Two decades of meander belt morphodynamics: How important is woody vegetation and in-channel large wood?

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61988987%3A17310%2F25%3AA2603A2A" target="_blank" >RIV/61988987:17310/25:A2603A2A - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0341816224008701" target="_blank" >https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0341816224008701</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2024.108673" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.catena.2024.108673</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Two decades of meander belt morphodynamics: How important is woody vegetation and in-channel large wood?

Original language description

Meandering rivers represent a common planform morphology in terrestrial environments, and their morphological evolution is a central focus in fluvial geomorphology. Despite this, the combined effects of living and dead woody vegetation on the dynamics of meandering rivers remain insufficiently understood and warrant further investigation. In this study, we focused beyond meander geometry to include the presence of woody vegetation and in-channel large wood as predictors of lateral shifts of the meander bends. We examined a 4-km-long reach of the Odra River in Czechia with a preserved active meandering pattern but a mosaic floodplain composed of woody patches and managed meadows. Over a 22-year period, we studied 13 subsequent meanders using detailed orthophoto analysis and hydrological regime analysis. A large flood event with a 20-year recurrence interval occurred in 2010, and a smaller flood event with a 5-year recurrence interval occurred in 2020. We found a negative relationship between the tested erosional parameters (annual bank retreat and annual eroded area) and two meander-scale parameters: meander amplitude and the proportion of woody vegetation along the outer meander bank. However, statistical significance was confirmed only for the period 2000-2009, characterized by frequent high flows and, consequently, the highest expended geomorphic work of flows. Conversely, we found a negligible role of large wood in erosional processes over the entire studied period. Additionally, we demonstrated that over the last two decades, the studied reach has been following an evolutionary trajectory characterized by increasing meander amplitude, sinuosity, and the proportion of woody vegetation along the outer meander banks. We documented that the activity of erosional processes decreases with increasing amplitude and proportion of woody vegetation, suggesting a further deceleration of meander morphodynamics in the near future.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10508 - Physical geography

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA22-17474S" target="_blank" >GA22-17474S: Biogeomorphic interactions in meandering rivers across different spatiotemporal scales</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

CATENA

ISSN

0341-8162

e-ISSN

1872-6887

Volume of the periodical

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Issue of the periodical within the volume

February 2025

Country of publishing house

NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS

Number of pages

13

Pages from-to

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UT code for WoS article

001390437500001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85212081460