Inundation requirements for persistence and recovery of river red gums ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis ) in semi-arid Australia

Catelotti, Katharine; Kingsford, Richard T.; Bino, Gilad; Bacon, P. E.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.02.014

Cited by 41 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…River regulation declines annual frequency of flooding in downstream habitats thereby altering the composition and regeneration of plants specific to these habitats (Kingsford 2000;Maingi andMarsh 2002, Layer 2005). Previous studies confirmed that the fauna and flora have been adversely affected due to reduced flood intensities in terminal wetlands following river regulation (Mac Nally et al 2014, Bino et al 1015, Catelotti et al 2015. Layer (2002) also noted that the over-bank flooding is a critical factor in wetlands which determines species composition and distribution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Impacts of river regulation and other anthropogenic activities on floodplain vegetation: A case study from Sri Lanka

et al. 2017

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Abstract:Since the initiation of large-scale development in late 1970s, the Mahaweli River basin in Sri Lanka has experienced significant changes. However, no comprehensive study has been undertaken so far to evaluate the impacts of river regulation on associated ecosystems including floodplains in the downstream. The present study was aimed at identifying the impacts due to both river regulation and other anthropogenic activities on inland floodplain habitats (locally known as villus) located along the final stretch of the River Mahaweli before reaching the Indian Ocean. Four villus, Handapana (HAN), Bendiya (BEN), Karapola (KAR) and Gengala (GEN), were selected for the study. HAN and BEN can be considered as highly influenced (HI) by river regulation while KAR and GEN as less influenced (LI) due to their respective locations. Due to the absence of pre-regulation vegetation data, HI villus were compared with LI villus in order to explore any potential impacts of river regulation. Vegetation was enumerated using belt transect method. To find out other on-going anthropogenic impacts on these villu ecosystems, a survey was conducted using 100 individuals living in two villages located nearby. The results revealed some significant modification in the composition and the diversity of the vegetation, most possibly due to river regulation and other on-going anthropogenic activities. However, the most notable changes were recorded in the herbaceous layer. Some native aquatic herbaceous species have been completely absent over the period of two decades since the developmental activities begun, while some exotic invasive aquatic species (Eichhornia crassipes) dominated the herbaceous layer in HI villus threatening the survival of the remaining native species. Density and richness of lianas too diminished significantly in HI villus perhaps due to changes of micro-habitat conditions as a result of river regulation and also due to over-harvesting for commercial purposes. The results suggest that these ecosystems have been altered over the years due to culmination of factors including altered flow regimes following river regulation and some on-going human influences. The present study highlights the importance of regulating such human influences on villus including fishing and extracting cane and reed in order to protect these vulnerable ecosystems for future generations. The potential of these ecosystems to develop ecotourism has also been emphasized.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Impacts of river regulation and other anthropogenic activities on floodplain vegetation: A case study from Sri Lanka

et al. 2017

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“…Furthermore, the NDVI response did not return to previous high level despite renewed floods. Mortality of trees during the drought apparently dampened the ability of the trees to fully respond to floods, supporting the finding of Catelotti et al () that a flood every 2 years might be the minimum to keep the forest in good health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wide‐area estimates of evapotranspiration by red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) and associated vegetation in the Murray–Darling River Basin, Australia

Nagler

Doody

Glenn

et al. 2015

Hydrological Processes

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Abstract:Floodplain red gum forests (Eucalyptus camaldulensis plus associated grasses, reeds and sedges) are sites of high biodiversity in otherwise arid regions of southeastern Australia. They depend on periodic floods from rivers, but dams and diversions have reduced flood frequencies and volumes, leading to deterioration of trees and associated biota. There is a need to determine their water requirements so environmental flows can be administered to maintain or restore the forests. Their water requirements include the frequency and extent of overbank flooding, which recharges the floodplain soils with water, as well as the actual amount of water consumed in evapotranspiration (ET). We estimated the flooding requirements and ET for a 38 134 ha area of red gum forest fed by the Murrumbidgee River in Yanga National Park, New South Wales. ET was estimated by three methods: sap flux sensors placed in individual trees; a remote sensing method based on the Enhanced Vegetation Index from MODIS satellite imagery and a water balance method based on differences between river flows into and out of the forest. The methods gave comparable estimates yet covered different spatial and temporal scales. We estimated flood frequency and volume requirements by comparing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index values from Landsat images with flood history from 1995 to 2014, which included both wet periods and dry periods. ET during wet years is about 50% of potential ET but is much less in dry years because of the trees' ability to control stomatal conductance. Based on our analyses plus other studies, red gum trees at this location require environmental flows of 2000 GL yr À1 every other year, with peak flows of 20 000 ML d À1, to produce flooding sufficient to keep them in good condition. However, only about 120-200 GL yr À1 of river water is consumed in ET, with the remainder flowing out of the forest where it enters the Murray River system.

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“…The Millennium Drought had a large impact in the Macquarie Marshes, with loss of wetland vegetation types, expansion of terrestrial communities (e.g., Sclerolaena spp.) and a decline in the health of river red gum communities ( Figure 4; [10,[29][30][31][32]). These changes were strongly correlated with decreased inundation from both the drought and river regulation [29,30].…”

Section: Restoration and Floodplain Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Inundation generally occurs from late winter into spring (August-November), but can also be highly variable, occurring in winter or lasting through summer. Only around 10% of the Marshes are protected within a nature reserve, where all of the major vegetation communities are relatively undisturbed by farming, but nonetheless degraded through reduced inundation due to river regulation [10,[30][31][32].…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…These flows are dependent on upstream rainfall events as the Marshes have an average rainfall of less than 500 mm [29]. Average temperatures in the Marshes range from 3-6 • C in winter to [30][31][32][33][34][35][36] • C in the summer [29]. Vegetation consists of a mosaic of wetland types, dependent on inundation frequency and extent [10,30].…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

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Remote Sensing Measures Restoration Successes, but Canopy Heights Lag in Restoring Floodplain Vegetation

et al. 2016

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Wetlands worldwide are becoming increasingly degraded, and this has motivated many attempts to manage and restore wetland ecosystems. Restoration actions require a large resource investment, so it is critical to measure the outcomes of these management actions. We evaluated the restoration of floodplain wetland vegetation across a chronosequence of land uses, using remote sensing analyses. We compared the Landsat-based fractional cover of restoration areas with river red gum and lignum reference communities, which functioned as a fixed target for restoration, over three time periods: (i) before agricultural land use (1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997); (ii) during the peak of agricultural development (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007); and (iii) post-restoration of flooding (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015). We also developed LiDAR-derived canopy height models (CHMs) for comparison over the second and third time periods. Inundation was crucial for restoration, with many fields showing little sign of similarity to target vegetation until after inundation, even if agricultural land uses had ceased. Fields cleared or cultivated for only one year had greater restoration success compared to areas cultivated for three or more years. Canopy height increased most in the fields that were cleared and cultivated for a short duration, in contrast to those cultivated for >12 years, which showed few signs of recovery. Restoration was most successful in fields with a short development duration after the intervention, but resulting dense monotypic stands of river cooba require future monitoring and possibly intervention to prevent sustained dominance. Fields with intensive land use histories may need to be managed as alternative, drier flood-dependent vegetation communities, such as black box (Eucalyptus largiflorens) grasslands. Remotely-sensed data provided a powerful measurement technique for tracking restoration success over a large floodplain.

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Inundation requirements for persistence and recovery of river red gums ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis ) in semi-arid Australia

Cited by 41 publications

References 61 publications

Impacts of river regulation and other anthropogenic activities on floodplain vegetation: A case study from Sri Lanka

Impacts of river regulation and other anthropogenic activities on floodplain vegetation: A case study from Sri Lanka

Wide‐area estimates of evapotranspiration by red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) and associated vegetation in the Murray–Darling River Basin, Australia

Remote Sensing Measures Restoration Successes, but Canopy Heights Lag in Restoring Floodplain Vegetation

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