Self-organization of river vegetation leads to emergent buffering of river flows and water levels

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorCornacchia, Loreta
dc.contributor.authorWharton, Geraldene
dc.contributor.authorDavies, Grieg
dc.contributor.authorGrabowski, Robert C.
dc.contributor.authorTemmerman, Stijn
dc.contributor.authorvan der Wal, Daphne
dc.contributor.authorBouma, Tjeerd J.
dc.contributor.authorvan de Koppel, Johan
dc.date.accessioned2020-07-17T14:26:52Z
dc.date.available2020-07-17T14:26:52Z
dc.date.issued2020-07-15
dc.description.abstractGlobal climate change is expected to impact hydrodynamic conditions in stream ecosystems. There is limited understanding of how stream ecosystems interact and possibly adapt to novel hydrodynamic conditions. Combining mathematical modelling with field data, we demonstrate that bio-physical feedback between plant growth and flow redistribution triggers spatial self-organization of in-channel vegetation that buffers for changed hydrological conditions. The interplay of vegetation growth and hydrodynamics results in a spatial separation of the stream into densely vegetated, low-flow zones divided by unvegetated channels of higher flow velocities. This self-organization process decouples both local flow velocities and water levels from the forcing effect of changing stream discharge. Field data from two lowland, baseflow-dominated streams support model predictions and highlight two important stream-level emergent properties: vegetation controls flow conveyance in fast-flowing channels throughout the annual growth cycle, and this buffering of discharge variations maintains water depths and wetted habitat for the stream community. Our results provide important evidence of how plant-driven self-organization allows stream ecosystems to adapt to changing hydrological conditions, maintaining suitable hydrodynamic conditions to support high biodiversityen_UK
dc.identifier.citationCornacchia L, Wharton G, Davies G, et al., (2020) Self-organization of river vegetation leads to emergent buffering of river flows and water levels. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Volume 287, Issue 1931, July 2020, Article number 20201147en_UK
dc.identifier.issn0962-8452
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1147
dc.identifier.urihttp://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/15565
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherThe Royal Societyen_UK
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectsubmerged aquatic macrophytesen_UK
dc.subjectflow regulationen_UK
dc.subjectspatial self-organizationen_UK
dc.subjectbio-physical feedbacksen_UK
dc.titleSelf-organization of river vegetation leads to emergent buffering of river flows and water levelsen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Self-organization_of_river_vegetation_leads_to_emergent_buffering_of_river-2020.pdf
Size:
1.07 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.63 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Staff publications (SWEE)