Does reintroducing large wood influence the hydraulic landscape of a lowland river system?

Matheson, Adrian; Thoms, Martín; Reid, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.03.035

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Our study results contrast those of previous studies that have shown that reintroducing large wood had positive influences on hydraulics when assessed at smaller scales (sites or individual pieces; Lehane et al, ; Lester & Wright, ; Shields, Knight, Morin, & Blank, ). However, this study reinforces the findings of a study by Matheson et al (in press), which showed little difference between managed and control reaches over a sequence of low flows. This lack of response in the low‐flow hydraulic landscape, at low flow, was as a result of reintroduced pieces of wood being smaller in size (<10 m in length), simple in character (single or double branching), and more clumped, both vertically within the channel and along the reach, than the naturally occurring pieces in the reference treatment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…In summary, the results of this study parallel that of Matheson et al (in press) who also showed no effect from the reintroduction of large wood at low flows, even after 53 months and seven high flow events, which mobilised sediment movement and potentially altered channel morphology. The results of our study of the potential influence of reintroduction large wood show that it did not result in a change to the hydraulic landscape to mimic those of the reference reaches over a large range of discharges.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…This current study builds on research by Matheson, Thoms, and Reid (in press) who showed that reintroduced large wood did not influence the hydraulic landscape over time at low flows. To further our understanding of the influence of reintroducing large wood on in‐channel hydraulic environments, this research investigates the character of reach‐scale hydraulic landscapes over multiple discharges in a series of reaches with different wood treatments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

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Does reintroducing large wood influence the hydraulic landscape of a lowland river at multiple discharges?

et al. 2017

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Large wood is a key structural and functional component of rivers, and it is reintroduced to provide physical habitat, encourage channel stability, and influence in‐channel hydraulic conditions at a range of scales. Typically, studies assessing the influence of reintroduced wood on in‐channel hydraulic character have been undertaken at relatively small scales—at a site. Relatively little is known about how reintroduced wood influences in‐channel hydraulic character at larger reach scales and over different discharges. In this study, the hydraulic character or hydraulic landscape of multiple reference (wooded), control (unwooded), and managed (wood reintroduced) reaches (average length = 430 m) at 10 different discharges in the Barwon‐Darling River, Australia, were analysed. Landscape scale hydraulic character was compared using spatial metrics describing the size, shape, and relative location of hydraulic patches in each reach. It was hypothesised that reintroducing wood would significantly influence hydraulic landscapes within the managed reaches, with those reaches becoming more similar to reference reaches. The reintroduction of wood into the Barwon‐Darling River did not significantly influence the hydraulic landscapes of the managed reaches; instead, they remained more similar to control reaches across discharges. Discharge did significantly influence the hydraulic landscape, with stepwise changes in the character of the hydraulic landscape in response to increasing discharge. The limited influence of reintroduced wood on the hydraulic landscapes is hypothesised to be because reintroduced wood did not match naturally occurring wood in terms of the character of individual pieces or their spatial distribution within the reach.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

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Does reintroducing large wood influence the hydraulic landscape of a lowland river at multiple discharges?

et al. 2017

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“…For example, at Bourke the number of days river levels take to undergo changes of 20 cm or greater have doubled (Thoms & Sheldon, 2000). There has also been some removal of large wood from the bankfull channel selected reaches (Matheson et al, 2017) in an effort to improve flow conveyance. Recent research by Matheson et al (2018) shows there is a minimal effect on aquatic community structure in these reaches.…”

Section: Water Resources Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem Responses to Water Resource Developments in a Large Dryland River

Thoms

2018

Water Resources Research

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Large floodplain rivers in dryland regions are becoming increasingly modified through water resource developments. Identifying ecosystem responses in these systems is challenging because of their natural variability, limited data, and the myriad of ways they are modified. This study used organic samples from snail, mussel, and fish specimens obtained from museum collections for the determination of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios, for the Barwon‐Darling River, Australia, between 1869 and 2005, a period of extensive water development. Three hypotheses were posed for this study: (1) The trophic status and food web character of the Barwon‐Darling River will change in response to water resource developments; (2) responses in the trophic status and food web character will differ between different hydrogeomorphic zones identified along the river; and (3) food chain lengths will increase in response to water resource developments. Substantive changes in trophic status and components of the food web were detected between before and after water developments. Three lines of evidence support the conclusion of anthropogenically driven changes in the food web of this dryland floodplain‐river system. Stable isotope ratios of fish, mussels, and snails differed between both hydrogeomorphic zones of the river and the before and after disturbance periods. Layman metrics, representing community niche space, differed between before and after disturbance periods. Also, both mean trophic position and food chain length differed between predisturbance and postdisturbance for the two functional process zones. The substantial shift in basal source contribution over time is a potential indicator of a state change and loss of resilience in this system.

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“…Although there is a general belief that wood restoration is ecologically beneficial (Roni, Beechie, Pess, & Hanson, 2014), it is unclear how much wood, or in what arrangement, is necessary to produce measurable benefits to fish habitat (Kail, Hering, Muhar, Gerhard, & Preis, 2007). In fact, some field measurements of velocity have failed to detect effects of added wood on river hydraulics (Matheson, Thoms, & Reid, 2017).…”

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confidence: 99%

Effects of an engineered log jam on spatial variability of the flow field across submergence depths

L'Hommedieu¹,

Tullos

Jones

2020

River Research & Apps

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Engineered log jams (ELJs) are commonly implemented in rivers to diversify fish habitat, but few studies have verified the hydraulic benefits of ELJs by assessing their effects on the spatial variability and turbulence structure of the flow field. This field and modelling study assessed the effects of an ELJ on various characteristics of the flow field with increasing submergence. A 2‐D hydrodynamic model was applied to simulate flow conditions of the Calapooia River, Oregon, with an ELJ installed at the upstream end of a meander. Output was analyzed using coherent flow structure identification, maps of turbulence measures, and wavelet analysis along linear transects. At the highest discharge (62% ELJ submergence), more and smaller coherent flow structures were identified than in the no ELJ model run, but the magnitudes of turbulence metrics were unaffected. At low flow (1% jam submergence), the presence of the ELJ did not affect the number of coherent flow structures identified and produced only small and localized effects on turbulence measures. Taken together, results indicate that the ELJ primarily affected the flow field by increasing the number of flow structures at higher discharges and submergence depths. However, these changes were small and local to the ELJ. The limited effects of this wood jam over limited spatial scales raise questions about the conditions under which such structures increase hydraulic diversity and highlight the need for more detailed understanding on spatial variability around habitat structures with complex shapes.

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Does reintroducing large wood influence the hydraulic landscape of a lowland river system?

Cited by 16 publications

References 56 publications

Does reintroducing large wood influence the hydraulic landscape of a lowland river at multiple discharges?

Does reintroducing large wood influence the hydraulic landscape of a lowland river at multiple discharges?

Ecosystem Responses to Water Resource Developments in a Large Dryland River

Effects of an engineered log jam on spatial variability of the flow field across submergence depths

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