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Ben Pears - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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natural vs anthropogenic streams in europe history ecology and implications for restoration river rewilding and riverine ecosystem services
Earth-Science Reviews, 2018Co-Authors: Antony G Brown, Laurent Lespez, D A Sear, Jeanjacques Macaire, Peter Houben, Kazimierz Klimek, Richard E Brazier, Kristof Van Oost, Ben PearsAbstract:Abstract In Europe and North America the prevailing model of “natural” lowland streams is incised-meandering channels with silt-clay Floodplains, and this is the typical template for stream restoration. Using both published and new unpublished geological and historical data from Europe we critically review this model, show how it is inappropriate for the European context, and examine the implications for carbon sequestration and Riverine Ecosystem Services (RES) including river rewilding. This paper brings together for the first time, all the pertinent strands of evidence we now have on the long-term trajectories of floodplain system from sediment-based dating to sedaDNA. Floodplain chronostratigraphy shows that early Holocene streams were predominantly multi-channel (anabranching) systems, often choked with vegetation and relatively rarely single-channel actively meandering systems. Floodplains were either non-existent or limited to adjacent organic-filled palaeochannels, spring/valley mires and flushes. This applied to many, if not most, small to medium rivers but also major sections of the larger rivers such as the Thames, Seine, Rhone, Lower Rhine, Vistula and Danube. As shown by radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating during the mid-late Holocene c. 4–2 ka BP, overbank silt-clay deposition transformed European Floodplains, covering former wetlands and silting-up secondary channels. This was followed by direct intervention in the Medieval period incorporating weir and mill-based systems – part of a deep engagement with rivers and Floodplains which is even reflected in river and floodplain settlement place names. The final transformation was the “industrialisation of channels” through hard-engineering – part of the Anthropocene great acceleration. The primary causative factor in transforming pristine Floodplains was accelerated soil erosion caused by deforestation and arable farming, but with effective sediment delivery also reflecting climatic fluctuations. Later floodplain modifications built on these transformed floodplain topographies. So, unlike North America where channel-floodplain transformation was rapid, the transformation of European streams occurred over a much longer time-period with considerable spatial diversity regarding timing and kind of modification. This has had implications for the evolution of RES including reduced carbon sequestration over the past millennia. Due to the multi-faceted combination of catchment controls, ecological change and cultural legacy, it is impractical, if not impossible, to identify an originally natural condition and thus restore European rivers to their pre-transformation state (naturalisation). Nevertheless, attempts to restore to historical (pre-industrial) states allowing for natural floodplain processes can have both ecological and carbon offset benefits, as well as additional abiotic benefits such as flood attenuation and water quality improvements. This includes rewilding using beaver reintroduction which has overall positive benefits on river corridor ecology. New developments, particularly biomolecular methods offer the potential of unifying modern ecological monitoring with the reconstruction of past ecosystems and their trajectories. The sustainable restoration of rivers and Floodplains designed to maximise desirable RES and natural capital must be predicated on the awareness that Anthropocene rivers are still largely imprisoned in the banks of their history and this requires acceptance of an increased complexity for the achievement and maintenance of desirable restoration goals.
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natural vs anthropogenic streams in europe history ecology and implications for restoration river rewilding and riverine ecosystem services
Earth-Science Reviews, 2018Co-Authors: Antony G Brown, Laurent Lespez, D A Sear, Jeanjacques Macaire, Peter Houben, Kazimierz Klimek, Richard E Brazier, Kristof Van Oost, Ben PearsAbstract:Abstract In Europe and North America the prevailing model of “natural” lowland streams is incised-meandering channels with silt-clay Floodplains, and this is the typical template for stream restoration. Using both published and new unpublished geological and historical data from Europe we critically review this model, show how it is inappropriate for the European context, and examine the implications for carbon sequestration and Riverine Ecosystem Services (RES) including river rewilding. This paper brings together for the first time, all the pertinent strands of evidence we now have on the long-term trajectories of floodplain system from sediment-based dating to sedaDNA. Floodplain chronostratigraphy shows that early Holocene streams were predominantly multi-channel (anabranching) systems, often choked with vegetation and relatively rarely single-channel actively meandering systems. Floodplains were either non-existent or limited to adjacent organic-filled palaeochannels, spring/valley mires and flushes. This applied to many, if not most, small to medium rivers but also major sections of the larger rivers such as the Thames, Seine, Rhone, Lower Rhine, Vistula and Danube. As shown by radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating during the mid-late Holocene c. 4–2 ka BP, overbank silt-clay deposition transformed European Floodplains, covering former wetlands and silting-up secondary channels. This was followed by direct intervention in the Medieval period incorporating weir and mill-based systems – part of a deep engagement with rivers and Floodplains which is even reflected in river and floodplain settlement place names. The final transformation was the “industrialisation of channels” through hard-engineering – part of the Anthropocene great acceleration. The primary causative factor in transforming pristine Floodplains was accelerated soil erosion caused by deforestation and arable farming, but with effective sediment delivery also reflecting climatic fluctuations. Later floodplain modifications built on these transformed floodplain topographies. So, unlike North America where channel-floodplain transformation was rapid, the transformation of European streams occurred over a much longer time-period with considerable spatial diversity regarding timing and kind of modification. This has had implications for the evolution of RES including reduced carbon sequestration over the past millennia. Due to the multi-faceted combination of catchment controls, ecological change and cultural legacy, it is impractical, if not impossible, to identify an originally natural condition and thus restore European rivers to their pre-transformation state (naturalisation). Nevertheless, attempts to restore to historical (pre-industrial) states allowing for natural floodplain processes can have both ecological and carbon offset benefits, as well as additional abiotic benefits such as flood attenuation and water quality improvements. This includes rewilding using beaver reintroduction which has overall positive benefits on river corridor ecology. New developments, particularly biomolecular methods offer the potential of unifying modern ecological monitoring with the reconstruction of past ecosystems and their trajectories. The sustainable restoration of rivers and Floodplains designed to maximise desirable RES and natural capital must be predicated on the awareness that Anthropocene rivers are still largely imprisoned in the banks of their history and this requires acceptance of an increased complexity for the achievement and maintenance of desirable restoration goals.
Peter J Thorburn - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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salt balances in semi arid floodplain soils and consequences for riparian vegetation health
Water Down Under 94: Groundwater Papers; Preprints of Papers, 1994Co-Authors: Ian Jolly, G R Walker, Peter J ThorburnAbstract:Dieback of native Eucalyptus largiflorens forests is an increasing problem on the Floodplains of the lower River Murray, southern Australia. Salinisation of floodplain soils, as a result of the changed hydrological management of the River Murray, appears to be a primary cause of the dieback. Regulation of the River Murray has reduced the frequency of large flood events by a factor of approximately three and caused groundwater levels beneath Floodplains to rise. The higher water tables have resulted in increased discharge of the naturally saline groundwater in the Floodplains by evapotranspiration, while the decreased incidence of large floods has reduced floodwater recharge and hence leaching of salt from floodplain soils. These combined processes have lead to the disturbance of a natural salt 'balance' in the soil profile, leading to accumulation and resultant tree deaths. In this paper we present a model describing this 'balance' and make some progress toward it's verification using field data.
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salt accumulation in semi arid floodplain soils with implications for forest health
Journal of Hydrology, 1993Co-Authors: Ian Jolly, G R Walker, Peter J ThorburnAbstract:Dieback of native Eucalyptus largiflorens forests is an increasing problem on the Floodplains of the lower River Murray, southern Australia. Salinisation of floodplain soils, as a result of the changed hydrological management of the River Murray, appears to be a primary cause of the dieback. Regulation of the River Murray has reduced the frequency of large flood events by a factor of approximately three and caused groundwater levels beneath Floodplains to rise. The higher water tables have resulted in increased discharge of the naturally saline groundwater in the Floodplains by evapotranspiration, and the decreased incidence of large floods has reduced floodwater recharge and hence leaching of salt from floodplain soils. Use of soil physical properties for a range of floodplain soils, combined with measurements of groundwater discharge from bare and vegetated sites, suggests that the time-scale for complete soil salinisation can, at worst, be less than 20 years. Moreover, salt accumulation at most sites will continue to occur as the present flooding regime (of which there is limited scope for improvement) appears incapable of providing the leaching required to counteract accumulation. The analyses carried out here suggest that the 'critical' water table depth (below which groundwater discharge is balanced or exceeded by floodwater recharge) needs to be increased by 14 55% (the more clayey the soil, the larger the increase) to prevent salt accumulation. Failure to implement schemes which lower the water tables beneath the floodplain may, in the long term, cause serious damage to these important riparian forests.
Antony G Brown - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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natural vs anthropogenic streams in europe history ecology and implications for restoration river rewilding and riverine ecosystem services
Earth-Science Reviews, 2018Co-Authors: Antony G Brown, Laurent Lespez, D A Sear, Jeanjacques Macaire, Peter Houben, Kazimierz Klimek, Richard E Brazier, Kristof Van Oost, Ben PearsAbstract:Abstract In Europe and North America the prevailing model of “natural” lowland streams is incised-meandering channels with silt-clay Floodplains, and this is the typical template for stream restoration. Using both published and new unpublished geological and historical data from Europe we critically review this model, show how it is inappropriate for the European context, and examine the implications for carbon sequestration and Riverine Ecosystem Services (RES) including river rewilding. This paper brings together for the first time, all the pertinent strands of evidence we now have on the long-term trajectories of floodplain system from sediment-based dating to sedaDNA. Floodplain chronostratigraphy shows that early Holocene streams were predominantly multi-channel (anabranching) systems, often choked with vegetation and relatively rarely single-channel actively meandering systems. Floodplains were either non-existent or limited to adjacent organic-filled palaeochannels, spring/valley mires and flushes. This applied to many, if not most, small to medium rivers but also major sections of the larger rivers such as the Thames, Seine, Rhone, Lower Rhine, Vistula and Danube. As shown by radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating during the mid-late Holocene c. 4–2 ka BP, overbank silt-clay deposition transformed European Floodplains, covering former wetlands and silting-up secondary channels. This was followed by direct intervention in the Medieval period incorporating weir and mill-based systems – part of a deep engagement with rivers and Floodplains which is even reflected in river and floodplain settlement place names. The final transformation was the “industrialisation of channels” through hard-engineering – part of the Anthropocene great acceleration. The primary causative factor in transforming pristine Floodplains was accelerated soil erosion caused by deforestation and arable farming, but with effective sediment delivery also reflecting climatic fluctuations. Later floodplain modifications built on these transformed floodplain topographies. So, unlike North America where channel-floodplain transformation was rapid, the transformation of European streams occurred over a much longer time-period with considerable spatial diversity regarding timing and kind of modification. This has had implications for the evolution of RES including reduced carbon sequestration over the past millennia. Due to the multi-faceted combination of catchment controls, ecological change and cultural legacy, it is impractical, if not impossible, to identify an originally natural condition and thus restore European rivers to their pre-transformation state (naturalisation). Nevertheless, attempts to restore to historical (pre-industrial) states allowing for natural floodplain processes can have both ecological and carbon offset benefits, as well as additional abiotic benefits such as flood attenuation and water quality improvements. This includes rewilding using beaver reintroduction which has overall positive benefits on river corridor ecology. New developments, particularly biomolecular methods offer the potential of unifying modern ecological monitoring with the reconstruction of past ecosystems and their trajectories. The sustainable restoration of rivers and Floodplains designed to maximise desirable RES and natural capital must be predicated on the awareness that Anthropocene rivers are still largely imprisoned in the banks of their history and this requires acceptance of an increased complexity for the achievement and maintenance of desirable restoration goals.
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natural vs anthropogenic streams in europe history ecology and implications for restoration river rewilding and riverine ecosystem services
Earth-Science Reviews, 2018Co-Authors: Antony G Brown, Laurent Lespez, D A Sear, Jeanjacques Macaire, Peter Houben, Kazimierz Klimek, Richard E Brazier, Kristof Van Oost, Ben PearsAbstract:Abstract In Europe and North America the prevailing model of “natural” lowland streams is incised-meandering channels with silt-clay Floodplains, and this is the typical template for stream restoration. Using both published and new unpublished geological and historical data from Europe we critically review this model, show how it is inappropriate for the European context, and examine the implications for carbon sequestration and Riverine Ecosystem Services (RES) including river rewilding. This paper brings together for the first time, all the pertinent strands of evidence we now have on the long-term trajectories of floodplain system from sediment-based dating to sedaDNA. Floodplain chronostratigraphy shows that early Holocene streams were predominantly multi-channel (anabranching) systems, often choked with vegetation and relatively rarely single-channel actively meandering systems. Floodplains were either non-existent or limited to adjacent organic-filled palaeochannels, spring/valley mires and flushes. This applied to many, if not most, small to medium rivers but also major sections of the larger rivers such as the Thames, Seine, Rhone, Lower Rhine, Vistula and Danube. As shown by radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating during the mid-late Holocene c. 4–2 ka BP, overbank silt-clay deposition transformed European Floodplains, covering former wetlands and silting-up secondary channels. This was followed by direct intervention in the Medieval period incorporating weir and mill-based systems – part of a deep engagement with rivers and Floodplains which is even reflected in river and floodplain settlement place names. The final transformation was the “industrialisation of channels” through hard-engineering – part of the Anthropocene great acceleration. The primary causative factor in transforming pristine Floodplains was accelerated soil erosion caused by deforestation and arable farming, but with effective sediment delivery also reflecting climatic fluctuations. Later floodplain modifications built on these transformed floodplain topographies. So, unlike North America where channel-floodplain transformation was rapid, the transformation of European streams occurred over a much longer time-period with considerable spatial diversity regarding timing and kind of modification. This has had implications for the evolution of RES including reduced carbon sequestration over the past millennia. Due to the multi-faceted combination of catchment controls, ecological change and cultural legacy, it is impractical, if not impossible, to identify an originally natural condition and thus restore European rivers to their pre-transformation state (naturalisation). Nevertheless, attempts to restore to historical (pre-industrial) states allowing for natural floodplain processes can have both ecological and carbon offset benefits, as well as additional abiotic benefits such as flood attenuation and water quality improvements. This includes rewilding using beaver reintroduction which has overall positive benefits on river corridor ecology. New developments, particularly biomolecular methods offer the potential of unifying modern ecological monitoring with the reconstruction of past ecosystems and their trajectories. The sustainable restoration of rivers and Floodplains designed to maximise desirable RES and natural capital must be predicated on the awareness that Anthropocene rivers are still largely imprisoned in the banks of their history and this requires acceptance of an increased complexity for the achievement and maintenance of desirable restoration goals.
Ian Jolly - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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salt balances in semi arid floodplain soils and consequences for riparian vegetation health
Water Down Under 94: Groundwater Papers; Preprints of Papers, 1994Co-Authors: Ian Jolly, G R Walker, Peter J ThorburnAbstract:Dieback of native Eucalyptus largiflorens forests is an increasing problem on the Floodplains of the lower River Murray, southern Australia. Salinisation of floodplain soils, as a result of the changed hydrological management of the River Murray, appears to be a primary cause of the dieback. Regulation of the River Murray has reduced the frequency of large flood events by a factor of approximately three and caused groundwater levels beneath Floodplains to rise. The higher water tables have resulted in increased discharge of the naturally saline groundwater in the Floodplains by evapotranspiration, while the decreased incidence of large floods has reduced floodwater recharge and hence leaching of salt from floodplain soils. These combined processes have lead to the disturbance of a natural salt 'balance' in the soil profile, leading to accumulation and resultant tree deaths. In this paper we present a model describing this 'balance' and make some progress toward it's verification using field data.
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salt accumulation in semi arid floodplain soils with implications for forest health
Journal of Hydrology, 1993Co-Authors: Ian Jolly, G R Walker, Peter J ThorburnAbstract:Dieback of native Eucalyptus largiflorens forests is an increasing problem on the Floodplains of the lower River Murray, southern Australia. Salinisation of floodplain soils, as a result of the changed hydrological management of the River Murray, appears to be a primary cause of the dieback. Regulation of the River Murray has reduced the frequency of large flood events by a factor of approximately three and caused groundwater levels beneath Floodplains to rise. The higher water tables have resulted in increased discharge of the naturally saline groundwater in the Floodplains by evapotranspiration, and the decreased incidence of large floods has reduced floodwater recharge and hence leaching of salt from floodplain soils. Use of soil physical properties for a range of floodplain soils, combined with measurements of groundwater discharge from bare and vegetated sites, suggests that the time-scale for complete soil salinisation can, at worst, be less than 20 years. Moreover, salt accumulation at most sites will continue to occur as the present flooding regime (of which there is limited scope for improvement) appears incapable of providing the leaching required to counteract accumulation. The analyses carried out here suggest that the 'critical' water table depth (below which groundwater discharge is balanced or exceeded by floodwater recharge) needs to be increased by 14 55% (the more clayey the soil, the larger the increase) to prevent salt accumulation. Failure to implement schemes which lower the water tables beneath the floodplain may, in the long term, cause serious damage to these important riparian forests.
N. R. De Jager - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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An index of floodplain surface complexity
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2016Co-Authors: Murray W. Scown, Martin C. Thoms, N. R. De JagerAbstract:Abstract. Floodplain surface topography is an important component of floodplain ecosystems. It is the primary physical template upon which ecosystem processes are acted out, and complexity in this template can contribute to the high biodiversity and productivity of floodplain ecosystems. There has been a limited appreciation of floodplain surface complexity because of the traditional focus on temporal variability in Floodplains as well as limitations to quantifying spatial complexity. An index of floodplain surface complexity (FSC) is developed in this paper and applied to eight Floodplains from different geographic settings. The index is based on two key indicators of complexity, variability in surface geometry (VSG) and the spatial organisation of surface conditions (SPO), and was determined at three sampling scales. FSC, VSG, and SPO varied between the eight Floodplains and these differences depended upon sampling scale. Relationships between these measures of spatial complexity and seven geomorphological and hydrological drivers were investigated. There was a significant decline in all complexity measures with increasing floodplain width, which was explained by either a power, logarithmic, or exponential function. There was an initial rapid decline in surface complexity as floodplain width increased from 1.5 to 5 km, followed by little change in Floodplains wider than 10 km. VSG also increased significantly with increasing sediment yield. No significant relationships were determined between any of the four hydrological variables and floodplain surface complexity.
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An index of floodplain surface complexity
2015Co-Authors: Murray W. Scown, Martin C. Thoms, N. R. De JagerAbstract:Abstract. Floodplain surface topography is an important component of floodplain ecosystems. It is the primary physical template upon which ecosystem processes are acted out. There has been a limited appreciation of floodplain surface complexity because of the traditional focus on temporal variability in Floodplains as well as limitations to quantifying spatial complexity. An index of floodplain surface complexity (FSC) is developed in this paper and applied to eight Floodplains from different geographic settings. The index is based on the two key indicators of complexity; variability in surface geometry (VSG) and the spatial organization of surface conditions (SOC) and was determined at three sampling scales. Relationships between these measures of spatial complexity and environmental drivers, namely; flow variability (mean daily discharge [Q], the coefficient of variation of daily discharge [QCV], the coefficient of variation of mean annual discharge [QCVAnn], the coefficient of variation of maximum annual discharge [QCVMax]), sediment yield (SY), valley slope (Vs), and floodplain width (Fpw) were examined. FSC, VSG, and SOC varied between the eight Floodplains and this was dependent upon sampling scale. All complexity values declined with increasing Fpw in either a power, logarithmic, or exponential function. There was little change in surface complexity with floodplain widths greater than 10 km. VSG was significantly related to SY and no significant relationships were determined between any of the hydrological variables and floodplain surface complexity.
