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Riparian Vegetation in River Functioning
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Riparian Vegetation in River Functioning

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2019) | Viewed by 19156

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marta González Del Tánago

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Guest Editor
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
Interests: riparian vegetation; fluvial geomorphology; hydromorphology; riparian systems; environmental assessment; river restoration
Dr. Simon Dufour

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Guest Editor
University of Rennes, France
Interests: riparian vegetation; fluvial landscape; riparian systems; environmental assessment; fluvial remote sensing analysis; river management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Riparian vegetation is an essential component of river systems and controls fluvial functioning (i.e. morphodynamics, nutrient fluxes, floods, etc.). Plants within river corridors reciprocally interact with fluvial processes, for example influencing hydraulic conditions and erosion, transport and deposition of sediments. Research on vegetation and fluvial processes has increased considerably in the last decades, recognizing the role of plants as river system engineers and the importance of riparian vegetation responses to many human disturbances leading river hydromorphological trajectories and ecological status. Considerable advances in spatial analysis, fluvial remote sensing and process-based modelling offer nowadays great opportunities for gaining knowledge  on river behaviour under natural and human-induced stressors. More recently, the increasing awareness of the importance of riparian and aquatic vegetation on the provision of ecosystem services by aquatic ecosystems has simultaneously reinforced the interest on river vegetation research from multiple perspectives.

This Special Issue aims to provide an up-dated collection of articles, where scientists, researchers and experts can submit their novel results and innovative approaches  dealing with the role of vegetation in river functioning (morphodynamics, water quality, flood management, etc.), riverine landscapes, river hydromorphological assessment and river management. It intends to include studies from different disciplines, since riverine plants taxonomy to riverine plants dynamic modelling; since vegetation as an essential component of fluvial hydromorphological and ecological assessments, having a major role as biological indicator of fluvial process, quality of river physical habitat and ecosystem services, to vegetation as a key component of remote sensing and spatial and temporal analysis of the landscape, or vegetation as a crucial management tool for river restoration and conservation.

Dr. Marta González del Tánago
Dr. Simon Dufour
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

  • Riparian vegetation
  • aquatic vegetation
  • hydromorphology
  • fluvial analysis
  • river environmental assessments
  • morphodynamic modelling
  • vegetation responses
  • riverine landscape
  • riparian ecosystem services
  • water quality
  • flood

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 1975 KiB  
Article
Modelling Climate Change’s Impact on the Hydrology of Natura 2000 Wetland Habitats in the Vistula and Odra River Basins in Poland
by Joanna O’Keeffe, Paweł Marcinkowski, Marta Utratna, Mikołaj Piniewski, Ignacy Kardel, Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz and Tomasz Okruszko
Water 2019, 11(10), 2191; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11102191 - 21 Oct 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3973
Abstract
Climate change is expected to affect the water cycle through changes in precipitation, river streamflow, and soil moisture dynamics, and therefore, present a threat to groundwater and surface water-fed wetland habitats and their biodiversity. This article examines the past trends and future impacts [...] Read more.
Climate change is expected to affect the water cycle through changes in precipitation, river streamflow, and soil moisture dynamics, and therefore, present a threat to groundwater and surface water-fed wetland habitats and their biodiversity. This article examines the past trends and future impacts of climate change on riparian, water-dependent habitats within the special areas of conservation (SAC) of the Natura 2000 network located within Odra and Vistula River basins in Poland. Hydrological modelling using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was driven by a set of nine EURO-CORDEX regional climate models under two greenhouse gas concentration trajectories. Changes in the duration of flooding and inundation events were used to assess climate change’s impact on surface water-fed wetland habitats. The groundwater-fed wetlands were evaluated on the basis of changes in soil water content. Information about the current conservation status, threats, and pressures that affect the habitats suggest that the wetlands might dry out. Increased precipitation projected for the future causing increased water supply to both surface water and groundwater-fed wetlands would lead to beneficial outcomes for habitats with good, average, or reduced conservation status. However, habitats with an excellent conservation status that are already in optimum condition could be negatively affected by climate change as increased soil water or duration of overbank flow would exceed their tolerance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Riparian Vegetation in River Functioning)
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15 pages, 1970 KiB  
Article
Changes in Vegetation and Geomorphological Condition 10 Years after Riparian Restoration
by William P. Higgisson, Paul O. Downey and Fiona J. Dyer
Water 2019, 11(6), 1252; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11061252 - 14 Jun 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3919
Abstract
Riparian restoration is an important objective for landscape managers seeking to redress the widespread degradation of riparian areas and the ecosystem services they provide. This study investigated the long-term outcomes of ‘one-off’ restoration activities undertaken in the Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment, NSW, Australia. The [...] Read more.
Riparian restoration is an important objective for landscape managers seeking to redress the widespread degradation of riparian areas and the ecosystem services they provide. This study investigated the long-term outcomes of ‘one-off’ restoration activities undertaken in the Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment, NSW, Australia. The objective of the restoration was to protect and enhance riparian vegetation and control erosion, and consequently reduce sediment and nutrient delivery into the Murrumbidgee River. To evaluate the outcomes 10 years after restoration, rapid riparian vegetation and geomorphological assessments were undertaken at 29 sites spanning the four different restoration methods used (at least five replicates per treatment), as well as at nine comparable untreated sites. We also trialed the use of aerial imagery to compare width of riparian canopy vegetation and projective foliage cover prior to restoration with that observed after 10 years. Aerial imagery demonstrated the width of riparian canopy vegetation and projective foliage cover increased in all restored sites, especially those with native plantings. The rapid assessment process indicated that 10 years after riparian restoration, the riparian vegetation was in a better condition at treated sites compared to untreated sites. Width of riparian canopy vegetation, native mid-storey cover, native canopy cover and seedling recruitment were significantly greater in treated sites compared to untreated sites. Geomorphological condition of treated sites was significantly better than untreated sites, demonstrating the importance of livestock exclusion to improve bank and channel condition. Our findings illustrate the value of ‘one-off’ restoration activities in achieving long-term benefits for riparian health. We have demonstrated that rapid assessments of the vegetation and geomorphological condition can be undertaken post-hoc to determine the long-term outcomes, especially when supported with analysis of historical aerial imagery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Riparian Vegetation in River Functioning)
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19 pages, 46530 KiB  
Article
Mapping Riparian Vegetation Functions Using 3D Bispectral LiDAR Data
by Marianne Laslier, Laurence Hubert-Moy and Simon Dufour
Water 2019, 11(3), 483; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030483 - 7 Mar 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5048
Abstract
Riparian zones experience many anthropic pressures and are the subject of European legislation to encourage their monitoring and management, to attenuate these pressures. Assessing the effectiveness of management practices requires producing indicators of ecological functions. Laser Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data can provide [...] Read more.
Riparian zones experience many anthropic pressures and are the subject of European legislation to encourage their monitoring and management, to attenuate these pressures. Assessing the effectiveness of management practices requires producing indicators of ecological functions. Laser Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data can provide valuable information to assess the ecological status of riparian zones. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of LiDAR point clouds to produce indicators of riparian zone status. We used 3D bispectral LiDAR data to produce several indicators of a riparian zone of a dammed river in Normandy (France). The indicators were produced either directly from the 3D point clouds (e.g., biomass overhanging the channel, variation in canopy height) or indirectly, by applying the Random Forest classification algorithm to the point clouds. Results highlight the potential of 3D LiDAR point clouds to produce indicators with sufficient accuracy (ca. 80% for the number of trunks and 68% for species composition). Our results also reveal advantages of using metrics related to the internal structure of trees, such as penetration indexes. However, intensity metrics calculated using bispectral properties of LiDAR did not improve the quality of classifications. Longitudinal analysis of the indicators revealed a difference in attributes between the reservoir and areas downstream from it. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Riparian Vegetation in River Functioning)
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16 pages, 8600 KiB  
Article
Model-Based Analysis of Macrophytes Role in the Flow Distribution in the Anastomosing River System
by Paweł Marcinkowski, Adam Kiczko and Tomasz Okruszko
Water 2018, 10(7), 953; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10070953 - 18 Jul 2018
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4894
Abstract
The impact of vegetation on the hydrology and geomorphology of aquatic ecosystems has been studied intensively in recent years. Numerous hydraulic models developed to date help to understand and quantitatively assess the influence of in-stream macrophytes on a channel’s hydraulic conditions. However, special [...] Read more.
The impact of vegetation on the hydrology and geomorphology of aquatic ecosystems has been studied intensively in recent years. Numerous hydraulic models developed to date help to understand and quantitatively assess the influence of in-stream macrophytes on a channel’s hydraulic conditions. However, special focus is placed on single-thread rivers, leaving anastomosing rivers practically uninvestigated. To fill this gap, the objective of this study was to investigate the impact of vegetation on flow distribution in a complex anastomosing river system situated in northeastern Poland. The newly designed, one-dimensional, steady-flow model, dedicated for anastomosing rivers used in this study indicated high influence of vegetation on water flow distribution during the whole year in general, but—as expected—significantly higher in the summer season. Simulations of in-stream vegetation removal in selected channels reflected in Manning’s coefficient alterations caused relatively high discharge transitions during the growing season. This proved the significance of feedback between process of plants growth and distribution of flow in anabranches. The results are unique and relevant and could be successfully considered for the protection of semi-natural anabranching rivers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Riparian Vegetation in River Functioning)
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