we have proposed are reasonable and give balanced insights into the many possible ways in which this hidden component of riparian trees may develop. Our results are relevant to river research and management issues concerning riparian woodland, fluvial wood dynamics, and wood budgets, as they indicate (i) a large hidden volume of wood that is often ignored; (ii) complex, deep, coarse anchorage structures that have relevance for rates of fluvial wood recruitment associated with lateral bank erosion / stability or wind throw; and (iii) a wood element that may significantly affect wood transport and retention within fluvial systems.

Tree roots contribute to the resistance of riparian sediments to physical deformation and disintegration. Understanding reinforcement by roots requires information on root distributions within riparian soils and sediments. Continuous‐depth models or curves have been proposed to describe vertical root density variations, providing useful indicators of the types of function that may be appropriate to riparian trees, but have generally been estimated for terrestrial species or broad vegetation types rather than riparian species or environments. We investigated vertical distributions of roots >0.1 mm diameter of a single riparian tree species (Populus nigra L.) along the middle reaches of a single river (Tagliamento River, Italy), where Populus nigra dominates the riparian woodland. Root density (hundreds m−2) and root area ratio (RAR in cm2 m−2) were measured within 10 cm depth increments of 24 excavated bank profiles across nine sites. Sediment samples, extracted from distinct strata within the profiles, were analysed for moisture content, organic matter content and particle size. Statistical analyses identified two groups of wetter and drier profiles and five sediment types. Following loge‐transformation of root density and RAR, linear regression analysis explored their variation with depth and, using dummy variables, any additional influence of moisture and sediment type. Significant linear regression relationships were estimated between both root density and RAR and depth which explained only 15% and 8% of the variance in the data. Incorporating moisture and then sediment characteristics into the analysis increased the variance explained in root density to 29% and 36% and in RAR to 14% and 26%. We conclude that riparian tree root density and RAR are highly spatially variable and are poorly explained by depth alone. Complex riparian sedimentary structures and moisture conditions are important influences on root distributions and so need to be incorporated into assessments of the contribution of roots to river bank reinforcement. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The strength and architecture of roots and other below‐ground organs of riparian and aquatic plants affect plant resistance to uprooting and contribute to reinforcing river bank, bar and bed materials. Therefore, root properties are an important element in models for estimating river bank stability and such models may focus on the role of plants by using root strength–diameter relationships for the particular plant species that are present. Here we explore the degree to which there appear to be significant differences in strength–diameter relationships between and within species‐specific data sets obtained for two riparian tree/shrub (Populus nigra, Salix alba) and two emergent aquatic macrophyte (Sparganium erectum, Phalaris arundinacea) species in different European river environments. While the analysed data sets were not specifically collected to answer these research questions, the results are sufficiently compelling to make the case for the collection of a more comprehensive data set and its rigorous analysis. This would allow recommendations to be made on the degree to which (i) species‐specific or more general relationships between root/rhizome strength and diameter are appropriate, (ii) such relationships are applicable within and between rivers in different geographical regions and subject to different local environmental conditions, and (iii) further (minimalist) field observations are needed to calibrate such relationships for investigations of new locales or species. © 2018 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.