Natural Streams and the Legacy of Water-Powered Mills

Walter, Robert C.; Merritts, Dorothy J.

doi:10.1126/science.1151716

Cited by 782 publications

(765 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…An exception is recent research on floodplain wetlands buried under historic milldam sediments along headwater streams in the eastern United States: the wetland sediments contain 250-1,350 Mg C ha À 1 (ref. 39). By comparison, our unconfined valley segments contain 60-1,000 Mg C ha À 1 in sediment and 500-3,600 Mg C ha À 1 total.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Mechanisms of carbon storage in mountainous headwater rivers

et al. 2012

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Published research emphasizes rapid downstream export of terrestrial carbon from mountainous headwater rivers, but little work focuses on mechanisms that create carbon storage along these rivers, or on the volume of carbon storage. Here we estimate organic carbon stored in diverse valley types of headwater rivers in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, USA. We show that low-gradient, broad valley bottoms with old-growth forest or active beaver colonies store the great majority of above-and below-ground carbon. These laterally unconfined valley segments constitute o25% of total river length, but store B75% of the carbon. Floodplain sediment and coarse wood dominate carbon storage. Our estimates of riverine carbon storage represent a previously undocumented but important carbon sink. Our results indicate that: not all mountainous rivers rapidly export carbon; not all valley segments are equally important in carbon storage; and historical changes in riverine complexity have likely reduced carbon storage.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Mechanisms of carbon storage in mountainous headwater rivers

et al. 2012

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“…SYR 3+ values in settings sampled in Maryland's Piedmont were generally less than unity, indicating net sediment storage over the decadal time scale evaluated. It is important to consider that localized reaches of alluvial valleys have the capacity to augment the sediment supply, particularly where historic accumulations of sediment are in the process of being reworked under the influence of altered hydrologic regimes [Jacobsen and Coleman, 1986;Schenk and Hupp, 2009;Walter and Merritts, 2008;Smith et al, 2008]. Even with the known existence of those processes, the net contribution calculated for the UPRW alluvial valley network was one of sediment storage over decadal time scales.…”

Section: Spatial Scale Comparisonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evacuation of the deposits may take hundreds to thousands of years at the current rates of removal and replacement [Scatena, 1987]. Widespread construction of mill ponds augmented the storage of fine sediment along river channels [Happ, 1945;Walter and Merritts, 2008]. Breaching or intentional removal of these dams represents a potentially important perturbation and modern source of fine sediment to the channel network [Schenk and Hupp, 2009] [Langland and Cronin, 2003;Hassett et al, 2005].…”

Section: Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Closing the Gap Between Watershed Modeling, Sediment Budgeting, and Stream Restoration

Smith¹,

Belmont²,

Wilcock³

2013

Stream Restoration in Dynamic Fluvial Systems

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(2011), Closing the gap between watershed modeling, sediment budgeting, and stream restoration, in Stream Restoration in Dynamic Fluvial Systems: Scientific Approaches, Analyses, and Tools, Geophys. Monogr. Ser., vol. 194 The connection between stream restoration and sediment budgeting runs both ways: stream restoration is proposed as a means to reduce sediment yields, but an accurate understanding of sediment supply is necessary to design an effective project. Recent advances in monitoring technology, geochemical techniques, high-resolution topography data, and numerical modeling provide new opportunities to estimate sediment erosion, transport, and deposition rates; upscale them in a geomorphically relevant fashion; and synthesize sediment dynamics at watershed scales. For practical application at large scale, watershed models used to predict yield often do not resolve lower-order channels, leaving an essential "blind spot" regarding sediment processes. We illustrate the challenges and emerging approaches for estimating sediment budgets using examples from two very different physiographic settings: the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont and the agricultural plains of southern Minnesota. We highlight common challenges and themes in defining an effective watershed sediment model. In both cases, reliable estimates of sediment yield depend essentially on the accurate identification of sediment sources and sinks and, hence, require careful delineation of landscape units and identification of dominant sediment sources and sinks. The primary elements needed to bridge the gap between sediment budgeting, watershed modeling, and stream restoration are (1) specificity regarding location, mechanism, and rates of erosion, (2) accurate accounting of sediment storage, (3) appropriate methods for upscaling local observations, (4) efficient means for incorporating multiple lines of evidence to constrain budget estimates, and (5) stream restoration methods that incorporate sediment supply in assessment and design procedures.

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“…From an ecological perspective, wood mobilization influences local stream functions. Traditionally, wood was considered "debris" and removed from many streams to increase hydraulic conveyance capacity, reduce flooding, and improve navigation [Walter and Merritts, 2008]. From a stream restoration perspective, it is valuable to know whether newly installed woody habitat will remain in place.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing wood mobilization in streams

Merten

Finlay

Johnson³

et al. 2010

Water Resources Research

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[1] Natural pieces of wood provide a variety of ecosystem functions in streams including habitat, organic matter retention, increased hyporheic exchange and transient storage, and enhanced hydraulic and geomorphic heterogeneity. Wood mobilization is a critical process in determining the residence time of wood. We documented the characteristics and locations of 865 natural wood pieces (>0.05 m in diameter for a portion >1 m in length) in nine streams along the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. We determined the locations of the pieces again after an overbank stormflow event to determine the factors that influenced mobilization of stationary wood pieces in natural streams. Seven of 11 potential predictor variables were identified with multiple logistic regression as significant to mobilization: burial, effective depth, ratio of piece length to effective stream width (length ratio), bracing, rootwad presence, downstream force ratio, and draft ratio. The final model (P < 0.001, r 2 = 0.39) indicated that wood mobilization under natural conditions is a complex function of both mechanical factors (burial, length ratio, bracing, rootwad presence, draft ratio) and hydraulic factors (effective depth, downstream force ratio). If stable pieces are a goal for stream management then features such as partial burial, low effective depth, high length relative to channel width, bracing against other objects (e.g., stream banks, trees, rocks, or larger wood pieces), and rootwads are desirable. Using the model equation from this study, stewards of natural resources can better manage in-stream wood for the benefit of stream ecosystems.

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Natural Streams and the Legacy of Water-Powered Mills

Cited by 782 publications

References 28 publications

Mechanisms of carbon storage in mountainous headwater rivers

Mechanisms of carbon storage in mountainous headwater rivers

Closing the Gap Between Watershed Modeling, Sediment Budgeting, and Stream Restoration

Factors influencing wood mobilization in streams

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