The more the merrier: using environmental flows to improve floodplain vegetation condition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cherie Joy Campbell ◽  
Fiona Linda Freestone ◽  
Richard P. Duncan ◽  
Will Higgisson ◽  
Sascha Jade Healy
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Flows ◽  
Floodplain Vegetation ◽  
Vegetation Condition

scholarly journals The Potential for Dams to Impact Lowland Meandering River Floodplain Geomorphology

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip M. Marren ◽  
James R. Grove ◽  
J. Angus Webb ◽  
Michael J. Stewardson
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Flows ◽  
Channel Morphology ◽  
River Channel ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Floodplain Vegetation ◽  
Meandering River ◽  
Alluvial Sediment ◽  
Floodplain Development ◽  
River Channel Morphology ◽  
Active Processes

The majority of the world's floodplains are dammed. Although some implications of dams for riverine ecology and for river channel morphology are well understood, there is less research on the impacts of dams on floodplain geomorphology. We review studies from dammed and undammed rivers and include influences on vertical and lateral accretion, meander migration and cutoff formation, avulsion, and interactions with floodplain vegetation. The results are synthesized into a conceptual model of the effects of dams on the major geomorphic influences on floodplain development. This model is used to assess the likely consequences of eight dam and flow regulation scenarios for floodplain geomorphology. Sediment starvation downstream of dams has perhaps the greatest potential to impact on floodplain development. Such effects will persist further downstream where tributary sediment inputs are relatively low and there is minimal buffering by alluvial sediment stores. We can identify several ways in which floodplains might potentially be affected by dams, with varying degrees of confidence, including a distinction between passive impacts (floodplain disconnection) and active impacts (changes in geomorphological processes and functioning). These active processes are likely to have more serious implications for floodplain function and emphasize both the need for future research and the need for an “environmental sediment regime” to operate alongside environmental flows.

Large-scale vegetation mapping of the Pinega river valley (the surroundings of Golubino village, Arkhangelsk oblast)

2018 ◽  
pp. 19-39
Author(s):  
M. A. Makarova
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Indicator Species ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vegetation Mapping ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Floodplain Forests ◽  
Floodplain Vegetation ◽  
Wet Meadows ◽  
Arkhangelsk Oblast

Geobotanical survey of floodplain natural complexes near gypsum outcrops in the Pinega river valley was done in 2015. Large-scale geobotanical map of the key polygon (scale 1 : 30 000) was composed. Typological units of vegetation were selected on the basis of the composition of dominant species and groups of indicator species. Homogeneous and heterogeneous territorial units of vegetation (serial series, combinations, environmental series) were used. 53 mapped unit types (25 homogeneous types and 28 heterogeneous types) were recognized. The floodplain vegetation consists of 17 homogeneous types of plant communities, 3 series, 14 combinations and 6 ecological series. The sites of old floodplain forests, such as willow forests with Urtica sondenii rare in the Arkhangelsk region and oxbow wet meadows with Scolochloa festucacea were identified.

scholarly journals Water Temperature and Hydrological Modelling in the Context of Environmental Flows and Future Climate Change: Case Study of the Wilmot River (Canada)

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2101
Author(s):  
Christian Charron ◽  
André St-Hilaire ◽  
Taha B.M.J. Ouarda ◽  
Michael R. van den Heuvel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Temperature ◽  
Environmental Flows ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Water Abstraction ◽  
Surface Water Flow ◽  
Modelling Studies ◽  
Rcp 8.5

Simulation of surface water flow and temperature under a non-stationary, anthropogenically impacted climate is critical for water resource decision makers, especially in the context of environmental flow determination. Two climate change scenarios were employed to predict streamflow and temperature: RCP 8.5, the most pessimistic with regards to climate change, and RCP 4.5, a more optimistic scenario where greenhouse gas emissions peak in 2040. Two periods, 2018–2050 and 2051–2100, were also evaluated. In Canada, a number of modelling studies have shown that many regions will likely be faced with higher winter flow and lower summer flows. The CEQUEAU hydrological and water temperature model was calibrated and validated for the Wilmot River, Canada, using historic data for flow and temperature. Total annual precipitation in the region was found to remain stable under RCP 4.5 and increase over time under RCP 8.5. Median stream flow was expected to increase over present levels in the low flow months of August and September. However, increased climate variability led to higher numbers of periodic extreme low flow events and little change to the frequency of extreme high flow events. The effective increase in water temperature was four-fold greater in winter with an approximate mean difference of 4 °C, while the change was only 1 °C in summer. Overall implications for native coldwater fishes and water abstraction are not severe, except for the potential for more variability, and hence periodic extreme low flow/high temperature events.

scholarly journals The Influence of Flow Regime on Ecological Quality, Bird Diversity, and Shellfish Fisheries in a Lowland Mediterranean River and Its Coastal Area

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 918 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Belmar ◽  
Carles Ibáñez ◽  
Ana Forner ◽  
Nuno Caiola
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Vegetation ◽  
Environmental Flows ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Ecological Quality ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Discharge Data ◽  
Mantis Shrimp

Designing environmental flows in lowland river sections and estuaries is a challenge for researchers and managers, given their complexity and their importance, both for nature conservation and economy. The Ebro River and its delta belong to a Mediterranean area with marked anthropogenic pressures. This study presents an assessment of the relationships between mean flows (discharges) computed at different time scales and (i) ecological quality based on fish populations in the lower Ebro, (ii) bird populations, and (iii) two shellfish fishery species of socioeconomic importance (prawn, or Penaeus kerathurus, and mantis shrimp, or Squilla mantis). Daily discharge data from 2000 to 2015 were used for analyses. Mean annual discharge was able to explain the variation in fish-based ecological quality, and model performance increased when aquatic vegetation was incorporated. Our results indicate that a good ecological status cannot be reached only through changes on discharge, and that habitat characteristics, such as the coverage of macrophytes, must be taken into account. In addition, among the different bird groups identified in our study area, predators were related to river discharge. This was likely due to its influence on available resources. Finally, prawn and mantis shrimp productivity were influenced up to a certain degree by discharge and physicochemical variables, as inputs from rivers constitute major sources of nutrients in oligotrophic environments such as the Mediterranean Sea. Such outcomes allowed revisiting the environmental flow regimes designed for the study area, which provides information for water management in this or in other similar Mediterranean zones.

scholarly journals Leveraging environmental flows to reform water management policy: Lessons learned from the 2014 Colorado River Delta pulse flow

2017 ◽  
Vol 106 ◽  
pp. 683-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eloise Kendy ◽  
Karl W. Flessa ◽  
Karen J. Schlatter ◽  
Carlos A. de la Parra ◽  
Osvel M. Hinojosa Huerta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Environmental Flows ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Colorado River Delta ◽  
Pulse Flow

Evaluation of a typical hydrological model in relation to environmental flows

2013 ◽  
Vol 507 ◽  
pp. 52-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Olsen ◽  
Lars Troldborg ◽  
Hans Joergen Henriksen ◽  
John Conallin ◽  
Jens Christian Refsgaard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Environmental Flows
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