Hydrogeomorphic and Biotic Drivers of Instream Wood Differ Across Sub‐basins of the Columbia River Basin,USA

Instream wood promotes habitat heterogeneity through its influence on flow hydraulics and channel geomorphology. Within the Columbia River Basin, USA, wood is vital for the creation and maintenance of habitat for threatened salmonids. However, our understanding of the relative roles of the climatic, geomorphic, and ecological processes that source wood to streams is limited, making it difficult to identify baseline predictions of instream wood and create targets for stream restoration. Here, we investigate how instream wood frequency and volume differ between seven sub‐basins of the interior Columbia River Basin and what processes shape these differences within these sub‐basins. We collected data on wood volume and frequency, discharge and stream power, and riparian and watershed forest structure for use in modelling wood volume and frequency. Using random forest models, we found that mean annual precipitation, riparian tree cover, and the individual watershed were the most important predictors of wood volume and frequency. Within sub‐basins, we used linear models, finding that some basins had unique predictors of wood. Discharge, watershed area, or precipitation often combined with forest cover, riparian conifer, and/or large tree cover in models of instream large wood volume and frequency. In many sub‐basins, models showed at least one hydrologic variable, indicative of transport competence and one ecological variable, indicative of the reach or upstream watershed's capability to grow measurable instream wood. We conclude that basin‐specific models yield important insights into the hydrologic and ecological processes that influence wood loads, creating tractable hypotheses for building predictive models of instream wood. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of a 100‐year flood on vegetation,benthic invertebrates,riparian fauna and large woody debris standing stock in an alpine floodplain

This paper investigates the impact of a 100‐year flood in May 1999 on community composition and large woody debris standing stock in an alpine floodplain (Isar, Germany). Detailed pre‐flood data sampled from 1993 to 1998 are compared with the situation directly after the flood. In those parts of the Isar floodplain mainly covered with pioneer vegetation prior to flooding, the coverage of unvegetated gravel bars increased by 22% following the flood. However, the flood did not remove larger amounts of older successional vegetation stages (willow thickets, floodplain forest). No significant changes in the benthic invertebrate fauna were recorded. The lowest densities of riparian ground beetles (Carabidae) within the study were recorded one month after the flood. Two months later, the ground beetle densities increased to the highest values ever recorded, indicating the ground beetle's high potential for recolonization. These results highlight the degree of resilience of both the aquatic and the riparian invertebrate fauna. The flood also caused a significant increase in large woody debris standing stock; in one section the number of logs increased tenfold and the volume increased by a factor of 20, leading to the assumption that most woody debris in alluvial flood‐plains is provided by catastrophic events. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SPATIAL PATTERN,DENSITY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF LARGE WOOD IN CONNECTICUT STREAMS: IMPLICATIONS FOR STREAM RESTORATION PRIORITIES IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND

Many streams have been modified so extensively that river managers do not have clear reference conditions to frame targets for stream restoration. Large woody debris (LWD) has long been recognized as an important influence on both geomorphic and ecologic processes in stream channels; however, there have been few studies of LWD dynamics in New England. Although this region is heavily forested today, the forest is predominantly young (70–90 years old) regrowth following a historical episode of severe deforestation. This study presents the results of an extensive census of LWD and associated stream characteristics in over 16 river kilometres of northeastern Connecticut streams and represents the first reported inventory of wood loading and sorting in Southern New England. Results of this study indicate that wood loading and jam frequencies in the study region are low: 2.5–17.8 and 0.5–5.51 per 100 m, respectively. Orientation of LWD is predominantly parallel to flow, an indication that these streams are not retaining organic matter or sediment, which has important geomorphic and ecologic implications. Results imply that stream recruitment of LWD is still lagging from the massive forest conversions of the 18th and 19th centuries. Given the low wood loadings observed in the study reaches, manual wood addition and continued forest regeneration would likely improve both habitat diversity and organic matter and fine sediment retention in these systems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coarse woody debris in stream channels in relation to river channel management in woodland areas

Although river channel management now generally uses soft rather than hard engineering techniques the considerable research achieved for woodland river channels has not been completely collated with reference to management implications. Research results from 22 research papers show how debris dams have a significant influence upon the morphological, the process and the ecological aspects of channels; vary in their permanence, and differ in stability according to the overall organic matter budget. A summary diagram contrasts the impact of dams on river channel morphology, process and ecology before and after dam removal. Four major types of specific recommendation about the management of channels in woodland areas are identified from 29 research papers are that (1) management should be undertaken against a background knowledge of the behaviour of coarse, woody debris under natural conditions and that the organic matter budget should be disturbed as little as possible; (2) logging operations should minimize the amount of disturbance to, and disruption of, channel processes; (3) management should optimize the maintenance of habitat diversity and minimize the ecological disturbance to the channel; (4) in some areas specific management practices may require the introduction of new material into the channel. These recommendations are applied to the New Forest, southern U.K., which has a long history of clearance and management of coarse woody debris and where the requirements for clearance in relation to fish, drainage, and aesthetic impact can be achieved by minimizing the amount of removal of material from the river channel. In managing channels with debris dams in woodland areas, it is desirable to work with the river in a holistic basin context.     

Nature,mass and preferential sites of coarse woody debris deposits in the lower ain valley (Mollon reach), France

Coarse woody debris (CWD) has been examined in a section of the Ain, a sixth order piedmont river with an actively meandering channel and a wooded floodplain. The spatial distribution of CWD, its mass and forms of accumulation are controlled by the hydrodynamics and the retention capacity of the forest. A typology shows the relative importance of woody debris in the mosaic of patches and the essential role of the ecotonal zones. The mass of debris varies from 0001 t ha^?1, to more than 200t ha^?1, but is lower than those observed in certain American rivers. Most of the material is deposited in the margins and forms a narrow debris line. The restocking in woody debris is recent in Europe and tends to diversify the environment. This affects the researcher and the planner. The first considers this transit of material as a useful hydromorphodynamic and biodynamic tool which is easy to evaluate, and the second considers it as a restoring and generative vector, the ecological functions of which are recognized. Its effect is stronger today as the watershed area tends to be subjected to a decrease in agricultural activity.