River restoration: the fuzzy logic of repairing reaches to reverse catchment scale degradation

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1926-1931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S. Bernhardt ◽  
Margaret A. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Fuzzy Logic ◽  
River Restoration ◽  
Catchment Scale

scholarly journals The effects of river restoration on catchment scale flood risk and flood hydrology

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 997-1008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon J. Dixon ◽  
David A. Sear ◽  
Nicholas A. Odoni ◽  
Tim Sykes ◽  
Stuart N. Lane
Keyword(s):  
Flood Risk ◽  
River Restoration ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Flood Hydrology

scholarly journals Invertebrate Responses to Restoration across Benthic and Hyporheic Stream Compartments

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 996
Author(s):  
Anne L. Robertson ◽  
Daniel M. Perkins ◽  
Judy England ◽  
Tim Johns
Keyword(s):  
River Restoration ◽  
Hyporheic Zone ◽  
Biological Traits ◽  
Taxon Richness ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Β Diversity ◽  
Monitoring Protocols ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Time Point

River restoration is a multi-billion-dollar business, yet it is unclear whether benthic community health, which is routinely monitored, can be used as a proxy for the health of the hyporheos. Applying a Before-After-Control-Impact approach to a UK case study, we compared the effects of removing an impoundment on the hyporheos with effects on the benthos. We compared invertebrate biological traits that we expected to respond to the restoration. We constructed sample-size based diversity curves and determined β-diversity between compartments and reaches. Two years post-restoration, hyporheic taxon richness was significantly lower in the restored reach compared to the control. However, three years post-restoration taxon richness was significantly higher in the impact reach. The composition of the control and impact reach hyporheos was most dissimilar at the first sampling time point post-restoration and at this time there was a universal decrease in the relative abundance of burrowing organisms respiring through gills. We did not detect a signal of restoration on benthic assemblage diversity and composition, perhaps because reach-scale restorations can be overwhelmed by catchment-scale disturbances. Thus, the hyporheos and the benthos responded differently to restoration. Given the importance of the hyporheic zone in the provision of ecosystem function and services, it is clear that it should be included in future monitoring protocols that aim to assess river restoration success.

scholarly journals Defining Recovery Potential in River Restoration: A Biological Data-Driven Approach

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 3339
Author(s):  
Martin A. Wilkes ◽  
Morwenna Mckenzie ◽  
Marc Naura ◽  
Laura Allen ◽  
Mike Morris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Restoration ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
River System ◽  
Biological Data ◽  
Nutrient Inputs ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Restoration Planning ◽  
Recovery Potential ◽  
Restoration Measures

Scientists and practitioners working on river restoration have made progress on understanding the recovery potential of rivers from geomorphological and engineering perspectives. We now need to build on this work to gain a better understanding of the biological processes involved in river restoration. Environmental policy agendas are focusing on nature recovery, reigniting debates about the use of “natural” reference conditions as benchmarks for ecosystem restoration. We argue that the search for natural or semi-natural analogues to guide restoration planning is inappropriate due to the absence of contemporary reference conditions. With a catchment-scale case study on the invertebrate communities of the Warwickshire Avon, a fifth-order river system in England, we demonstrate an alternative to the reference condition approach. Under our model, recovery potential is quantified based on the gap between observed biodiversity at a site and the biodiversity predicted to occur in that location under alternative management scenarios. We predict that commonly applied restoration measures such as reduced nutrient inputs and the removal of channel resectioning could be detrimental to invertebrate diversity, if applied indiscriminately and without other complementary measures. Instead, our results suggest considerable potential for increases in biodiversity when restoration measures are combined in a way that maximises biodiversity within each water body.

scholarly journals Creating a catchment scale perspective for river restoration

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 2995-3015 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Benda ◽  
D. Miller ◽  
J. Barquín
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Restoration ◽  
Valley Floor ◽  
River Channels ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
River Catchment ◽  
Restoration Planning ◽  
Fluvial Landscape ◽  
River Control ◽  
Geomorphic Processes

Abstract. One of the major challenges in river restoration is to identify the natural fluvial landscape in catchments with a long history of river control. Intensive land use on valley floors often predates the earliest remote sensing: levees, dikes, dams, and other structures alter valley-floor morphology, river channels and flow regimes. Consequently, morphological patterns indicative of the fluvial landscape including multiple channels, extensive floodplains, wetlands, and fluvial-riparian and tributary-confluence dynamics can be obscured, and information to develop appropriate and cost effective river restoration strategies can be unavailable. This is the case in the Pas River catchment in northern Spain (650 km2), in which land use and development have obscured the natural fluvial landscape in many parts of the basin. To address this issue we used computer tools to examine the spatial patterns of fluvial landscapes that are associated with five domains of hydro-geomorphic processes and landforms. Using a 5-m digital elevation model, valley-floor surfaces were mapped according to elevation above the channel and proximity to key geomorphic processes. The predicted fluvial landscape is patchily distributed according to hillslope and valley topography, river network structure, and channel elevation profiles. The vast majority of the fluvial landscape in the main segments of the Pas River catchment is presently masked by human infrastructure, with only 15% not impacted by river control structures and development. The reconstructed fluvial landscape provides a catchment scale context to support restoration planning, in which areas of potential ecological productivity and diversity could be targeted for in-channel, floodplain and riparian restoration projects.

scholarly journals Creating a catchment perspective for river restoration

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 2929-2973 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Benda ◽  
D. Miller ◽  
J. Barquín
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Restoration ◽  
Valley Floor ◽  
River Channels ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
River Catchment ◽  
Restoration Planning ◽  
Fluvial Landscape ◽  
River Control ◽  
Geomorphic Processes

Abstract. One of the major challenges in river restoration is to identify the natural fluvial landscape in catchments with a long history of river control. Intensive land use on valley floors often predates the earliest remote sensing: levees, dikes, dams, and other structures alter valley-floor morphology, river channels and flow regimes. Consequently, morphological patterns indicative of the fluvial landscape including multiple channels, extensive floodplains, wetlands, and fluvial-riparian and tributary-confluence dynamics can be obscured, and information to develop appropriate and cost effective river restoration strategies can be unavailable. This is the case in the Pas River catchment in northern Spain (650 km2), in which land use and development have obscured the natural fluvial landscape in many parts of the basin. To address this issue we coupled general principles of hydro-geomorphic processes with computer tools to characterize the fluvial landscape. Using a 5-m digital elevation model, valley-floor surfaces were mapped according to elevation above the channel and proximity to key geomorphic processes. The predicted fluvial landscape is patchily distributed according to topography, valley morphology, river network structure, and fan and terrace landforms. The vast majority of the fluvial landscape in the main segments of the Pas River catchment is presently masked by human infrastructure, with only 15% not impacted by river control structures and development. The reconstructed fluvial landscape provides a catchment scale context to support restoration planning, in which areas of potential ecological productivity and diversity could be targeted for in-channel, floodplain and riparian restoration projects.

A method for applying fluvial geomorphology in support of catchment-scale river restoration planning

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 506-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Sear ◽  
Malcolm Newson ◽  
Christopher Hill ◽  
Jo Old ◽  
Julia Branson
Keyword(s):  
River Restoration ◽  
Fluvial Geomorphology ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Restoration Planning

scholarly journals Morphological, hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological changes and challenges in river restoration – the Thur River case study

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 2449-2462 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Schirmer ◽  
J. Luster ◽  
N. Linde ◽  
P. Perona ◽  
E. A. D. Mitchell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
River Restoration ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Morphological Variability ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Biogeochemical Processes ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
River Corridor

Abstract. River restoration can enhance river dynamics, environmental heterogeneity and biodiversity, but the underlying processes governing the dynamic changes need to be understood to ensure that restoration projects meet their goals, and adverse effects are prevented. In particular, we need to comprehend how hydromorphological variability quantitatively relates to ecosystem functioning and services, biodiversity as well as ground- and surface water quality in restored river corridors. This involves (i) physical processes and structural properties, determining erosion and sedimentation, as well as solute and heat transport behavior in surface water and within the subsurface; (ii) biogeochemical processes and characteristics, including the turnover of nutrients and natural water constituents; and (iii) ecological processes and indicators related to biodiversity and ecological functioning. All these aspects are interlinked, requiring an interdisciplinary investigation approach. Here, we present an overview of the recently completed RECORD (REstored CORridor Dynamics) project in which we combined physical, chemical, and biological observations with modeling at a restored river corridor of the perialpine Thur River in Switzerland. Our results show that river restoration, beyond inducing morphologic changes that reshape the river bed and banks, triggered complex spatial patterns of bank infiltration, and affected habitat type, biotic communities and biogeochemical processes. We adopted an interdisciplinary approach of monitoring the continuing changes due to restoration measures to address the following questions: How stable is the morphological variability established by restoration? Does morphological variability guarantee an improvement in biodiversity? How does morphological variability affect biogeochemical transformations in the river corridor? What are some potential adverse effects of river restoration? How is river restoration influenced by catchment-scale hydraulics and which feedbacks exist on the large scale? Beyond summarizing the major results of individual studies within the project, we show that these overarching questions could only be addressed in an interdisciplinary framework.

Hysteresis in Categorization: Fuzzy Logic Makes Fuzzy Boundaries

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Crawford ◽  
Justin Fine ◽  
Donald Homa
Keyword(s):  
Fuzzy Logic
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