R. Pepijn van Denderen, Ralph M. J. Schielen, Andries J. Paarlberg, Michiel Reneerkens, Denie C. M. Augustijn
{"title":"Analyzing natural bed‐level dynamics to mitigate the morphological impact of river interventions","authors":"R. Pepijn van Denderen, Ralph M. J. Schielen, Andries J. Paarlberg, Michiel Reneerkens, Denie C. M. Augustijn","doi":"10.1002/rra.4270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4270","url":null,"abstract":"Local river interventions, such as channel narrowing or side channels, are often necessary to maintain safety, ecology, or navigation. Such interventions have different effects on the river's bed morphology during periods of high‐ and low‐discharge events. Mapping the bed‐level variations for different discharge levels and understanding these effects can provide new opportunities for the design of interventions in multifunctional rivers. At any moment, the local bed level in a river is composed of bed‐level changes that occur at various spatial and temporal scales. These changes consist of bed aggradation/degradation trends on a large scale, on an intermediate scale bed‐level variations as a result of discharge fluctuations, and on small‐scale moving river bed forms like dunes. Using the river Waal in the Netherlands as a case study, we analyze the intermediate‐term bed‐level changes resulting from discharge fluctuations (dynamic component) and propose adaptations to the design of floodplain interventions such that possible negative impact on the local bed‐level changes is minimized. Time series of bed levels along two 10 km stretches of the case study are considered for a period of 16 years (2005–2020). Using a wavelet transform, we isolate bed‐level variations resulting from discharge events. These bed‐level variations are presented based on the magnitude of the discharge event and are compiled in an interactive atlas of river morphodynamics, allowing us to mitigate the impact of interventions. This will help river managers in the design of interventions and lead to improved management, operation, and maintenance of multifunctional rivers.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140146904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nora Lasinger, Elena Leutgöb, Helmut Habersack, Christine Sindelar
{"title":"Development of innovative groynes to establish fish passability of regulated rivers based on the example of the Wien River, Austria. Part I: Impact of groyne parameters on water depth and velocity","authors":"Nora Lasinger, Elena Leutgöb, Helmut Habersack, Christine Sindelar","doi":"10.1002/rra.4269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4269","url":null,"abstract":"Rivers in Europe have been heavily modified over the last 200 years, with a significant impact on their ecology and environment. This also applies to rivers like the Wien River, Austria, which are designed as overwide concrete channels for the benefit of flood protection. To achieve a good ecological potential in such heavily modified water bodies, one key element is fish passability. This requires an increase in the water level at low flow conditions and a reduction of the flow velocity. The aim of this study is to assess whether groynes are suitable for this application. A design study was conducted to examine the effect of individual groyne parameters on water depths and velocities. Physical experiments were carried out in a laboratory flume at a scale of 1:8. In addition, a 2D numerical model was used. It was found that the groynes had to be submerged and the alignment had to be repelling to achieve both requirements. The configuration of the groyne height, distance and degree of obstruction parameters were crucial. The groyne angle and shape had a minor effect and can be used for fine‐tuning. The best groyne design created a passable section for fish. Thereby, and through sedimentation, the best design contributed to an ecological improvement. However, it did not create habitats and did not constitute a fullfledged restoration. In general, submerged groynes can fulfil the hydraulic requirements for fish passage in heavily modified water bodies with a fixed bed.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140146899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomas C. Wagner, Romy Woellner, Veronika Kloska, Johannes Kollmann
{"title":"Biogeomorphological floodplain dynamics along a degradation gradient of an Alpine river","authors":"Thomas C. Wagner, Romy Woellner, Veronika Kloska, Johannes Kollmann","doi":"10.1002/rra.4267","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4267","url":null,"abstract":"Channel migration, furcation, and vegetation succession are characteristic processes of braided gravel rivers in Alpine regions. These are associated with a frequent turnover of large parts of the active floodplain. However, more than one century of river regulation has reduced or destroyed most of these ecosystem dynamics. More recently, there have been attempts to restore at least some sections of degraded rivers, while there is little monitoring of the biogeomorphological dynamics of such rivers. Thus, we did a four-year analysis of four representative sections of the upper River Isar in Southern Germany differing in their degree of naturalness. Dynamics of channels, gravel bars, and vegetation were recorded by drone images, and braiding and gravel indices were calculated. When comparing the near-natural, semi-natural, degraded or restored sections, there was a gradient of decreasing channel migration, gravel bank expansion, and bank erosion due to a reduced turnover frequency. Biogeomorphological variation among years correlated with log peak discharge within the four sections. In addition, the cover and height growth of vegetation increased with river degradation, and channel migration was positively related to the braiding index. The total turnover of the active river corridor and of the vegetation were positively correlated with log peak discharge within the four sections. The floodplain dynamics of the restored section were improved compared to the degraded section but did not reach a near-natural state. Thus, Alpine river sections with contrasting degrees of naturalness differ in terms of habitat turnover and vegetation succession, and these characteristics can only partially be restored by local measures.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140097209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mandy Sander, Arne J. Beermann, Dominik Buchner, Iris Madge Pimentel, James S. Sinclair, Martina Weiss, Peter Haase, Florian Leese
{"title":"Environmental DNA time series analysis of a temperate stream reveals distinct seasonal community and functional shifts","authors":"Mandy Sander, Arne J. Beermann, Dominik Buchner, Iris Madge Pimentel, James S. Sinclair, Martina Weiss, Peter Haase, Florian Leese","doi":"10.1002/rra.4265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4265","url":null,"abstract":"Environmental DNA (eDNA) extracted from water is routinely used in river biodiversity research, and via metabarcoding eDNA can provide comprehensive taxa lists with little effort and cost. However, eDNA-based species detection in streams and rivers may be influenced by sampling season and other key factors such as water temperature and discharge. Research linking these factors and also informing on the potential of eDNA metabarcoding to detect shifts in ecological signatures, such as species phenology and functional feeding groups across seasons, is missing. To address this gap, we collected water samples every 2 weeks for 15 months at a long-term ecological research (LTER) site and at three different positions in the river's cross section, specifically the water surface, riverbed, and riverbank. For these 102 samples, we analyzed macroinvertebrate species and molecular operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness and temporal community turnover across seasons based on cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) metabarcoding data. Using Generalized Additive Models, we found a significant influence of sampling season on species richness. Community turnover followed a cyclic pattern, reflecting the continuous change of the macroinvertebrate community throughout the year (“seasonal clock”). Although water temperature had no influence on the inferred species richness, higher discharge reduced the number of Annelida and Ephemeroptera species detectable with eDNA. Most macroinvertebrate taxa showed the highest species richness in spring, in particular merolimnic species with univoltine life cycles. Further, we detected an increase in the proportion of shredders in winter and parasites in summer. Our results show the usefulness of highly resolved eDNA metabarcoding time series data for ecological research and biodiversity monitoring in streams and rivers.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140075522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Scott M. Blankenship, Avery Scherer, Cheryl Dean, Kirsten Sellheim, Jamie Sweeney, Joseph Merz
{"title":"Applying parentage methods to detect gravel augmentation effects on juvenile Chinook Salmon recruitment rates","authors":"Scott M. Blankenship, Avery Scherer, Cheryl Dean, Kirsten Sellheim, Jamie Sweeney, Joseph Merz","doi":"10.1002/rra.4264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4264","url":null,"abstract":"Quantifiable measurement of habitat restoration effects on salmonid reproductive performance is limited, although it is necessary for evaluating whether population responses follow management actions. We investigated using close‐kin mark‐recapture methods to partition restoration effects within standard monitoring metrics of juvenile emigrants leaving the natal reach. This approach allowed for statistical comparison of relative juvenile capture rates (recruitment) from Chinook Salmon (<jats:italic>Oncorhynchus tshawytscha</jats:italic>) naturally reproducing in gravel augmented (restored) and nonaugmented (unrestored) reaches of a highly managed California River. Genetic parentage techniques linked adult females that had spawned in augmented and nonaugmented spawning habitats with juvenile Chinook Salmon sampled the following spring at a trap located below the natal spawning area. Successful recruitment was documented from both augmented and nonaugmented habitats, with no statistical difference between the two habitat types. The capture rate per adult female was low (0.19–0.24 juveniles/female) compared to rates observed in other systems. Within the juvenile collections, most females in the study had 0 or 1 offspring observed; however, one female that spawned in a restored habitat had 25 offspring recovered at the trap. We modeled juvenile capture rates in relation to a range of biological and environmental variables including spawning habitat site, spawning habitat treatment (augmented and nonaugmented), annual spawner abundance, year spawned, female fork length, spawning and hatch day, and flow maximum and variance. There was an inverse relationship between annual adult abundance (escapement obtained from carcass surveys) and recruitment (juvenile recoveries at trap), suggesting habitat limitation may be creating density‐dependent effects. Additionally, female body size was positively associated with recruitment, while spawning day and mean daily temperature were inversely associated with recruitment, suggesting that both biological and environmental factors independent of habitat influenced reproduction potential. This study provides evidence that habitat restoration could have an additive (incremental) positive effect on recruitment rate, informing hatchery management and restoration activities related to population recovery.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140056312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paul Q. Ramsey, John Dattilo, Dennis R. DeVries, Shannon K. Brewer
{"title":"Evaluating the context dependency of large river nursery habitats for fishes in the lower Red River catchment","authors":"Paul Q. Ramsey, John Dattilo, Dennis R. DeVries, Shannon K. Brewer","doi":"10.1002/rra.4259","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4259","url":null,"abstract":"Both fine‐ and coarse‐scale physicochemical conditions affect the quantity and quality of nursery habitats within riverine ecosystems. Nursery habitats in large, braided, and sandbed streams such as the lower Red River of Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas are not well described and likely vary among species. Identification of nursery habitats is important for developing proper conservation and management actions. We used an occupancy model framework to determine how hierarchical habitat factors related to the occupancy of 38 juvenile fish species. Our findings indicate that large river nursery habitats can generally be defined by reaches with off‐channel slackwater habitat, having deep pools but shallow thalweg depths, typically located further away from dams, and with low percentages of limestone lithology. Species within the same genera often exhibited variable relationships with river slope, amount of large woody debris, channel shape, discharge, and position of reaches within the stream network. Our results indicate important species‐specific relationships that define nursery habitats, indicating an important context dependency of nursery habitats even within fishes that are taxonomically similar. If the goal is to improve recruitment by native fishes, then consideration of the important species‐specific differences would be beneficial if improvements are made to nursery habitats. Moreover, careful consideration of the effects of dam operations will help maintain proper connectivity to off‐channel habitats important in downriver portions of the river network.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":"101 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140044694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Juvenile salmonid abundance in a diamictic semi-fluvial stream in Norway—does stream bed shelter beat large woody debris?","authors":"Joachim B. Bretzel, Ulrich Pulg, Juergen Geist","doi":"10.1002/rra.4263","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4263","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the effect of large woody debris (LWD) on the abundance of juvenile Atlantic salmon (<i>Salmo salar</i>, L.) and anadromous brown trout (<i>Salmo trutta</i>, L.) in semi-alluvial side channels of the river Aurlandselva (Norway) using point electrofishing and microhabitat mapping. Not the presence of LWD, but stream bed shelter availability and the distance to spawning grounds affected the fish abundance (fish/point), independent of other habitat components. LWD showed only an effect on fish abundance when in interaction with other habitat components. This discrepancy can be explained by the availability of cavities in the shelter-rich coarse substrate which provide sufficient cover and territory for juvenile fish at the given carrying capacity of river Aurlandselva. Whilst LWD may be most effective to provide shelter in lowland streams (bed slope <0.005), maintaining or restoring shelter-rich coarse substrates should be considered a key priority in steeper salmonid rivers and associated semi-fluvial streams.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140006693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Historical and contemporary drivers of knickpoint retreat and morphological evolution along Bayou Pierre, Mississippi","authors":"Loren W. Stearman, Franklin T. Heitmuller","doi":"10.1002/rra.4266","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4266","url":null,"abstract":"Channel incision in rivers can cause marked ecological and economic damages. This phenomenon is abundant and generally well documented along impacted streams in the loess hills adjacent to the Lower Mississippi River valley. Bayou Pierre, an ecologically important small tributary of the Mississippi River, is currently incising but causes are not well understood. In this study, we examine diverse data sources to: (1) reconstruct a history of erosional stimuli and possible origins and (2) examine effects of contemporary controls. Review of long‐term planform and land use data for the Mississippi River revealed episodic foreshortening events followed by episodic deforestation and reforestation. Hydrologic data suggest an increase in rainfall over the last few decades. Estimates of knickpoint retreat place origins prior to Mississippi River channel straightening (1929–1944). Planform analysis in three focal reaches of Bayou Pierre demonstrates slow change prior to 1982, but accelerated changes after those periods. Mean rainfall and 3‐day storm intensity correlate to some planform changes; however, the storm of 1983 may be a better explanation of sudden planform change. We found some evidence of potential internal feedback loops in patterns of bar growth. Together, our analyses provide a synthesis of stimuli experienced by Bayou Pierre over the last ~200 years and suggest both channel migration events before straightening of the Mississippi River and more recent hydrologic events have influenced patterns of geomorphic change in Bayou Pierre.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":"4 4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140006699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A novel Joint Probability Density Difference Approach for assessing the alteration of hydrologic regime","authors":"Sirui Zhong, Shenglian Guo, Yun Wang, Heyu Wang, Yuzuo Xie, Chong‐Yu Xu","doi":"10.1002/rra.4260","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4260","url":null,"abstract":"The construction and operation of upstream reservoirs have significantly altered downstream hydrologic regime. Appropriate and quantifiable assessment method for the alteration of hydrologic regime is considerably vital and emergent for ecological protection and restoration. The Range of Variability Approach (RVA) and modified RVA methods have been widely used in practice to assess the hydrological alteration. However, these methods have failed to concurrently describe the distribution of indicator and morphological features in detail, which might inevitably lead to the misjudgment of alteration. This paper proposes a Joint Probability Density Difference Approach (JPDDA) method to address the major drawbacks of these previous methods with the introduction of Gaussian Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) and copula function. The annual average flow is selected as the reference variable to construct a proper joint probability density function between itself and other hydrological alteration indicators. The JPDDA method could describe the marginal distribution in detail through Gaussian KDE and also link the morphological features with copula function. Along with pervious methods, the hydrological alterations at Yichang hydrological station, Yangtze River are estimated based on the measured flow from 1949 to 2022. It is shown that the hydrologic regime has suffered from a moderate or even heavy alteration under the influence of massive upstream cascade reservoirs, and the JPDDA outperforms the other methods in terms of rationality and stability for practical assessments. Thus, the proposed JPDDA method is strongly advised to handle the hydrological alteration and could provide a reasonable reference for ecological operation.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140006810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A new braiding index to assess river regulation effects in multi‐thread channels: Insights from a highly regulated Himalayan river","authors":"Kausik Ghosh, Tapan Chakraborty, Priyank Pravin Patel","doi":"10.1002/rra.4261","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4261","url":null,"abstract":"River regulation by dams and embankments drastically reduce/alter flow, which affects the natural channel pattern. Existing braiding indices have seldom incorporated the effects of diurnal flow variations caused by hydropeaking, leading to over/underestimation of the braiding intensity. These indices consider only the visible wet channels, ignoring the existence of dry channels that are activated only episodically during phases of water release from hydropower dams. We have extracted the dry channels (those that are periodically wet) coursing across the channel belt of the highly regulated River Tista from Landsat images between 1977 and 2014, using Normalized Difference Wetness Index values. These were combined with existing wet channel widths and numbers to formulate the Regulated Braiding Index (RBi) for characterizing channel braiding in the Tista's course over the Himalayan foothill plains. Overall, the widths and numbers of wet channels decreased by 63% and 25%, respectively, during the regulated years (2003 and 2014) as compared to pre‐dam years (1977 and 1995) due to the collective operation of 14 upstream dams/barrages (having cumulative ~89 million m<jats:sup>3</jats:sup> reservoir capacity), whose operations reduced the braiding intensity (eliciting lower RBi values). Further, the number of high braiding reaches decreased by half while low braiding stretches rose by 10% in comparison to the pre‐dam period due to reduced/regulated flow. Comparative analysis of derived RBi values with three existing braiding indices revealed that RBi values consistently decreased near barrages, bridges, and within embankment‐confined reaches, unlike the other indices, thus providing a better framework for assessing expected river regulation effects.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139949893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}