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Including Riparian Vegetation in the Definition of Morphologic Reference Conditions for Large Rivers: A Case Study for Europe’s Western Plains

Environmental Management volume 41, pages 625–639 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Methods for defining and retrieving reference conditions for large rivers were explored with emphasis on hydromorphologic and biologic quality indicators. For a set of four large rivers in the European Western Plains ecoregion, i.e., the rivers Meuse, Loire, Allier, and Dordogne, reference reaches were selected based on geomorphologic characteristics. A survey of riparian land use, vegetation, and bed geometry was done for the selected reaches. Responses of the riparian landscape to hydromorphologic conditions were determined with a set of existing and newly developed measures of riparian dynamics and forest development. Strong correlations were observed at the reach and local levels between the ratios of width to depth and embankment and the developed measures of riparian dynamics and forest. Boundary conditions for riparian forest development were determined for the hydromorphologic and biologic indicators of riparian dynamics and vegetation structure. These conditions also proved useful for determining the presence of sustainable populations of Populus nigra and Salix purpurea. From this agreement between abiotic and biotic boundary conditions, a set of useful reference conditions was determined, and a framework for the definition of reference and good status conditions subsequently evolved. Finally, a proposal for assessment and monitoring the proposed indicators is discussed for its applicability.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the river authorities of France, Belgium, and The Netherlands for providing data from the gauging stations; to DIREN Loire for approving the use of the SIEL-project data for these purposes; and to A. Chandesris (CEMAGREF, Lyon, France) for the elaboration of GIS maps and G. Geerling (Water Research Centre, University Nijmegen, The Netherlands) for kindly providing the photograph of the River Allier.

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Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Nature and Forest, 1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Kris Van Looy

  2. Ecosystem Management Research Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, BE-2610, Antwerpm, Belgium

    Patrick Meire

  3. Laboratoire d’Hydrécologie Quantitative, UR Biologie des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Institut de Recherche Pour L’Ingénierie de l’Agriculture et de l’Environnement, 220-69336, Lyon Cedex, France

    Jean-Gabriel Wasson

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  1. Kris Van Looy
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  2. Patrick Meire
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  3. Jean-Gabriel Wasson
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Correspondence to Kris Van Looy.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 4 Appendix 1. Land use and riparian forest categories used in the mapping the four reaches
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Table 5 Appendix 2. Forest community patches and area in the four reaches
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Table 6 Appendix 3. Forest-development measures for river reachesa
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Van Looy, K., Meire, P. & Wasson, JG. Including Riparian Vegetation in the Definition of Morphologic Reference Conditions for Large Rivers: A Case Study for Europe’s Western Plains. Environmental Management 41, 625–639 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9083-9

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Keywords

  • Large gravel-bed rivers
  • Morphologic reference conditions
  • Riparian forest