Vegetation–Hydrogeomorphology Interactions in a Low‐Energy, Human‐Impacted River

Gurnell, Angela M.; Grabowski, Robert

doi:10.1002/rra.2922

Cited by 62 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Taxa that are highly mobile can recover very rapidly after drought, whilst others take longer to re‐colonise depending on the timing, intensity and duration of the dry period (Boulton , Boulton & Lake ). Macrophytes meanwhile must undergo continual successional phases, triggered in part by their own constant alteration of the in‐channel morphology (Gurnell & Grabowski ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An approach to setting ecological flow thresholds for southern English chalk streams

Westwood¹,

England

Dunbar

et al. 2017

Water & Environment J

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This paper presents a study of 10 English chalk streams in the River Thames Basin historically affected by abstraction of groundwater. Using macroinvertebrates, macrophytes and river discharge records from across 76 monitoring sites, and spanning the period 1992–2009 we assess how the communities change over time. River discharge is seen to be the most influential variable in biological community composition, and is used to calculate the annual average river discharge (in m3/s) needed to sustain different biological assemblages at each study site, from the lowest to the highest expression of fluvial aquatic community development. This represents a bottom‐up or site‐specific approach to the determination of ecological flow thresholds, from which more empirical trends may be inferred at regional level. The approach also provides a useful understanding of the timescales involved in the recovery of communities from drought.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An approach to setting ecological flow thresholds for southern English chalk streams

Westwood¹,

England

Dunbar

et al. 2017

Water & Environment J

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“…Bank buttressing: The roots of individual trees can buttress the river bank, strongly influencing bank erosion and bank profile development (e.g. Davis and Gregory, 1994;Rutherfurd and Grove, 2004;Gurnell and Grabowski, 2015) Log steps: produced by tree fall with little downstream movement, partly or completely blocking the flow and trapping bed material to form a distinct step in the bed profile.…”

Section: Three Example River Reachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This, coupled with the ability of many riparian tree species to produce adventitious roots, can lead to roots shooting from below the J in the trunk to penetrate the river bank and bed and create complex wooddominated bank profiles (e.g. Gurnell and Grabowski, 2015).…”

Section: Three Example River Reachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Conceptual Model of Vegetation–hydrogeomorphology Interactions Within River Corridors

Gurnell

Corenblit

Jalón

et al. 2015

River Research & Apps

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188

120

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We propose a conceptual model of vegetation-hydrogeomorphology interactions and feedbacks within river corridors (i.e. river channels and their floodplains) that builds on previous similar hydrogeomorphologically centred models by (i) incorporating hydrogeomorphological constraints on river corridor vegetation from region to reach scales; (ii) defining five dynamic river corridor zones within which different hydrogeomorphological processes are dominant so that plants and physical processes interact in different ways, and considering the potential distribution of these zones longitudinally from river headwaters to mouth, laterally across the river corridor, and in relation to different river planform styles; (iii) considering the way in which vegetation-related landforms within each zone may reflect processes of self-organization and the role of particular plant species as physical ecosystem engineers within the context of the dominant hydrogeomorphological processes; (iv) focussing, in particular, upon a 'critical zone' at the leading edge of plant-hydrogeomorphological process interactions that is located somewhere within the area of the river corridor perennially inundated by flowing water (zone 1) and the area that is frequently inundated and subject to both sediment erosion and deposition processes (zone 2). Within the critical zone some plant species strongly influence the position and character of the margin between the river channel and floodplain, affecting channel width, channel margin form and dynamics, and the transition from one river planform type to another; and (v) considering the vegetated pioneer landforms that develop within the critical zone and how their morphological impact needs to be scaled to the river size.The model is illustrated using three example reaches from rivers within different biogeographical zones of Europe, and its potential application in the context of river management and restoration/rehabilitation is discussed.

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“…Large wood induces multiple hydrological (i.e., flow deflection and scour), geomorphological (i.e., sediment entrainment and transport) and chemical (i.e., organic matter deposition, nutrient retention) processes that are key to river ecology (i.e., habitat for invertebrates; Table ; Benke & Wallace, ) and to river restoration (Grabowski et al, ; Larson, Booth, & Morley, ). Reaches with LW are usually more geomorphologically and hydraulically heterogeneous in space and time than sites without LW (Gurnell, ; Gurnell & Grabowski, ; Krause et al, ). They are usually characterized by steep head gradients and result in pronounced upwelling and downwelling zones upstream and downstream of LW, exhibit enhanced oxygen availability, deeper hyporheic flows and longer residence times than sites without LW (Krause et al, ; Sawyer, Cardenas, & Buttles, ) (Table ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional traits of hyporheic and benthic invertebrates reveal importance of wood‐driven geomorphological processes in rivers

et al. 2019

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Large wood (LW) is a natural element of river environments and an integral component of many river restoration schemes to promote biodiversity. It is an important habitat in itself, but it also induces a wide range of hydraulic, hydrological, geomorphological and chemical conditions that influence the ecological community. However, the effects of hydro‐geomorphological processes induced by LW on local benthic and hyporheic invertebrates have not been well characterized. A functional approach was applied to invertebrate data collected in a field survey at sites with LW and without LW (control) to investigate the response of hyporheic and benthic invertebrates' trait profiles in response to local LW‐induced processes. We hypothesized LW sites to be associated with different trait modalities than control sites in relation to wood‐induced processes and conditions (i.e., hyporheic exchange flow, oxygen availability, temporal stability, organic matter, denitrification, hydraulic conductivity). Multivariate analyses and partial least squares (PLS) path modelling were used to detect the differences in trait profiles between LW and control sites and to study the variation of traits as a function of hydrological, sedimentological, physical and chemical variables. Biological (i.e., aquatic stages, reproduction), physiological (i.e., dispersal, feeding habits) and behavioural (i.e., substrate preferences) trait utilization by the hyporheic meiofauna differed between LW and control sites. At LW sites, the hyporheic meiofaunal assemblage was significantly associated with aquatic active dispersal, aquatic eggs and hard substrate preferences. This trait category selection was linked to changes in physical–sedimentological processes at LW sites when compared to control sites. Macrofaunal benthic and hyporheic functional traits did not differ significantly between wood and control sites, suggesting similar functioning of these assemblages at the surface–subsurface interface. This study found that LW affects invertebrate traits by altering fluvial processes to produce, locally, a mosaic of habitats. Hyporheic meiofauna trait responses to LW processes have suggested (a) the crucial role of LW in supporting river benthic zone functioning and thus (b) a possible benefit to river restoration by enhancing functional interactions among different ecological niches. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

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Vegetation–Hydrogeomorphology Interactions in a Low‐Energy, Human‐Impacted River

Cited by 62 publications

References 30 publications

An approach to setting ecological flow thresholds for southern English chalk streams

An approach to setting ecological flow thresholds for southern English chalk streams

A Conceptual Model of Vegetation–hydrogeomorphology Interactions Within River Corridors

Functional traits of hyporheic and benthic invertebrates reveal importance of wood‐driven geomorphological processes in rivers

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