Emerging geomorphic approaches to guide river management practices

Brierley, Gary; Hooke, Janet

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.08.019

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Effective river management programs seek to attain the best achievable state for a healthy and responsive river under prevailing and future conditions. Geomorphically informed river management practices incorporate flexibility and future variability in the design and implementation of management practices through articulation of open‐ended and dynamic goals (Downs and Gregory, ; Brierley and Hooke, ; Brierley and Fryirs, ). Such planning and design exercises recognize that what has gone before influences our capacity to manage and modify rivers, but altered boundary conditions and evolutionary trajectories constrain the best achievable state and functionality that can be attained under prevailing and likely future conditions.…”

Section: Using Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Connectivity as an emergent property of geomorphic systems

Wohl

Brierley

Cadol

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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272

195

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Connectivity describes the efficiency of material transfer between geomorphic system components such as hillslopes and rivers or longitudinal segments within a river network. Representations of geomorphic systems as networks should recognize that the compartments, links, and nodes exhibit connectivity at differing scales. The historical underpinnings of connectivity in geomorphology involve management of geomorphic systems and observations linking surface processes to landform dynamics. Current work in geomorphic connectivity emphasizes hydrological, sediment, or landscape connectivity. Signatures of connectivity can be detected using diverse indicators that vary from contemporary processes to stratigraphic records or a spatial metric such as sediment yield that encompasses geomorphic processes operating over diverse time and space scales. One approach to measuring connectivity is to determine the fundamental temporal and spatial scales for the phenomenon of interest and to make measurements at a sufficiently large multiple of the fundamental scales to capture reliably a representative sample. Another approach seeks to characterize how connectivity varies with scale, by applying the same metric over a wide range of scales or using statistical measures that characterize the frequency distributions of connectivity across scales. Identifying and measuring connectivity is useful in basic and applied geomorphic research and we explore the implications of connectivity for river management. Common themes and ideas that merit further research include; increased understanding of the importance of capturing landscape heterogeneity and connectivity patterns; the potential to use graph and network theory metrics in analyzing connectivity; the need to understand which metrics best represent the physical system and its connectivity pathways, and to apply these metrics to the validation of numerical models; and the need to recognize the importance of low levels of connectivity in some situations. We emphasize the value in evaluating boundaries between components of geomorphic systems as transition zones and examining the fluxes across them to understand landscape functioning. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Using Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Connectivity as an emergent property of geomorphic systems

Wohl

Brierley

Cadol

et al. 2018

Earth Surf Processes Landf

Self Cite

272

195

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“…For example, a collation of conclusions achieved from empirical studies of urban channel adjustment from a range of areas worldwide included 47 that made explicit management recommendations, thus providing the basis for a checklist protocol to aid decision making by river managers (Chin & Gregory, ). In addition to applications arising from specific channel adjustment investigations (e.g., Brierley & Hooke, ), research can relate to restoration requiring consideration of what is “natural,” for which Petts, Sparks, and Campbell () showed how design with nature has roots in Europe that are traceable to the mid‐19th century. The concept of what is natural and the perception of “naturalness” is an element of environmental management, pertinent to the “reference condition” of the EU Water Framework Directive (Newson, ; Reyjol et al, ; Wallin, Wiederholm, & Johnson, ) and to the “hydrological status” (e.g., De Girolamo, Lo Porto, Pappagallo, Tzoraki, & Gallart, ).…”

Section: Sequence Of Research Stagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human influence on the morphological adjustment of river channels: The evolution of pertinent concepts in river science

Gregory

2019

River Research & Apps

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Whereas 6 decades ago little attention was accorded to the influence of human activity on affecting river channel adjustment, great progress has been made subsequently, with many contributions published in River Research and Applications. Many concepts have been involved, and this paper considers how they have arisen and developed during a sequence of complementary research stages. The first stage during the 1970s and 1980s, including research by Geoff Petts, involved “recognition of change” and saw the emergence of two separate research strands focused on different timescales: over shorter timescales river channel adjustments affected by the impacts of dams and reservoirs, channelization, land use changes, and urban effects; over longer timescales investigations of river metamorphosis. The second “realization” stage involved significant advances in understanding by considering interaction between these two timescales, more detailed investigations of changing processes, a more holistic catchment‐based approach, and incorporation of ecological changes. These advances led into the third stage, “application” of results, stimulated by analysis of the effects of hard and soft engineering, development of international drivers such as the Water Framework Directive, and concern for what is “natural.” This paper evaluates this sequence of stages, the concepts that have emerged, the extent to which they are consistent and sustainable, and how they can provide the foundation for evaluation of channel adjustments. The effects of urbanization in Fountain Hills, Arizona, USA provide an illustration. Finally, the future requirement for adaptation of existing concepts and the possible development of new ones is briefly considered in the context of global environmental changes.

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“…Given the range of physiographic settings, project goals, and regional policies, many river assessment procedures have been developed since the 1970s by various government and consulting agencies as well as by the academic community, often with different geomorphic indictors and foci (Belletti et al, 2015; Papangelakis et al, 2023). With the mounting evidence that geomorphology is the foundation upon which ecological habitats are built (Brierley & Hooke, 2015; Downs & Kondolf, 2002) and considering that dynamic geomorphic processes in river management programs lead to better outcomes (Fuller et al, 2019; García et al, 2021; Wohl, Lane, & Wilcox, 2015), there has been an increasing incorporation of geomorphology into river assessment procedures (Belletti et al, 2015). Yet, there remains a lack of widespread and/or consistent characterization of important geomorphic forms and processes in existing river assessment procedures (Belletti et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring geomorphology in river assessment procedures 2: Recommendations for supporting river management goals

Papangelakis

Hassan

Luzi

et al. 2023

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Fluvial geomorphology, which describes the form and processes of rivers, is increasingly being incorporated into river assessment procedures. However, the complexity of geomorphic processes makes a single universal and standardized assessment protocol a challenging and possibly impractical task. In this paper, we present a set of recommendations for choosing appropriate river assessment procedures and measuring geomorphic indicators to effectively capture important geomorphic processes required to support river management goals. We outline steps for building a river assessment procedure based on an adaptive approach rather than a one‐size‐fits‐all approach, where the geomorphic indicators, spatial and temporal scale, and methodologies used are carefully chosen based on the goals of the management project; the assessment aims to support. Guidance for choosing the appropriate geomorphic indicators is based on their significance (usefulness in characterizing the system), ease of measurement, and temporal scale needs. We also present recommendations on measurement techniques for each indicator while highlighting recent technological and methodological advancements that help overcome resource challenges often faced in river assessment. Given the wealth of scientific and technological developments in the field of geomorphology, it is possible to improve how geomorphic form and function are measured and incorporated into river assessments that support watershed management goals.

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Emerging geomorphic approaches to guide river management practices

Cited by 16 publications

References 36 publications

Connectivity as an emergent property of geomorphic systems

Connectivity as an emergent property of geomorphic systems

Human influence on the morphological adjustment of river channels: The evolution of pertinent concepts in river science

Measuring geomorphology in river assessment procedures 2: Recommendations for supporting river management goals

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