Beaver herbivory and its effect on cottonwood trees: influence of flooding along matched regulated and unregulated rivers

We compared beaver (Castor canadensis) foraging patterns on Fremont cottonwood (Populus deltoides subsp. wislizenii) saplings and the probability of saplings being cut on a 10 km reach of the flow‐regulated Green River and a 8.6 km reach of the free‐flowing Yampa River in northwestern Colorado. We measured the abundance and density of cottonwood on each reach and followed the fates of individually marked saplings in three patches of cottonwood on the Yampa River and two patches on the Green River. Two natural floods on the Yampa River and one controlled flood on the Green River between May 1998 and November 1999 allowed us to assess the effect of flooding on beaver herbivory. Independent of beaver herbivory, flow regulation on the Green River has caused a decrease in number of cottonwood patches per kilometre of river, area of patches per kilometre, and average stem density within cottonwood patches. The number of saplings cut per beaver colony was three times lower on the Green River than on the Yampa River but the probability of a sapling being cut by a beaver was still higher on the Green River because of lower sapling density there. Controlled flooding appeared to increase the rate of foraging on the Green River by inundating patches of cottonwood, which enhanced access by beaver. Our results suggest regulation can magnify the impact of beaver on cottonwood through interrelated effects on plant spatial distribution and cottonwood density, with the result that beaver herbivory will need to be considered in plans to enhance cottonwood populations along regulated rivers. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A physical habitat model for predicting the effects of flow fluctuations in nursery habitats of the endangered Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius)

Larval and juvenile Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius) use shallow, low‐velocity, channel‐margin areas (backwaters) as nursery habitats. It is hypothesized that within‐day flow fluctuations caused by hydropower operations can directly affect the suitability of such habitats by altering water temperature and habitat geometry. Despite the importance of backwaters to juvenile fishes, there is a lack of established approaches for modelling how river management affects these habitats. Here, we describe a physical habitat model that predicts the effects of mainstem flow variation on backwater temperature, geometry and invertebrate availability. We specifically modelled these effects on habitat in a portion of the Green River in Utah below Flaming Gorge Dam. The overall model combines a cell‐based model of backwater geometry, a pond‐based temperature model and a model of invertebrate production. Results from a series of simulations suggest that the most important biological effects of within‐day flow fluctuations are likely to be those associated with the availability of invertebrate prey including (1) minimum wetted area, (2) the proportion of the backwater's volume exchanged with the mainstem, and, to a lesser degree, (3) backwater temperature. Taken together, such effects could have important implications for the growth and survival of juvenile fish when flow fluctuations are sufficiently large. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal and Spatial Variation in Riparian Vegetation and Floodplain Aquifers on the Regulated Dolores River,Southwest Colorado,USA

The importance of flow variability and floodplain water table recharge for the establishment and long‐term survival of riparian vegetation has been well‐documented. However, temporal and spatial variation in floodplain aquifers has received less attention, although native species can have narrow tolerances for groundwater decline. Our observations of decreased cottonwood cover on floodplains and increased willow cover on river banks since dam completion on the Dolores River led to comparisons between three long‐term study sites above and below McPhee Dam. We summarize 5 years (2010–2014) of shallow groundwater well data from transects of three wells per site. Vegetation cover data were collected from quadrats and line‐intercept transects. In the willow zone, groundwater well levels mirror in‐channel flows and rarely drop below 0.6 m from ground surface. Willow cover and stem counts on point bars are higher at dammed sites. Wells in the cottonwood zone indicate that alluvial recharge happens only during prolonged peak discharge during spring snowmelt or dam release. Years with no dam spill reduced connectivity between surface flows and groundwater, and groundwater depth dropped to between 2 and >2.5 m. Long‐term data below the dam indicate that canopy cover of the dominant cottonwoods has declined over time (48% in 1995, 19% in 2003), especially in the wake of severe drought. Mature cottonwood cover is significantly higher at the undammed site (p = 0.025). Our results indicate that floodplain habitats below dams exist under artificially extreme drought and inform how biologically diverse riparian systems will be impacted by a drying climate. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

不同整治工程条件下赣江尾闾河网水流特性试验研究

赣江尾闾为冲积性多级分汊型河道,分为西河、东河。西河在裘家洲头,分西支和北支;东河在杨子洲头,分中支和南支。近年来人类各类活动使得赣江尾闾水文情势发生根本变化,对下游水资源利用、水生态环境等带来一系列影响。为了研究赣江尾闾综合整治工程对河段水流特性的影响,采用物理模型试验,重点分析了赣江尾闾河道在不同整治方案下的洪水位、分流比、流速分布等对河网河势的影响。试验结果表明:赣江尾闾北支控堵整治方案对各支沿程洪水位、分流比、流速分布影响较大;而南支疏浚、四支建闸的影响较小,南支疏浚后对工程河段内流速分布的影响主要在于主流线向左岸偏移,而对断面最大流速的影响较小。试验成果对优化整治工程方案具有重要参考作用。     

Impact of the channelization‐induced incision of the Skawa and Wisłoka Rivers,southern Poland,on the conditions of overbank deposition

The impact of river incision in response to channelization on the conditions of overbank deposition is shown by the study of two montane rivers from the upper Vistula drainage basin, southern Poland. The Wisl/oka River had insufficient energy to destroy the river‐control structures and remained laterally stable in the course of the channel downcutting. Under such conditions, the incision has raised the relative elevation of the floodplain above the river bed, thereby reducing considerably the frequency of overbank flows, and increasing concentration of suspended sediment transport within the incised channel. On the high‐energy Skawa, the long periods of incision of the channelized river alternated with the shorter periods of lateral channel migration over the twentieth century. This has led to the formation of an incised meander belt, within which flood flows are constricted, and where the high velocities of the floodplain flows inhibit overbank deposition. Field observations confirm an insignificant role played nowadays by floodplain sedimentation in the valleys of both rivers. This study shows that the potential of the floodplains of the Carpathian tributaries to the Vistula for sediment storage has been dramatically reduced over the few past decades as a result of the channelization‐induced incision of the rivers. The frequency of overbank flows has decreased considerably on the rivers draining the eastern part of the Polish Carpathians, and the majority of the suspended sediment is routed within the resultant enlarged channels. In the western part of the mountains, high velocities of the floodplain flows restrict overbank deposition on the narrow floodplains developed along incised channels. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

黄河口水沙变异与调控II--黄河口治理方向与措施

1986年以来，黄河口的来水来沙条件发生了显著的变化。本文在对黄河口水沙变异特征、影响黄河口来水来沙的因素及水沙变异造成河口演变新特点等方面进行深入研究的基础上，提出了对黄河口治理的新认识和新时期黄河口治理的方向。分析了稳定黄河口流路的思路与方案，采用数学模型对清水沟流路使用年限及长期稳定清水沟流路方案进行了研究，认为长期使用清水沟流路(3汊或4汊)是可能的，把钓口河流路作为长远的备用流路和分洪道也是必要的。     

Biogeomorphic characterization of floodplain forest change in response to reduced flows along the Apalachicola River,Florida

The Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint (ACF) River basin is an important ecological and economic component of a three‐state region (Florida, Alabama and Georgia) in the southeastern U.S. Along the Apalachicola River in northwest Florida, the duration of floodplain inundation has decreased as a result of declining river levels. Spring and summer flows have diminished in volume because of water use, storage and evaporation in reservoirs, and other anthropogenic and climatic changes in the basin upstream. Channel erosion from dam construction and navigation improvements also caused river levels to decline in an earlier period. In this paper, we document trends in floodplain forest tree species composition for the interval spanning these influences. Historic tree inventories from the 1970s were compared to present‐day forests through non‐metric multidimensional scaling, indicator species analysis (ISA) and outlier detection. Forests are compositionally drier today than in the 1970s. Overstory to understory compositional differences within habitats (levees, high/low bottomland forest and backswamps) are as large as the species contrasts between habitats. Present‐day forests are also compositionally noisier with fewer indicator species. The largest individual declines in species density and dominance were in backswamps, particularly for Fraxinus caroliniana Nyssa ogeche and Nyssa aquatica. We discuss how contrasts in the compositional change signal for levee and backswamp landform habitats reflect a complex biogeomorphic response to fluctuating river flows for alluvial rivers in humid climates. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

电站枢纽综合出力系数计算及对调度过程模拟的影响

梯级水电站优化调度是当前大型水电枢纽研究的重要课题,调度方案的优劣对水电站发电效益影响很大。在进行调度方案建模过程中,出力计算是其中的核心问题之一,在以往的枢纽优化调度研究中,优化算法的应用研究占绝对的比重,但大都没有对其中建模的细节有过详细的描述,通过对三峡及葛洲坝梯级枢纽运行数据进行分析,给出枢纽出力系数的相关关系,以期对建模及求解提供较为准确的基础数据,同时,采用机组出力系数关系式对出力计算进行模拟,并对结果进行了初步的分析。     

River regulation and riparian woodlands: Cottonwood conservation with an environmental flow regime along the Waterton River,Alberta

Following water withdrawal, riparian cottonwoods have declined downstream from some dams in western North America. Analyses of aerial photographs and field observations in the 1980s suggested that the black and narrowleaf cottonwoods (Populus trichocarpa and Populus angustifolia) along the Waterton River, Alberta, were declining due to drought stress following the 1964 damming and diversion. This raised concern for the riverine ecosystems and in 1991, “functional flows” commenced with 2 changes: (a) the minimum flow was increased from 0.9 to 2.3 m³/s (mean discharge 21.9 m³/s) and (b) flow ramping provided gradual stage recession after the spring peak. This provided an environmental flow regime that was delivered for 2 decades and this study investigated the consequent river flow patterns and riparian woodlands upstream and downstream from the Waterton Dam. Analyses of aerial photographs from 1951 to 2009 assessed 4 flow management intervals: (a) the free‐flowing predam condition, (b) the initial dammed interval to the mid‐1970s, (c) a drought interval in the 1980s, and (d) with the environmental flow regime after 1991. Analyses revealed woodland reduction from 1961 to 1985 due to losses through bank erosion with major floods and apparent decline due to low flows following a regional drought and water withdrawal for irrigation. With the subsequent environmental flow regime, there was apparent woodland recovery, despite drought in 2000 and 2001. This study demonstrated that the correspondence between river flow patterns and the extent of riparian woodlands and the benefit from the environmental flow regime that probably reduced drought stress and mortality.     

Equilibrium response of riparian vegetation to flow regulation in the Platte river,Nebraska

The Platte River in central Nebraska responded to water development by rapid channel narrowing and expansion of native riparian woodland. Woodland expanded most rapidly in the 1930s and 1950s; open channel and woodland area stabilized in the 1960s and have remained stable for most reaches into the mid-1990s, despite relatively low flows and infrequent peak flows in the past decade. Open channel area may have been maintained or increased under recent lower flows because of increased erodibility of the floodplain as it has aggraded, developed vertical banks and as its woodland vegetation has become older, sparser and less protective of banks. One section of the Platte River, near Grand Island, has disequilibrated in the past decade by undergoing a 10% loss of channel area. The reach occurs below an area where vegetation has been removed to increase open channel area for migrating whooping and sandhill cranes and other water birds. Vegetation clearing may have liberated excess sediment, locally aggraded the channel and stimulated tree and shrub recruitment. This management practice needs to be examined before it is used more widely in the Platte River. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Increasing River Flow Expands Riparian Habitat: Influences of Flow Augmentation on Channel Form,Riparian Vegetation and Birds Along the Little Bow River,Alberta

With river regulation, water withdrawal is common, reducing instream flows. The opposite alteration, flow augmentation, is less common and could reveal a mechanistic coordination between flow regime, channel form, and riparian ecosystems. The Little Bow River, a naturally intermittent prairie stream in Southern Alberta, has experienced flow augmentation since the late 1890s, and the Little Bow/Highwood Project of 2004 enabled a tripling of diversion flows from 2.9 to 8.5 m³/s. We investigated the subsequent responses by assessing the channel form and riparian vegetation based on aerial photographs taken in 2000 versus 2010, and riparian birds were assessed between 2005 and 2013 to investigate associations with riparian vegetation. Following recent flow augmentation, the mean channel width increased from 12.2 to 13.5 m, while sinuosity was relatively unchanged. Streamside zones with true willows (especially Salix exigua and Salix bebbiana) increased from 7 to 11% of the river corridor, and the facultative riparian wolf willow (Elaeagnus commutata) zones increased from 16 to 20%, while grassy zones decreased from 64 to 52%. Avian species richness and Shannon–Wiener index increased, while species evenness was relatively unaltered, suggesting an increase of rarer bird species in response to the increased habitat structure and diversity following the expansion of riparian shrubs and woodland. This study revealed responses to the recent flow augmentation over the first decade of implementation, and alterations following flow augmentation would likely continue for decades until the river and riparian zones adjust to the new flow regime. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

黄河下游枯水调度模型开发研究

以水量调度预案为基础,以防利津断流为基本控制条件,考虑水量传播时间、河段水量损失等因素,开发了黄河下游枯水调度模型。实际应用结果表明:通过月、旬和日调度模型的嵌套运行,进行实时人机交互,滚动决策,可以实现水库的科学调度和水量的合理配置,确保利津不断流。     

大坝运行过程中泄水对坝下游生态系统的影响分析及控制

大坝运行过程中泄水会对坝下游生态系统产生负面影响,体现在河道生态环境、洪泛区生态环境和河口生态环境中水文水力情势、河道形态和地貌、水质、原有生物生存和繁衍环境等发生变化,生物种类和数量减少,生物多样性降低。因此有必要对河道区、洪泛区和河口区进行水文水质监测、地下水水位监测、鱼类及水生生物监测、动植物种类和生境调查等;同时,确保大坝下游河段环境流量、制定合理的泄水调度方案和实施坝下游生态系统恢复,以期控制负面影响,使坝下游生态系统逐渐呈良性循环。     

The effect of altered flow regime on the frequency and duration of bankfull discharge: Murrumbidgee River,Australia

On meandering rivers with well‐developed floodplains, bankfull stage has geomorphological and ecological significance because it approximates the level of connection between the channel and the floodplain. As a river rises to bankfull stage, sediment begins to be deposited on the floodplain, wetlands are progressively inundated and organisms migrate between the channel and floodplain habitats. On many rivers large headwater dams have reduced the frequency and duration of floodplain inundation downstream. However, the lack of reliable pre‐regulation flow data has made it difficult to quantify the effects of river regulation. This study used historical regulated and modelled natural flow data to determine the effects of regulation on the frequency and duration of bankfull flows on the Murrumbidgee River, one of Australia's largest and most heavily regulated rivers. In combination with floodplain surveys the flow data show that regulation has halved the frequency and duration of bankfull flows. This reduction in channel–floodplain connection has implications for the ecological health of the Murrumbidgee River. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

在低中高三种Re数下圆管入口流的有限元分析

圆管入口流问题的研究已有很长历史,但理论结果与实验结果不能很好地符合。本文用改进的Newton-Raphson方法线化由Navier-Stokes方程导出的有限元方程,用波阵法求解线化后的方程组。最后在0～800的Re数范围内得到了速度场及入口长度,并给出了描述入口长度随Re数变化关系的拟合公式。数值解与实验结果的比较是令人满意的。本文还对简化Navier-Stokes方程(SNSE)与完整Navier-Stokes方程(CNSE)在求解本问题过程中的一致性作了数值研究,得出了当Re≥80时CNSE和SNSE结果一致的结论。     

Evaluation of Economic and Hydrologic Impacts of Unified Water Flow Regulation in the Yellow River Basin

Unified water flow regulation has been implemented in the Yellow River, Hei River and Tarim River in China since 1999 as a result of institutional reforms. It has been one of the most important water resources management practices in China during recent years and has generated significant impacts. Based on the data of such an experiment in the Yellow River during 1999 to 2004, a “with-without” scenario analysis method is employed in the paper to evaluate the economic and hydrological impacts of regulation through a holistic model coupling economic water use and hydrologic cycle applied to the study basin. The results show that about 2.5% of GDP was increased every year and the Flow Cutoff Events were avoided as a result of the unified water flow regulation.     

Flow regulation by dams affecting ichthyoplankton: the case of the Porto Primavera Dam,Paraná River,Brazil

The effects of a dam closure (Porto Primavera Dam) on reproduction of the main species that use the floodplain located below a nursery area were determined. Specifically, we examined, before and after the closure of the dam, the spatial distribution of larvae and the differences in density according to life strategy (migratory and non‐migratory species). Fifteen points distributed along the channels of the Paraná, Ivinheima and Paranapanema rivers were sampled, between 1997 and 2001, (October 1997 to December 1998—pre; and between January 1999 to March 2001—post closure), during the spawning period of most fish species found in the region (October to March). Samplings were always conducted at night, using a conical‐cylindrical plankton net (0.5 mm mesh) with a flowmeter attached. There were significant differences in larvae densities between pre and post dam closure for several species. Also, there were significant differences between the pre and post‐closure periods for densities of migratory and non‐migratory species, and between sampling sites. These findings indicate decline in densities and number of taxa caught after the closure of the dam. Larvae of migratory species, formerly common in the entire study area, were registered only in points influenced by the non dammed rivers (such as the Ivinheima River), indicating that the closure of Porto Primavera caused negative impacts on fish reproduction downstream of the dam. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

优化小浪底水库调水调沙运用方式的建议

对小浪底水库运用以来黄河下游河道冲刷情况及调水调沙运用存在的主要问题进行了分析,并对调水造峰期间下游河床冲淤特性进行了研究。结果表明:经过小浪底水库10 a调水造峰与清水冲刷,黄河下游河道主槽排洪能力已经得到有效恢复,为利用洪水排沙创造了有利条件;连续10次调水调沙,冲刷效率逐步降低,且存在排沙期下游河道淤积、流量沿程增大等问题。洪水具有"涨冲落淤"的输沙特性,因此小浪底水库应改变目前落水时加沙的调水调沙运用方式,尽量在洪水涨水期集中排沙出库,一般情况不要再放平头峰,以提高下游河道的输沙效率。     

The influence of river regulation and land use on floodplain forest regeneration in the semi‐arid upper Colorado River Basin,USA

Flow regulation effects on floodplain forests in the semi‐arid western United States are moderately well understood, whereas effects associated with changes in floodplain land use are poorly documented. We mapped land cover patterns from recent aerial photos and applied a classification scheme to mainstem alluvial floodplains in 10 subjectively selected 4th order hydrologic units (subbasins) in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) in order to document land use patterns (floodplain development) and assess their effects on Fremont cottonwood forest (CF) regeneration. Three of the mainstem rivers were unregulated, five were moderately regulated and two were highly regulated. We classified polygons as Undeveloped (with two categories, including CF) and Developed (with five categories). We ground‐truthed 501 randomly selected polygons (4–28% of the floodplain area in each subbasin) to verify classification accuracy and to search for cottonwood regeneration, defined as stands established since regulation began or 1950, whichever is most recent. From 40% to 95% of the floodplain area remained undeveloped, but only 19–70% of the floodplain area was classified as forest. Regeneration occupied a mean of 5% (range 1–17%) of the floodplain. The likelihood of the presence of regeneration in a polygon was reduced 65% by development and independently in a complex manner by flow regulation. Our analyses indicate that floodplain forests may be in jeopardy on both regulated and unregulated rivers and that information on historical forest extent is needed to better understand their current status in the UCRB. Conservation efforts need to be coordinated at a regional level and address the potentially adverse affects of both flow regulation and floodplain development. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of flow regulation on hydrologic patterns of a large,inland delta

The Peace–Athabasca River Delta (PAD) is one of the largest freshwater deltas and most biologically productive in the world. Because regional evaporation is greater than precipitation, the thousands of lakes and wetlands dotting this area rely on periodic flooding from the Peace and Athabasca rivers to be replenished. Flood frequency significantly declined beginning in the mid‐1970s, several years after the initiation of flow regulation of the Peace River. However, the drying trend was interrupted in 1996 when the PAD experienced extensive inland inundation on two separate occasions, one in the spring and one in the summer. A one‐dimensional numerical hydrodynamic model was used to evaluate the role of flow regulation and hydroclimatic conditions on the water levels of major lakes found in the PAD. Three Peace River flow scenarios were analysed: the observed flows, the flow regime without the ‘precautionary drawdown’ spill which was required because of the discovery of a sinkhole at the crest of the dam, and the naturalized flow regime, which assumed no dam regulation. Modelling results indicated that the effect of the spill on the flow regime within the PAD was approximately equivalent in magnitude, although different in timing, to what would have resulted from the prevailing hydroclimatic conditions in an unregulated system. Furthermore, even in the absence of the precautionary drawdown spill, the lake levels would have risen well above the maximum daily average, suggesting that 1996 was one of the wettest years on record. Finally, the hydrodynamic regime observed at the end of the summer 1996 was very similar to that modelled under unregulated flow conditions, suggesting that flow regulation could be used to alter the hydrodynamic regime of a large delta to at least partially restore natural conditions and potentially improve ecosystem health. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.