Abstract
Studies presenting long-term observations of the recruitment and mobility of large wood in mountain watercourses are scarce, but they can considerably contribute to the knowledge of river/riparian forest interactions and the assessment of flood hazard resulting from wood mobility during floods. Widespread dieback of riparian forest along the headwater course of Kamienica Stream in the Polish Carpathians, caused by bark beetle infestation of spruce trees, has raised concerns about potential increases of large wood recruitment to the stream and of the flood hazard to downstream valley reaches. In October 2009, 429 trees growing along three sections of the stream were tagged with numbered metal plates and monitored over 10 years to determine the timing and causes of their delivery to the channel and the lengths of their displacement during individual flood events. Moreover, in 2012 the mode of location of wood deposits and a degree of wood decay were determined in the second- to fourth-order stream reaches. The monitoring of tagged trees indicated that trees were recruited to the channel during highintensity meteorological and hydrological events, mostly as a result of bank erosion during floods or windthrow. With 22% of tagged trees recruited to the channel during 10 years, the rate of turnover of the riparian trees was estimated at 45 years. As the riparian area is overgrown with trees with ages up to ~160 years, the rate evidences substantial intensification of large wood recruitment to the channel in the recent period. Results of large wood inventory and the 10-year-long monitoring of tagged trees indicated variable mobility of large wood along the upper course of the stream. Wood mobility was negligible in the second-order stream reach, very small in the third-order reach, and greater, but still limited in the fourth-order reach. Wood is transported longer distances only during major floods. However, the advanced state of decay of most pieces leads to their disintegration during floods, precluding distant transport. Thus, large wood retained in the upper stream course does not constitute an important flood hazard to downstream, inhabited valley reaches.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Benda LE, Sias JC (2003) A quantitative framework for evaluating the mass balance of in-stream organic debris. Forest Ecology and Management 172: 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(01)00576-X
Faustini JM, Jones JA (2003) Influence of large woody debris on channel morphology and dynamics in steep, boulder-rich mountain streams, western Cascades, Oregon. Geomorphology 51: 187–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-555X(02)00336-7
Galia T, Ruiz-Villanueva V, Tichavský R, et al. (2018a) Characteristics and abundance of large and small instream wood in a Carpathian mixed-forest headwater basin. Forest Ecology and Management 424: 468–482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.05.031
Galia T, Tichavský R, Škarpich V, Šilhán K (2018b) Characteristics of large wood in a headwater channel after an extraordinary event: The roles of transport agents and check dams. Catena 165: 537–550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2018.03.010
Gurnell AM, Piégay H, Swanson FJ, Gregory SV (2002) Large wood and fluvial processes. Freshwater Biology 47: 601–619. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2427.2002.00916.x
Haga H, Kumagai T, Otsuki K, Ogawa S (2002) Transport and retention of coarse woody debris in mountain streams: An in situ field experiment and a field survey of coarse woody debris distribution. Water Resources Research 38: 11–26. https://doi.org/10.1029/2001WR001123
Harmon ME, Franklin JF, Swanson FJ, et al. (1986) Ecology of coarse woody debris in temperate ecosystems. Advances in Ecological Research 15: 133–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2504(03)34002-4
Kaczka RJ (1999) The role of coarse woody debris in fluvial processes during the flood of the July 1997, Kamienica Łącka Valley, Beskidy Mountains, Poland. Studia Geomorphologica Carpatho-Balcanica 33: 117–130.
Kail J, Hering D, Muhar S, et al. (2007) The use of large wood in stream restoration: experiences from 50 projects in Germany and Austria. Journal of Applied Ecology 44: 1145–1155. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2007.01401.x
Keller EA, Swanson FJ (1979) Effects of large organic material on channel form and fluvial processes. Earth Surface Processes 4: 361–380.https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290040406
Kramer N, Wohl E (2014) Estimating fluvial wood discharge using time-lapse photography with varying sampling intervals. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 39: 844–852. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3540
Krejčí L, Máčka Z (2012) Anthropogenic controls on large wood input, removal and mobility: examples from rivers in the Czech Republic. Area 44: 226–236. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4762.2011.01071.x
Kundzewicz ZW, Stoffel M, Wyżga B, et al. (2017) Changes of flood risk on the northern foothills of the Tatra Mountains. Acta Geophysica 65: 799–807. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11600-017-0075-0
Lassettre NS, Piégay H, Dufour S, Rollet A (2008) Decadal changes in distribution and frequency of wood in a free meandering river, the Ain River, France. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 33: 1098–1112. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1605
Lienkaemper GW, Swanson FJ (1987) Dynamics of large-woody debris in streams in old-growth Douglas-fir forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 17: 150–156. https://doi.org/10.1139/x87-027
Lyell C (1837) Principles of geology: being an inquiry how far the former changes of the Earth’s surface are referable to causes now in operation. Volume I. James Kay, Jun. & Brother, Philadelphia.
MacVicar B, Piégay H (2012) Implementation and validation of video monitoring for wood budgeting in a wandering piedmont river, the Ain River (France). Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 37: 1272–1289. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3240
May CL, Gresswell RE (2003) Large wood recruitment and redistribution in headwater streams in the southern Oregon Coast Range, U.S.A. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33: 1352–1362. https://doi.org/10.1139/X03-023
McDade MH, Swanson FJ, McKee WA, et al. (1990) Source distances from coarse woody debris entering small streams in western Oregon and Washington. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 20: 326–330. https://doi.org/10.1139/x90-047
Mikuś P, Wyżga B, Ruiz-Villanueva V, et al. (2016) Methods to assess large wood dynamics and the associated flood hazard in Polish Carpathian watercourses of different size. In: Kundzewicz ZW, et al. (eds.), Flood Risk in the Upper Vistula Basin. Springer, Cham. pp 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41923-7
Montgomery DR, Collins BD, Buffington JM, Abbe TB (2003) Geomorphic effects of wood in rivers. In Gregory SW, et al. (eds.), Ecology and Management of Wood in World Rivers. American Fisheries Society Symposium 37, Bethesda. pp 21–47. ISBN 1-888569-56-5
Niedźwiedź T, Obrębska-Starklowa B (1991) Klimat. In: Dynowska I, Maciejewski M (eds.), Dorzecze górnej Wisły. PWN, Warszawa-Kraków. pp 68–84. ISBN 8-301103-17-5
Piégay H, Thevenet A, Citterio A (1999) Input, storage and distribution of large woody debris along a mountain river continuum, the Drome River, France. Catena 35: 19–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(98)00120-9
Queiros GL, McDermid GJ, Castilla G, et al. (2018) Mapping coarse woody debris with random forest classification of centimetric aerial imagery. Forests 10: 471. https://doi.org/10.3390/f10060471
Ruiz-Villanueva V, Díez-Herrero A, Ballesteros JA, Bodoque JM (2014) Potential large woody debris recruitment due to landslides, bank erosion and floods in mountain basins: A quantitative estimation approach. River Research and Application 30: 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.2614
Ruiz-Villanueva V, Bürkli L, Mazzorana B, et al. (2018) Defining and characterizing wood-laden flows in rivers using home videos. In Paquier A, Rivière N (eds.), River Flow 2018 40: 02014.
Schenk ER, Moulin B, Hupp CR, Richter JM (2014) Large wood budget and transport dynamics on a large river using radio telemetry. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 39: 487–498. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3463
Van Sickle J, Gregory SV (1990) Modelling inputs of large woody debris to stream from falling trees. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 20: 1593–1601.
Warren DR, Kraft CE (2008) Dynamics of large wood in an eastern U.S. mountain stream. Forest Ecology and Management 256: 808–814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2008.05.038
Warren DR, Kraft CE, Keeton WS, et al. (2009) Dynamics of wood recruitment in streams of the northeastern US. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 804–813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2009.05.020
Wohl E (2017) Bridging the gaps: An overview of wood across time and space in diverse rivers. Geomorphology 279: 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.04.014
Wohl E, Goode JR (2008) Wood dynamics in headwater streams of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Water Resources Research 44: W09429. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007WR006522
Wyżga B, Zawiejska J, Mikuś P, Kaczka RJ (2015) Contrasting patterns of wood storage in mountain watercourses narrower and wider than the height of riparian trees. Geomorphology 228: 275–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.09.014
Wyżga B, Kundzewicz ZW, Ruiz-Villanueva V, Zawiejska J (2016) Flood generation mechanisms and changes in principal drivers. In: Kundzewicz ZW, et al. (eds.), Flood Risk in the Upper Vistula Basin, Springer, Cham, pp. 55–75. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41923-7
Wyżga B, Mikuś P, Zawiejska J, et al. (2017) Log transport and deposition in incised, channelized and multithread reaches of a wide mountain river: tracking experiment during a 20-year flood. Geomorphology 279: 98–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.09.019
Acknowledgements
The study was financed by the statutory funds of the Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, and by the project FLORIST (Flood risk on the northern foothills of the Tatra Mountains; PSPB no 153/2010) supported by a grant from Switzerland through the Swiss Contribution to the Enlarged European Union. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their critical comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Mikuś, P., Wyżga, B. Long-term monitoring of the recruitment and dynamics of large wood in Kamienica Stream, Polish Carpathians. J. Mt. Sci. 17, 1281–1293 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5954-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5954-1