Feedbacks between riparian vegetation and hydrogeomorphic processes in sand-bed rivers

Riparian vegetation communities co-evolve with hydrogeomorphic processes in dynamic river systems. Feedbacks between plants and channel morphology vary spatially and temporally but are especially strong when plants are small enough to be scoured or buried during floods but large enough to influence flow hydraulics and sediment transport within channels and on bars. This NSF-funded project (EAR-1024820) coupled laboratory flume experiments at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory at the University of Minnesota and UC Berkeley with field investigations on the Bill Williams River (AZ) in the Colorado Basin to quantify the effect of native (willow, cottonwood) versus non-native (Tamarisk) plants on flow and sediment transport, as well as the reciprocal ecological effects on plant removal via scour and burial. Through this work, we can better understand feedbacks at scales ranging from individual plants to channel reaches, with the goal of improving management of arid-land river systems.

Collaborators:

• Andrew Wilcox (Univ. of Montana)
• Anne Lightbody (Univ. of New Hampshire)
• Pat Shafroth (USGS)
• Leonard Sklar (California State University, San Francisco)

Related publications and presentations: (* indicates student contributors)

Bywater-Reyes, S., R.M. Diehl, A.C. Wilcox, J.C. Stella, and L. Kui. 2022. Green New Balance: interactions among riparian vegetation plant traits and morphodynamics in alluvial rivers. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 47:2410–2436. DOI: 10.1002/esp.5385

Stella, J.C., L. Kui, G.H. Golet, F. Poulsen. 2021. A dynamic riparian forest structure model for predicting large wood inputs to meandering rivers. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. DOI: 10.1002/esp.5229

Diehl, R.M., A.W. Wilcox and J.C. Stella. 2020. Evaluation of the integrated riparian ecosystem response to future flow regimes on semiarid rivers. Journal of Environmental Management DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111037

Lightbody, A., Kui, L.**, J.C. Stella, K.W. Skorko, S. Bywater-Reyes, A.C. Wilcox. 2019. Riparian vegetation and sediment supply regulate the morphodynamic flood response of an experimental stream to floods. Frontiers in Environmental Science (Freshwater Science section). DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2019.00040

Stella, J.C. and J. Bendix. 2018. Chapter 5: Multiple stressors in riparian ecosystems. In Multiple stressors in river ecosystems: status, impacts and prospects for the future (S. Sabater, A. Elosegi, R. Ludwig, Eds.). Elsevier, San Diego. ISBN: 9780128117132

Kui, L.**, J.C. Stella, P.B. Shafroth, P.K. House, A.C. Wilcox. 2017. The long-term legacy of geomorphic and riparian vegetation feedbacks on the dammed Bill Williams River, Arizona, USA. Ecohydrology DOI:10.1002/eco.1839

Diehl, R.M., A.C. Wilcox, J.C. Stella, L. Kui*, L. Sklar, A. Lightbody. 2016. Fluvial sediment supply and pioneer woody seedlings as a control on bar-surface topography. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. DOI:10.1002/esp.4017  [pdf]

Kui, L.* and J.C. Stella. 2016. Fluvial sediment burial increases mortality of riparian tree seedlings but induces compensatory growth response in survivors. Forest Ecology and Management, 366. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2016.02.001  [pdf]

Bywater-Reyes, S.*, A.C. Wilcox, J.C. Stella, and A.F. Lightbody. 2015. Flow and scour constraints on uprooting of pioneer woody seedlings, Water Resources Research, 51. DOI:10.1002/2014WR016641  [pdf]

Manners, R., A.C. Wilcox, L. Kui*, A. Lightbody, J.C. Stella, L. Sklar. 2015. When do plants modify fluvial processes? Plant-hydraulic interactions under variable flow and sediment supply rates. Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface. DOI:10.1002/2014JF003265  [pdf]

Kui, Li*, J.C. Stella, A. Lightbody, A.C. Wilcox. 2014. Ecogeomorphic feedbacks and flood loss of riparian tree seedlings in meandering channel experiments. Water Resources Research. 50, DOI: 10.1002/2014WR015719  [pdf]

Bendix, J., and J.C. Stella. 2013. Riparian Vegetation and the Fluvial Environment: A Biogeographic Perspective. In Treatise on Geomorphology 12: Ecogeomorphology (D. Butler and C. Hupp, Eds.). Elsevier, San Diego. DOI 10.1016/B978-0-12-374739-6.00322-5 [pdf]

Stella, J.C., P. Rodríguez-González, S. Dufour, J. Bendix. 2012. Riparian vegetation research in Mediterranean-climate regions: common patterns, ecological processes, and considerations for management. Hydrobiologia DOI:10.1007/s10750-012-1304-9 [pdf]
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