Rapid geomorphic adjustment to anthropogenic vegetation removal and meander cutoffs: Evidence from a lowland meandering river

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61988987%3A17310%2F25%3AA2603D2L" target="_blank" >RIV/61988987:17310/25:A2603D2L - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0048969725019631" target="_blank" >https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0048969725019631</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180323" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180323</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Rapid geomorphic adjustment to anthropogenic vegetation removal and meander cutoffs: Evidence from a lowland meandering river

Original language description

Human interventions, such as vegetation removal and engineering structures, can significantly alter river dynamics, often increasing erosion and flood risk. While many studies have examined the role of vegetation, flood regimes, and channel geometry in river morphodynamics, long-term, reach-scale analyses of channel response to abrupt riparian vegetation removal remain scarce. This study examines channel changes in the meandering Orljava River, Croatia, over the past 55 years, focusing on its response to floods before and after anthropogenic removal of riparian vegetation in 2011. Channel morphometric parameters were measured using aerial images, orthophotos, and topographic maps. To assess factors influencing lateral migration rates, data on flood magnitude, duration, riparian vegetation, and channel geometry were analysed using linear mixed models. The results showed a fourfold increase in migration rates and a 40 % increase in channel width after vegetation removal. Statistical analysis revealed that migration rates were negatively related to riparian vegetation cover and positively related to the duration of geomorphically effective discharges, channel slope, and width. The most geomorphically dynamic sections were located downstream of mill weirs and artificial meander cutoffs, which locally modify channel slope and increase stream power. These findings suggest that human interventions have been the primary drivers of intense bank erosion, channel migration, and agricultural land loss. To mitigate lateral erosion and flood risks in actively meandering rivers like the Orljava, restoring riparian vegetation is crucial for stabilizing riverbanks. Additionally, preserving natural sinuosity can enhance geomorphological diversity and improve channel stability by reducing slope and stream power.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_SC - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the SCOPUS database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10508 - Physical geography

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

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

Name of the periodical

Science of The Total Environment

ISSN

0048-9697

e-ISSN

1879-1026

Volume of the periodical

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Issue of the periodical within the volume

15 October 2025

Country of publishing house

NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS

Number of pages

15

Pages from-to

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UT code for WoS article

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EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105014726836