Response of montane meadow vegetation after two years of streamflow augmentation

Henszey, Robert J.; Skinner, Quentin D.; Wesche, Thomas A.

doi:10.1002/rrr.3450060104

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Some river systems may respond to flow augmentation with increases in sedge communities in only a few years (Henszey et al ., ), while a longer transient stage of a decade or more may be required for other vegetation types (Johnson, ). Following the intermediate transient state, river systems may undergo rapid transitions in vegetation communities, such as the decline in total vegetated area along the Upper Arkansas River following 53 years of augmentation (Dominick and O'Neill, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Increasing River Flow Expands Riparian Habitat: Influences of Flow Augmentation on Channel Form, Riparian Vegetation and Birds Along the Little Bow River, Alberta

Hillman

Bigelow

Samuelson

et al. 2016

River Research & Apps

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With river regulation, water withdrawal is common, reducing instream flows. The opposite alteration, flow augmentation, is less common and could reveal a mechanistic coordination between flow regime, channel form, and riparian ecosystems. The Little Bow River, a naturally intermittent prairie stream in Southern Alberta, has experienced flow augmentation since the late 1890s, and the Little Bow/Highwood Project of 2004 enabled a tripling of diversion flows from 2.9 to 8.5 m3/s. We investigated the subsequent responses by assessing the channel form and riparian vegetation based on aerial photographs taken in 2000 versus 2010, and riparian birds were assessed between 2005 and 2013 to investigate associations with riparian vegetation. Following recent flow augmentation, the mean channel width increased from 12.2 to 13.5 m, while sinuosity was relatively unchanged. Streamside zones with true willows (especially Salix exigua and Salix bebbiana) increased from 7 to 11% of the river corridor, and the facultative riparian wolf willow (Elaeagnus commutata) zones increased from 16 to 20%, while grassy zones decreased from 64 to 52%. Avian species richness and Shannon–Wiener index increased, while species evenness was relatively unaltered, suggesting an increase of rarer bird species in response to the increased habitat structure and diversity following the expansion of riparian shrubs and woodland. This study revealed responses to the recent flow augmentation over the first decade of implementation, and alterations following flow augmentation would likely continue for decades until the river and riparian zones adjust to the new flow regime. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Along the Upper Arkansas River in Colorado, the total vegetated riparian area decreased, while the floodplain was restructured (Dominick and O'Neill, ). Alternately, under moderate augmentation (<2× Q base ), inundation‐tolerant sedges increased along the South Fork Middle Crow Creek in Wyoming (Henszey et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing River Flow Expands Riparian Habitat: Influences of Flow Augmentation on Channel Form, Riparian Vegetation and Birds Along the Little Bow River, Alberta

Hillman

Bigelow

Samuelson

et al. 2016

River Research & Apps

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“…Efforts to ‘improve’ temporary rivers are indicative of the poor state of knowledge about them. For example, flow augmentation has been used to improve intermittent rivers by creating perennial flow (Wolff, Wesche & Hubert, 1989; Henszey, Skinner & Wesche, 1991; Cluett, 2005). Unintended consequences of flow augmentation includes invasions of non‐native species (Howell & Benson, 2000), loss of native species, and loss of predator refugia (Labbe & Fausch, 2000; Reich et al.…”

Section: Unique Management Needs For Temporary Riversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging concepts in temporary‐river ecology

Datry²,

et al. 2010

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SUMMARY1. Temporary rivers and streams are among the most common and most hydrologically dynamic freshwater ecosystems. The number of temporary rivers and the severity of flow intermittence may be increasing in regions affected by climatic drying trends or water abstraction. Despite their abundance, temporary rivers have been historically neglected by ecologists. A recent increase in temporary-river research needs to be supported by new models that generate hypotheses and stimulate further research. In this article, we present three conceptual models that address spatial and temporal patterns in temporary-river biodiversity and biogeochemistry. 2. Temporary rivers are characterised by the repeated onset and cessation of flow, and by complex hydrological dynamics in the longitudinal dimension. Longitudinal dynamics, such as advancing and retreating wetted fronts, hydrological connections and disconnections, and gradients in flow permanence, influence biotic communities and nutrient and organic matter processing. 3. The first conceptual model concerns connectivity between habitat patches. Variable connectivity suggests that the metacommunity and metapopulation concepts are applicable in temporary rivers. We predict that aggregations of local communities in the isolated water bodies of temporary rivers function as metacommunities. These metacommunities may become longitudinally nested due to interspecific differences in dispersal and mortality. The metapopulation concept applies to some temporary river species, but not all. In stable metapopulations, rates of local extinction are balanced by recolonisation. However, extinction and recolonisation in many temporary-river species are decoupled by frequent disturbances, and populations of these species are usually expanding or contracting. 4. The second conceptual model predicts that large-scale biodiversity varies as a function of aquatic and terrestrial patch dynamics and water-level fluctuations. Habitat mosaics in temporary rivers change in composition and configuration in response to inundation and drying, and these changes elicit a range of biotic responses. In the model, aquatic biodiversity initially increases directly with water level due to increasing abundance of aquatic patches. When most of the channel is inundated and most aquatic patches are connected, further increases in aquatic habitat and connectivity cause aquatic biodiversity to decline due to community homogenisation and reduced habitat diversity. The predicted responses of terrestrial biodiversity to changes in water level are the inverse of aquatic biodiversity responses. 5. The third conceptual model represents temporary rivers as longitudinal, punctuated biogeochemical reactors. Advancing fronts carry water, solutes and particulate organic matter downstream; subsequent flow recessions and drying result in deposition of transported material in reserves such as pools and bar tops. Material processing is rapid during inundated periods and slower during dry periods. The efficiency of material proc...

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“…Flow disturbance provides prime areas for the establishment of opportunist (Rørslett, 1988), ruderal and stress-tolerant riparian rhizophytes (Blanch and Walker, 1998). When short-term flow fluctuations are frequent, it is difficult for vegetation to estabilish on the riverbed (Garcia de Jalon et al, 1994), while a general decrease of the discharge leads to siltation of the riverbed and its colonization by less hygrophilous competitors (Henszey et al, 1991). Dense floating mats of filamentous green algae can also invade sites downstream of dams (Holmes and Whitton, 1981).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Combined effects of environmental factors and regulation on macrophyte vegetation along three rivers in western France

Bernez

Daniel

Haury

et al. 2003

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The longitudinal changes of richness and composition of aquatic plants have been studied from headwaters to the fifth stream order in three rivers in western Brittany (France), the Orne, Sélune and Rance. All rivers are regulated by dams along their lower reaches. The total macrophyte richness differed between the rivers (61 to 150 taxa); it was lowest in the Sélune, which flows over a granite substratum throughout its basin. Absolute richness per site varied greatly between rivers, and between groups of sites either upstream or downstream of the dams, though consistently higher values were observed downstream. In contrast, the relative richness at the river basin scale was similar for the group of upstream (average 20 taxa) and downstream sites (average 28) of all rivers. At the site level, richness increased along all there rivers. Several sites below the dams had the highest richness per site, with more than 40 taxa. A shifting evolution of the macrophyte richness was revealed along the river axis, related to habitat heterogeneity and geological changes.Of the 27 abiotic variables initially considered for canonical correspondence analysis, only five to six per river were retained by a forward selection procedure. The eigenvalues of the first two canonical axes explained 16.1 to 22.4% of the total biological variability and 53.9 to 67.7% of the species-environment relationships. The macrophyte distribution was mainly determined by the stream hierarchy, expressed by the distance to source and slope, and showed also the influence of regulation, i.e. the position of the site in relation to the dam. Other physical variables significantly contributed to plant distribution, namely particular habitat types, depth and geological substratum. Nutrient enrichment and organic pollution influences were the main secondary gradients for the Orne and Rance rivers.

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Response of montane meadow vegetation after two years of streamflow augmentation

Cited by 10 publications

References 18 publications

Increasing River Flow Expands Riparian Habitat: Influences of Flow Augmentation on Channel Form, Riparian Vegetation and Birds Along the Little Bow River, Alberta

Increasing River Flow Expands Riparian Habitat: Influences of Flow Augmentation on Channel Form, Riparian Vegetation and Birds Along the Little Bow River, Alberta

Emerging concepts in temporary‐river ecology

Combined effects of environmental factors and regulation on macrophyte vegetation along three rivers in western France

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