Water chemistry and effect of evapotranspiration on chemical sedimentation on the Mkuze River floodplain, South Africa

The Mkuze Wetland System, forming part of the iSimangaliso World Heritage Site, is South Africa’s largest freshwater wetland area and is known to act as a sink for naturally occurring solutes within the landscape. The chemistry of groundwater and porewater samples, collected from two transects on the Mkuze River floodplain, was investigated to identify processes involved in the control of solute concentrations. Results show that solutes in the groundwater become increasingly concentrated under the influence of evapotranspiration, resulting in the saturation, precipitation, and accumulation of less soluble compounds. Trends in porewater chemistry and calculated saturation indices support previously documented mineralogical and sediment geochemical investigations, with CaCO₃ and silica precipitation, and Fe-rich smectite neoformation identified as the major controls on solute concentration. The association of these mineral phases with zones of high salinity suggests that mineral precipitation is an active process on the floodplain which results in the progressive development of salinity, particularly in areas dominated by deep-rooted trees. Similarities between geochemical processes documented in the Okavango Delta (Botswana) and those identified in this study suggest that evapotranspiration-induced chemical sedimentation is an important process in southern African wetlands, which has the potential to influence vegetation distribution, hydrological flows, and local topography.     

Floodplain sedimentation in the Upper Mississippi Valley: Natural versus human accelerated

Understanding the time scales and pathways for response and recovery of rivers and floodplains to episodic changes in erosion and sedimentation has been a long standing issue in fluvial geomorphology. Floodplains are an important component of watershed systems because they affect downstream storage and delivery of overbank flood waters, and they also serve as sources and temporary sinks for sediments and toxic substances delivered by river systems. Here, ¹⁴C and ¹³⁷Cs isotopic dating methods are used along with ages of culturally related phenomena associated with mining and agriculture to determine rates of sedimentation and morphologic change for a reach of the upper Mississippi River and adjacent tributaries in southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois. The most important environmental change that influenced fluvial activity in this region during last 10,000 years involved the conversion of a late Holocene mosaic of prairie and forest to a landscape dominated by cropland and pastureland associated with Euro-American settlement. Results presented herein for the Upper Mississippi Valley (UMV) show that the shift from pre-agriculture, natural land cover to landscape dominance by agricultural land use of the last 175–200 years typically increased rates and magnitudes of floodplain sedimentation by at least an order of magnitude. Accelerated overbank flooding led to increased bank heights on tributary streams and, in turn, contributed to more frequent deep flows of high energy. These high energy flows subsequently promoted bank erosion and lateral channel migration, and the formation of a historical meander belt whose alluvial surface constitutes a new historical floodplain inset against the earlier historical floodplain. The new historical floodplain serves as a “flume-like” channel that provides efficient downstream transport of water and sediment associated with moderate and large magnitude floods. Floodplains on lower tributaries, however, continue to experience rates of overbank sedimentation that are of anomalously high magnitude given improved land cover and land conservation since about 1950. This lower valley anomaly is explained by minimal development of historical (agriculture period) meander belts because of relatively low stream power in these channel and floodplain reaches of relatively low gradient. In general, long-term pre-agriculture rates of vertical accretion between about 10,000 and 200 years ago averaged about 0.2 mm yr^− 1 in tributary watersheds smaller than about 700 km² and about 0.9 mm yr^− 1 on the floodplain of the upper Mississippi River where the contributing watershed area increases to about 170,000 km². On the other hand, rates of historical vertical accretion during the period of agricultural dominance of the last 200 years average between 2 and 20 mm yr^− 1, with short episodes of even higher rates during times of particularly poor land conservation practices. Significant hydrologic effects of mining and agricultural started by the 1820s and became widespread in the study region by the mid-19th century. The hydrologic and geomorphic influences of mining were relatively minor compared to those related to agriculture. High resolution dating of floodplain vertical accretion deposits shows that large floods have frequently provided major increments of sedimentation on floodplains of tributaries and the main valley upper Mississippi River. The relative importance of large floods as contributors to floodplain vertical accretion is noteworthy because global atmospheric circulation models indicate that the main channel upper Mississippi River should experience increased frequencies of extreme hydrologic events, including large floods, with anticipated continued global warming. Instrumental and stratigraphic records show that, coincident with global warming, a shift to more frequent large floods occurred since 1950 on the upper Mississippi River, and these floods generally contributed high magnitudes of floodplain sedimentation.     

Geomorphology and dynamics of the Mfolozi River floodplain, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The geomorphology and dynamics of the Mfolozi River floodplain and estuary, located in the subtropical region of northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, were considered with respect to existing models of avulsion and alluvial stratigraphy. The Mfolozi River floodplain may be divided into regions based on longitudinal slope and dominant geomorphic processes. Confinement of the Mfolozi River above the floodplain has led to the development of an alluvial fan at the floodplain head, characterized by a relatively high sedimentation rate and avulsion frequency, at a gradient of 0.10%. The lower floodplain is controlled by sea level, with an average gradient of 0.05%. Between the two lies an extremely flat region with an average gradient of 0.02%, which may be controlled by faulting of the underlying bedrock.Avulsion occurrences on the Mfolozi floodplain are linked to the two main zones of aggradation, the alluvial fan at the floodplain head, and toward the river mouth in the lower floodplain. On the alluvial fan, normal flow conditions result in scour from local steepening. During infrequent, large flood events, the channel becomes overwhelmed with sediment and stream flow, and avulses. The resulting avulsion is regional, and affects the location of the channel from the floodplain head to the river mouth. Deposits resulting from such avulsions contribute significantly to the total volume of sediment stored in the floodplain, and tend to persist for long periods after the avulsion. Contrastingly, on the lower floodplain, reaching of the avulsion threshold is not necessarily linked to large flood events, but rather to long-term aggradation on the channel that decreases the existing channels gradient while increasing its elevation above the surrounding floodplain. Resultant avulsions tend to be local and do not contribute significantly to the overall volume of floodplain alluvium.     

Late Quaternary dynamics of a South African floodplain wetland and the implications for assessing recent human impacts

Knowledge of the long-term geomorphological dynamics of wetlands is limited, so currently there is an inadequate scientific basis for assessing anthropogenically induced changes and for developing conservation, remediation, and/or sustainable management guidelines for these fragile ecosystems. Along the upper Klip River, eastern South Africa, geomorphological and sedimentological investigations, geochronology, and remote sensing have been used to establish the late Quaternary dynamics of some internationally important floodplain wetlands, thus providing a reference condition against which to assess the extent of recent human impacts. Optically stimulated luminescence dating reveals that the wetlands have developed over at least the last 30 ky as a result of slow meander migration (< 0.2 m y^− 1), irregular cutoff events, and infrequent avulsions (approximately one every 3–6 ky) that have occurred autogenically as a natural part of meander-belt development. Following European settlement in the Klip valley (late nineteenth century), however, modifications to local flora and fauna, as well as the initiation of local wetland drainage schemes, have had major impacts. In particular, proliferation of exotic willows and associated debris jams, and the artificial excavation of a 1.2-km-long channel section across the wetlands have initiated an ongoing avulsion that is characterised by failure (gradual abandonment) of the main channel and rapid incision of a headcutting channel. Compared to the pre-settlement condition, little change in lateral migration activity has occurred, but this avulsion provides a clear example of anthropogenically accelerated change, occurring only ~ 1 ky after the last natural avulsion and in a part of the wetlands where avulsions have not occurred previously. Subsequent human interventions have included installing weirs in an attempt to control the resulting erosion and promote reflooding, but ongoing maintenance has been required. In areas that were not glaciated during the Quaternary, many other floodplain wetlands may be of similar antiquity, but the Klip River illustrates their sensitivity to direct and indirect human impacts.     

Controls on overbank deposition in the Upper Mississippi River

Floodplains contain valuable stratigraphic records of past floods, but these records do not always represent flood magnitudes in a straightforward manner. The depositional record generally reflects the magnitude, frequency, and duration of floods, but is also subject to storm-scale hysteresis effects, flood sequencing effects, and decade-scale trends in sediment load. Many of these effects are evident in the recent stratigraphic record of overbank floods along the Upper Mississippi River (UMR), where the floodplain has been aggrading for several thousand years. On low-lying floodplain surfaces in Iowa and Wisconsin, ¹³⁷Cs profiles suggest average vertical accretion rates of about 10 mm/year since 1954. These rates are slightly less than rates that prevailed earlier in the 20th Century, when agricultural land disturbance was at a maximum, but they are still an order of magnitude greater than long-term average rates for the Holocene. As a result of soil conservation practices, accretion rates have decreased in recent decades despite an increase in the frequency of large floods.The stratigraphic record of the Upper Mississippi River floodplain is dominated by spring snowmelt events, because they are twice as frequent as rainfall floods, last almost twice as long, and are sometimes associated with very high sediment concentrations. The availability of sediment during floods is also influenced by a strong hysteresis effect. Peak sediment concentrations generally precede the peak discharges by 1–4 weeks, and concentrations are usually low (<50 mg/l) during the peak stages of most floods. The lag between peak concentration and peak discharge is especially large during spring floods, when much of the runoff is contributed by snowmelt in the far northern reaches of the valley.The great flood of 1993 on the Mississippi River focused attention on the geomorphic effectiveness and stratigraphic signature of large floods. At McGregor, where the peak discharge had a recurrence interval of 14 years, the flood was most notable for its long duration (168 days above 1600 m³s⁻¹), high sediment concentrations (three episodes >180 mg/l), and large suspended load (1.71 Mt). The flood of 2001, despite its greater magnitude (recurrence interval 70 years), was associated with relatively low sediment concentrations (<60 mg/l). The 1993 and 2001 floods each left 30–80 mm of silty fine sand on most low-lying floodplain surfaces, but the 2001 flood produced sandy levees near the channel while the 1993 flood did not. The stratigraphic signature of these recent floods is more closely related to the duration and total suspended load of the event than to the magnitude of the peak discharge.     

Nature rehabilitation by floodplain excavation: The hydraulic effect of 16 years of sedimentation and vegetation succession along the Waal River, NL

The “Ewijkse Plaat” is a floodplain along the Waal River, NL. In 1988, the floodplain was excavated as part of a program for enlargement of the discharge capacity and was assigned as a nature rehabilitation area. This paper describes the combined geomorphological and vegetation evolution of the floodplain until 16 years after the initial excavation using elevation data and data on vegetation structure derived from detailed aerial stereographic imagery. The impact of these processes on flow velocity and water surface elevation was evaluated by using a hydraulic model. Within 16 years, the excavated amount of sediment was redeposited in the area. The dominant geomorphological process after excavation was vertical accretion of the floodplain which resulted in the formation of natural levees. The amount of sedimentation was correlated to the across-floodplain flow (R² = 0.89). In the research period, 41% of the sedimentation took place during two single major flood events. The creation of pioneer stages by excavation promoted softwood forest establishment, which influenced the sedimentation pattern significantly. The landscape evolved toward structure-rich vegetation. Nine years after excavation the initial hydraulic gain was lost by the combined effect of sedimentation and vegetation succession. Implications for river and nature management are discussed.     

The late Quaternary evolution of the Negro River, Amazon, Brazil: Implications for island and floodplain formation in large anabranching tropical systems

The Rio Negro has responded significantly in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene to lagged environmental changes largely associated with activity during the last glacial in the Amazon basin. On the basis of geological structure, the Rio Negro can be divided into six distinct reaches that each reflects very marked differential processes and geomorphological styles. No deposits of the Upper Pleniglacial were recognized in the field. The oldest recognizable Late Pleistocene alluvial unit is the Upper Terrace of Middle Pleniglacial age (ca. 65–25 ka) (reach I), tentatively correlated with the oldest terrace identified on the left bank of reach III. At that time, the river was mainly an aggradational bed load system carrying abundant quartz sand, a product of more seasonal conditions in the upper catchment. The late glacial (14–10 ka) is represented by a lower finer-grained terrace along the upper basin (reach I), which was recognized in the Tiquié, Curicuriarí, and Vaupes rivers. At that time, the river carried abundant suspended load as a response to climatic changes associated with deglaciation.Since about 14 ka, the river has behaved as a progradational system, infilling in downstream series a sequence of structurally controlled sedimentary basins or ‘compartments,’ creating alluvial floodplains and associated anabranching channel systems. Reach II was the first to be filled, then reach III, both accumulating mainly sand. Fine deposits increase downstream in reach III and become predominant in some anabranch islands of the distal reach. The lowermost reaches of the Negro (V and VI) have been greatly affected by a rising base level and associated backwater effect from aggradation of the Amazon during late glacial and recent times. Reach V has acted almost entirely as a fine sediment trap. The remarkable Anavilhanas archipelago is the product of Holocene deposition in the upper part of this sedimentary basin; however, suspended sediment load declined about 1.5 ka, prior to the lower part of this basin becoming infilled.The progradational behavior of the Rio Negro, filling tectonic basins as successive sediment traps with sand in the upper basins and fines in the downstream ones, illustrates how a large river system responses to profound changes in Late Quaternary base level and sediment supply. The most stable equilibrium conditions have been achieved in the Holocene in reaches IIb and IIIa, where an anabranching channel and erosional–relictual island system relatively efficiently convey water and sediment downstream. Reaches IIIb and V never achieved equilibrium conditions during the Holocene, characterised as they are today with incomplete floodplains and open water.     

Rates of floodplain accretion in a tropical island river system impacted by cyclones and large floods

Fluvial processes, especially rates of floodplain accretion, are less well understood in the wet tropics than in other environments. In this study, the caesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) method was used to examine the recent historical sedimentation rate on the floodplain of the Wainimala River, in the basin of the Rewa River, the largest fluvial system in Fiji and the tropical South Pacific Islands. ¹³⁷Cs activity in the floodplain stratigraphy showed a well-defined profile, with a clear peak at 115 cm depth. Our measured accretion rate of 3.2 cm year⁻¹ over the last ca. 45 years exceeds rates recorded in humid regions elsewhere. This is explained by the high frequency of tropical cyclones near Fiji (40 since 1970) which can produce extreme rainfalls and large magnitude floods. Since the beginning of hydrological records, large overbank floods have occurred every 2 years on average at the study site. The biggest floods attained peak flows over 7000 m³ s⁻¹, or six times the bankfull discharge. Concentrations of suspended sediments are very high (max. 200–500 g l⁻¹), delivered mainly by channel bank erosion. In the future, climatic change in the tropical South Pacific region may be associated with greater tropical cyclone intensities, which will probably increase the size of floods in the Rewa Basin and rates of floodplain sedimentation.     

Assessing the need for evacuation assistance in the 100 year floodplain of South Florida

The main objective of this study is to assess evacuation assistance need in the 100 year floodplain of South Florida (Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties) by examining select population characteristics of the floodplain inhabitants. Dasymetric mapping is used to redistribute block group level census data to homogeneous inhabited zones of 30 m × 30 m. Because the 100 year floodplain does not correspond to block group boundaries, this data redistribution increases the resolution and accuracy of the floodplain population and their social characteristics. Data on poverty, age, vehicle ownership and mobile housing units are obtained for each 30 m × 30 m zone in the floodplain and is aggregated to the block group level. It is then used to assess evacuation assistance need (based on volume of need as well as concentration of need) for the floodplain in each block group. Results reveal variations in evacuation need across the floodplain. “Age” is the main driver of evacuation need along the coast. “Poverty” is a factor inland, in both urban and rural areas. “Lack of vehicle ownership” contributes to assistance need in coastal and inland urban areas, but not so much in rural areas. “Mobile housing” is a factor in rural areas. Miami-Dade County has higher volume and concentration of poor households lacking vehicular ownership. Palm Beach and Broward counties, on the other hand, have a more dominant presence of elderly and of mobile housing. These results have important implications for local and regional evacuation planning in the event of a 100 year flood.     

The influence of flood frequency, geomorphic setting and grazing on plant communities and plant biomass on a large dryland floodplain

Plant communities on semi-arid floodplains are ecologically important and support a diverse local and regional fauna and often pastoral economies. Water resource development may affect these communities and economies by decreasing water supply; determining the nature of these relationships is not straightforward because of the complex nature of plant responses to wetting and possible interactions with other drivers. We investigate the effects of reduced wetting on vegetation by examining spatial patterns in plant communities and above-ground herbaceous plant biomass across a flood frequency gradient, geomorphic settings and grazing exclosures. Community and biomass changes were also examined over time in relation to wetting events. The results demonstrate the importance of wetting on plant communities across timescales. At longer timescales, flood frequency influences community composition; at shorter timescales, wetting increase plant biomass and has a secondary influence on community composition. Plant biomass is also influenced in the short-term by grazing, but there is little influence of grazing on community composition. Soil nutrients do not vary systematically across the floodplain and have little influence on species distributions. We conclude that reduced water availability due to water resource development will result in reduced productivity in the short-term and community composition changes in the long-term.     

Empirical models for describing recent sedimentation rates in lakes distributed across broad spatial scales

Over the last 20 years there has been a surge of interest in paleolimnology and as a result a large accumulation of lake sedimentation records. This emerging archive has allowed us to develop empirical models to describe which variables explain significant variation in sedimentation rates over the past ∼150 years across large spatial scales. We hypothesized that latitude would be a significant explanatory variable of profundal zone lake sedimentation rates across a temperate to polar gradient. We further hypothesized that along a more longitudinally-constrained dataset (i.e. east coast of North America), latitude would explain a greater proportion of the variance. To test these hypotheses, we collated data from 125 natural, average-sized lakes (with surface area <500 km²) by recording authors’ estimates of sedimentation rates (measured as mm/year) or by digitizing recent sediment profiles and calculating sedimentation rates over the past ∼150 years. We found that, at both scales, latitude was the strongest predictor of lake sedimentation rates (full dataset: r ² = 0.28, P = 0.001, n = 125; east coast dataset: r ² = 0.58, P < 0.001, n = 43). By conducting a multiple linear regression analysis, we found that 70% of the variance in sedimentation rates from the east coast transect was explained by latitude and elevation alone. This latter model is of sufficient strength that it is a robust predictive tool. Given that climate and land-use strongly co-vary with latitude and that both of these factors have previously been shown to influence lake sedimentation rates, it appears that latitude is a surrogate measure for climate and land-use changes. We also show support for land-use as an important variable influencing sedimentation rates by demonstrating large increases in recent versus Holocene accumulation rates. These results indicate that it is possible to make generalizations about sedimentation rates across broad spatial scales with even limited geographic data.     

Spatially discontinuous modern sedimentation in Georgian Bay, Huron Basin, Great Lakes

High-resolution seismic reflection profile data show that the modern sediment cover (over the last 150 years) in Georgian Bay is thin and spatially discontinuous. Sediments rich in ragweed pollen, largely derived from siltation linked to land clearing and European settlement, form a thin, discontinuous veneer on the lakebed. Much of the lakebed consists of exposed sediments deposited during the late glacial or early postglacial. Accumulation rates of modern sediments range from < 0 mm/year (net erosion) to ∼3.2 mm/year, often within a few hundred metres spatially. These rates are much lower than those reported for the main basin of Lake Huron and the other Great Lakes, and are attributed to the low sediment supply. Only a few small rivers flow into Georgian Bay, and most of the basin is surrounded by bedrock of Precambrian gneiss and granite to the east, and Silurian dolostone, limestone and shale to the west. Thick deposits of Pleistocene drift, found on the Georgian Bay shoreline only between Meaford and Port Severn, are the main sediment source for the entire basin at present. Holocene to modern sediments are even absent from some deep basins of Georgian Bay. These findings have implications for the ultimate fate of anthropogenic contaminants in Georgian Bay. While microfossil assemblages in the ragweed-rich sediments record increased eutrophication over the last 150 years, most pollutants generated in the Georgian Bay catchment are not accumulating on the lakebed and are probably exported from the Bay.     

Local- and watershed-scale controls on the spatial variability of natural levee deposits in a large fine-grained floodplain: Lower Pánuco Basin, Mexico

This study examines spatial variations in natural levee deposits within the lower reaches of a large coastal plain drainage system. The Pánuco basin (98,227 km²) drains east-central Mexico, and is an excellent setting to examine the influence of watershed and local controls on the morphology and sedimentology of natural levees. Although many fluvial systems in the U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain have been investigated, the rivers in the Mexican Gulf Coastal Plain have received comparatively little attention. Lateral and downstream characteristics of natural levee morphology and sediment texture are considered within the context of meandering river floodplain deposits. Data sources include total-stations surveying, sediment samples of surficial levee deposits, topographic maps (1:50,000), and aerial photographs (1:40,000). The slope of natural levees average 0.0049 m/m, whereas the texture (D₈₄) of levee deposits averages 0.12 mm. Natural levee characteristics vary due to local- and watershed-scale controls. The lateral reduction in levee height displays a curvilinear pattern that coincides with an abrupt change in sediment texture. The downstream pattern of natural levee texture exhibits the influence of local-scale perturbations superimposed upon a larger watershed-scale trend. Disruption to the fining trend, either by tributary inputs of sediment or reworking of Tertiary valley deposits, is retained for a limited distance. The influence of the channel planform geometry on levee morphology is examined by consideration of the radius of curvature (R_c) of meander bends, and is inversely related to natural levee width. This suggests that the planform geometry of river channels exerts a control on the dispersal of flood sediments, and is responsible for considerable local variability in the floodplain topography. The average width of natural levees increases with drainage area, from an average of 747 m in the Moctezuma to an average of 894 m in the Pánuco. However, in the lower reaches of the Pánuco valley the width of natural levees rapidly decreases, which is associated with fining of the suspended sediment load. Thus, the reduction in natural levee width signifies an abrupt change in the directionality of cause–effect relationships at the watershed-scale. Findings from this study elucidate linkages between meandering river channels and floodplains for a large lowland alluvial valley.     

The influence of floodplain geohydrology on the distribution of Sarcocornia pillansii in the Olifants Estuary on the West Coast, South Africa

The distribution of Sarcocornia pillansii (Moss) A.J. Scott was determined by water-table depth and electrical conductivity (EC) of the groundwater. Where the groundwater was accessible (<1.5 m) and had a low EC (<80 mS cm⁻¹), S. pillansii extended its roots down to the water-table where a suitable water potential gradient was shown to exist between the soil and roots. In areas where the groundwater was too deep and/or hypersaline, the plants grew on hummocks. The unconfined aquifer below the floodplain is linked to the estuary and although diurnal tidal waves were dampened, water-table level fluctuations were recorded between tidal events. The complex geomorphology of the floodplain influences groundwater flow, in turn affecting the distribution of the salt marsh vegetation.     

Geomorphic characterization and diversity of the fluvial systems of the Gangetic Plains

The extensive Gangetic alluvial plains are drained by rivers which differ strongly in terms of hydrological and sediment transport characteristics. These differences are manifested in the geomorphic diversity of the plains. The Western Gangetic Plains (WGP) are marked by a degradational topography with incised channels and extensive badland development in some parts, while the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) are characterized by shallow, aggrading channels with frequent avulsions and extensive flooding. We interpret such geomorphic diversity in terms of differences in stream power and sediment supply from the catchment areas. The rivers draining the western plains are marked by higher stream power and lower sediment yield that result in degradation. In comparison, the rivers draining the eastern Gangetic Plains have lower stream power and higher sediment yield that result in aggradation. The variation of stream power, a function of channel slope and high sediment yield, is attributed to differences in rainfall and rate of uplift in the hinterland. It is suggested that such differences have resulted in a marked geomorphic diversity across the plains. It is also suggested that such diversity has existed for a fairly long time because of climatic and tectonic variance.     

Spatial and temporal variations in the grain-size characteristics of historical flood plain deposits, Blue River, Wisconsin, USA

This study examined vertical, lateral, and downstream variations in the grain-size characteristics of historical (post-1830) overbank deposits in a watershed that has experienced high rates of accelerated flood plain sedimentation. More than 800 samples were collected from 53 cores along nine flood plain transects. Overbank deposits exhibit a coarsening-upward sequence attributed to historical changes in the sand content of source materials. The erosion of loess-capped soils increased the exposure, erosion, and transport of sandy parent materials. The average sand content of near-channel cores increases moderately downstream along two of the reaches because sandy source materials are increasingly exposed in larger main valleys in the northern part of the watershed. The two northernmost reaches are coarser overall, but do not display significant downstream trends. The sand content of surface and early historical overbank deposits generally decreases laterally as an exponential function of distance from the channel, suggesting transport by turbulent diffusion. The presence of sand throughout the transects and lateral coarsening at two of the transects, however, suggests that sediment transport by convection is also important.     

An ecosystem approach for determining environmental water allocations in Australian dryland river systems: the role of geomorphology

The allocation of water for environmental purposes is a key management issue in many dryland regions. Many different methods have been developed for determining environmental water requirements but these are not directly applicable to dryland rivers because of inherent flow and habitat variability. An ecosystem approach for determining environmental water allocations in dryland regions is presented in this paper. This four-step process involves (1) a hierarchical characterisation of the river system, to assess what mesohabitats are present and where they are located; (2) the determination of flows that would inundate these habitats and perform other key ecological processes; (3) hydrological analyses in which the key hydrological signatures of the river are identified and the impact of water resource development on these is determined; and (4) the derivation of a water management decision tree that enables managers to allocate water to consumptive users during individual flood pulses (events). It is recommended that the flood pulse should be the focus for environmental flow management in dryland regions. If rivers are indeed nested hierarchies, then a change in hydrological behaviour at the scale of a flood pulse will, with time, extend throughout the hydrological hierarchy. Current environmental flow management strategies in dryland river systems are essentially focused at the flow regime and history scale; this is inappropriate given the inherent flow variability of these systems. The ecosystem approach is outlined for the Condamine-Balonne River, a large dryland system in Australia.     

基于MODIS/NDVI的新疆伊犁河谷植被变化

利用2000-2010年16 d合成的MODIS/[NDVI]数据,结合植被异常指数、趋势线分析和Hurst指数等分析方法,对新疆伊犁河谷植被覆盖的时空变化特征进行了分析。结果表明：（1） 伊犁河谷内植被覆盖随海拔增高而先增加后减小,最高植被覆盖区位于2 000～2 500 m的高程带;2000-2010年伊犁河谷各高程带内植被覆盖整体下降趋势明显,但海拔低于1 000 m的高程带除外。（2）受干湿环境影响,伊犁河谷全区平均被植异常指数最高值出现在降水最多的2002年,最低值出现在降水最少的2008年,但不同区域植被异常指数的变化存在较大差异。（3）伊犁河谷内植被覆盖增加和减小的区域分别占总面积的4.09%和19.34%,增加区域主要位于伊犁河两岸的平原区,减小区域主要位于乌孙山两端以及伊犁河谷周围海拔2 000 m左右的低山区域;变标度极差分析结果表明,伊犁河谷内植被覆盖年际变化呈现很强的持续性,未来一定时间内将保持现有变化趋势不变。