Implications of biological and physical diversity for resilience and resistance patterns within Highly Dynamic River Systems |
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Authors: | Eric Tabacchi Johannes Steiger Dov Corenblit Michael T Monaghan Anne-Marie Planty-Tabacchi |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Geography, King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS |
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Abstract: | The structure and function of alluvial Highly Dynamic River Systems (HDRS) are driven by highly variable hydrological disturbance
regimes, and alternate between resistant, metastable states and resilient, transitional states. These are in turn subject
to influences of feedback loops within hydrogeomorphic and biological processes. Here we consider how resistance and resilience
largely determine HDRS ecosystem trajectories and how these characteristics can be modified by natural and anthropogenic processes.
We review the mechanisms by which biodiversity can affect both resistance and resilience and introduce a conceptual framework
that incorporates some unique HDRS characteristics. We suggest that resilient and resistant patterns frequently coexist in
the active tract of these river systems, and that this coexistance promotes the return of metastable states after major disturbances.
In contrast, highly resistant and poorly resilient patterns dominate at their external boundaries. The loss of these natural
dynamics resulting from direct and indirect human impacts causes deviations to resistance and resilience patterns and therefore
to HDRS trajectory. We propose that understanding the role of interactions between biological and physical processes that
control resistance and resilience is crucial for system restoration and management. |
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