Floods,drought, and seed mass of riparian plant species

Plant communities in dryland riparian ecosystems are influenced by flood disturbance and water availability. As global climate change alters stream flow regimes, there is increasing need to understand which traits allow plant species to persist under increased stress and disturbance. Small seed mass is part of a strategy that adapts for disturbance, but the role of seed mass as an adaptation for drought is less well documented. For dryland riparian plant communities, we asked, does seed mass vary with water availability and flood frequency? We compared community seed mass between sites that vary in flow permanence (longitudinal water gradient) and between hydrogeomorphic surfaces within sites (lateral gradients of moisture and disturbance). Using data from four rivers in Arizona, we contrasted seed mass between plant groups. We found community seed mass to be greater at sites with ephemeral than perennial flow, and to increase laterally from wet, frequently-flooded channel edges to dry, less disturbed terraces. Seed mass varied by moisture group (smallest for hydroriparian species) and by disturbance group (smallest for disturbance species), and showed a trend for being greater in introduced species. We conclude that small seed mass is independently associated with wet and disturbed conditions in dryland riparian ecosystems.     

Mid‐ and late‐Holocene climatic changes: a test of periodicity and solar forcing in proxy‐climate data from blanket peat bogs

A wide range of palaeoenvironmental evidence from the Holocene has suggested periodicities in the Earth's climate of 10s to 1000s of years. Identifying these millennial‐, century‐ and decadal periodicities, and their impacts, is critical in developing a fuller understanding of natural climate variability. Any solar‐induced climatic change needs to be distinguished from other causes of natural climate variability and from short‐term catastrophic events induced either by external or internal processes. Such events might themselves generate a periodicity, or in combination with other forcing factors they may contribute towards a periodicity (and so spuriously imply a universal and continuing periodicity in the climate record), or they may resonate with a solar‐induced periodicity. Here, evidence from peat records for periodicity in climate change over the mid to late Holocene is reviewed and this is followed by a test of the replicability of claimed periodicities using blanket peat data covering the past 2000 yr from four sites in the British Isles. Results suggest that the mires studied do go through phases of being responsive to periodic forcing factors, with ca. 200, ca. 80 and 60–50 yr wavelengths reflected in some data sets. However, the patterns shown are not consistent. This could be the result of local conditions at individual mires (human impact, sensitivity and vegetation succession) or of changes in the strength or nature of global forcing factors. Assessing a solar–mire link remains difficult because the century‐scale variations of the Sun show different intervals between solar minima, the durations of which are themselves unequal, and because the proxy‐climate data‐sets from peat profiles may themselves not be dated with sufficient precision and/or accuracy. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrochemical and water source variations across a floodplain mire,Insh Marshes,Scotland

Groundwater heads and chemical composition were measured at approximately two week intervals during the summer of 1993 along a 1 km transect across the Insh Marshes floodplain mire in Inverness-shire, Scotland. Groundwater heads were generally higher near the valley side slope, with lower pH values and greater dissolved organic carbon, A1 and C1 concentrations. In the centre of the transect, upward groundwater heads were identified and pH, conductivity and concentrations of base cations were much greater. Near the River Spey, pH and base cation concentrations decreased and A1 and C1 concentrations increased. Deep groundwater followed a similar spatial trend but was generally more base-rich than shallow groundwater. These variations reflect the influence of three major water sources with different chemical signatures. Runoff from the valley side slope increased dissolved organic carbon and A1 in the shallow groundwater, the upward flow of groundwater increased the pH and Ca concentration and inundation near the river decreased the base status and increased C1 and A1.     

Late Holocene development of a floodplain along a small meandering stream, northern Québec, Canada

This paper describes the activity of a small meandering stream and the development of its floodplain during the last 4600 years (calendar years BP) in the northern boreal zone of Québec. Three trenches were excavated across the floodplain's full width and permitted the interpretation of morphosedimentary units in relation to modern analogs. Chronological controls within trenches was provided by the dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating of buried tree trunks. From 4600 to 2900 cal. BP and from 1000 to 120 cal. BP, the channel migrated and constructed its floodplain at very slow rates, mostly because of low flow velocities, vegetated streambanks and the cohesive texture of marine sediments reworked by the channel. Vertical accretion rates were extremely variable on the floodplain, with high rates proximal to the modern channel and low rates over distal (also older) portions of the floodplain. Following a major channel shift (meander cut-off or avulsion) around 2900 cal. BP, channel migration appears to have been constrained to a narrow zone adjacent to the modern channel. Within this constrained zone, the migrating channel has reworked its own sediments leading to a marked unconformity between 2900–1000 cal. BP. It is thought that underlying marine sediments protrusions, and perhaps the forested banks, protected older alluvial sediments from being eroded during the last three millenniums. Our study shows that small boreal floodplains may contain, in a very small area, abundant and diversified archives of their evolution.     

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.     

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.     

Recent changes in heavy metal storage in flood-plain soils of the Lahn River,central Germany

Between 1995 and 2007, the concentrations of Pb and Zn in floodplain soils increased along a 60-km reach of the Lahn River, Germany, suggesting that the storage of some metals in the fluvial system is out of phase with recent declines in the release of metals to the environment. Re-sampling of surface soils to 5 cm along five transects perpendicular to the river indicated that the concentration of Pb increased between 1995 and 2007 along two transects and was statistically unchanged at the other three. The concentration of Zn increased at three of five transects and was statistically unchanged at two transects over the same time period. Between 1995 and 2007, concentrations of Cu were statistically equal along four of five transects and declined at the other transect. The increase in Pb and Zn was greater in a more rural than in a more urbanized reach of the Lahn River. Soil texture and organic matter content had virtually no impact on the concentration of metals. The increase in Pb concentration suggests a lag between the decline in Pb releases to the environment and its movement through the fluvial system. Increased Zn storage may result from the high solubility of the metal and the relative ease with which it moves through the environment. Environmental controls appear to have slowed Cu storage along the Lahn River, but are not yet reflected in Pb and Zn storage.     

Mapping small wetlands of Kenya and Tanzania using remote sensing techniques

Although wetlands in Tanzania and Kenya have great potentials for agricultural production and a multitude of uses, many of them are not even documented on official maps. Lack of official recognition has done little in preventing there over utilization. As the wetlands continue to play remarkable roles in the movement of people and terrestrial species in the region, it is important that they are monitored and properly managed. This study was undertaken in Usambara highlands and the Pangani floodplain in Tanzania, the Mount Kenya highlands and Laikipia floodplain in Kenya to map the different types of wetlands in terms of their size, density, spatial distribution and use patterns. Remote sensing techniques and field surveys were adopted, and 51 wetlands were identified in flood plains within the semi-arid and sub-humid lowlands, and inland valleys in the region. The detailed maps generated showed the intensity of wetland use, inland valleys being the most intensively used, and are useful in monitoring changes in wetlands for their effective management. The use of multispatial resolution imagery, combined with field survey and GIS produced satisfactory results for the delineation and mapping of small wetlands and their uses.     

Assessment of floodplain landuse and channel morphology within meandering reach of the Talar River in Iran using GIS and aerial photographs

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to investigate and monitor the landuse and morphological changes in the floodplain part of the Talar River, northern parts of Iran. In the present study, the aerial photographs have been used to produce landuse maps of the floodplain for three periods including 1968, 1994, and 2013. The quantitative analysis of the produced landuse maps showed that the floodplain has undergone substantial landuse changes. Moreover, the sediment bar and the beach area have been decreased about 97 and 90%, respectively, during the 45-year period. Substantial increases of 192 and 622% have been observed for orchards and residential areas, respectively. On the other hand, not only the forest and riparian vegetation were decreased but also the average width of river was decreased about 25.5 m. In addition, flow length of the study reach increased about 8 m. The RNCI was about ?0.7 m per year indicating sedimentation process. During the period of 1968–2013, Caspian Sea has retreated about 150 m and the delta of Talar River was changed. This study showed that morphological actions during first 26 years (1968–1994) were the stable and last 19 years had the change period, especially sedimentation (bar).