Spatial variation of the vegetative roughness in Mediterranean torrential streams affected by check dams |
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Authors: | Carmelo Conesa-García José Luis Sánchez-Tudela Pedro Pérez-Cutillas Francisco Martínez-Capel |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Physical Geography, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain;2. Soil and Water Conservation Research Group, Centre for Applied Soil Science and Biology of the Segura (CEBAS), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Murcia, Spain;3. Institut d’Investigació per a la Gestió Integrada de Zones Costaneres (IGIC), Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Gandia, Spain |
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Abstract: | This study focuses on the spatial variations in vegetative roughness associated with morphological channel adjustments due to the presence of check dams in Mediterranean torrential streams. Manning’s n values were estimated using methods established by previous studies of submerged and non-submerged vegetation in laboratory flume experiments and field work. The results showed a linear decrease in shrub density and rate of variation of the roughness coefficient versus degree of submergence with increasing distance upstream from the check dam, while downstream, the filling of the check dam and the bed incision had the most influence. A regression analysis was applied by fitting the data to different models: relationships between Manning’s n and the flow velocity were found to be of the power type for shrubs in all upstream sections, while relationships of flow velocity versus hydraulic radius in the sections closest to check dams showed a good fit to second-order polynomial equations. |
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Keywords: | hydraulic resistance vegetative roughness Mediterranean torrential streams check dams southeastern Iberian Peninsula |
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