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Floodplain Connectivity

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The Drava River

Part of the book series: Springer Geography ((SPRINGERGEOGR))

Abstract

Floodplains fulfil vital ecosystem services (supporting water management, biodiversity, agricultural production, ecotourism and others). Since a satisfactory water supply is indispensable for the provision of such services, in addition to longitudinal channel connectivity, lateral channel/floodplain hydrological connectivity is of primary importance. As a consequence of river regulation, however, floodplains shrunk considerably in area, ‘protected’ floodplains connection with the river channel which had produced them and became severely threatened ecosystems. In the Drava Plain, too, disconnected (or ‘geographically isolated’) oxbows became typical. With reduced surface connectivity, groundwater flow becomes the main driver of connecting processes (profundal type of oxbow). Effective porosity and hydraulic conductivity of alluvial deposits and seepage from an oxbow lake (the degree of clogging of floor deposits) were calculated to estimate groundwater movements and to reveal water exchange between oxbow lakes and the active river channel. Subsurface connectivity under drought conditions was simulated by hydrological modelling with the help of HYDRUS-1D and MODFLOW 6 packages. Planning rehabilitation efforts subsurface connectivity too should be considered.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for financial support from the Hungarian National Scientific Fund (OTKA, contract no. 104552) and for cooperation with the South-Transdanubian Water Management Directorate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical and Environmental Geography, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6, Pécs, 7624, Hungary

    József Dezső & Dénes Lóczy

  2. Earth Sciences Doctoral School, University of Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6, Pécs, 7624, Hungary

    Ali Mohamed Salem & Gábor Nagy

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  1. József Dezső
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  2. Dénes Lóczy
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  3. Ali Mohamed Salem
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  4. Gábor Nagy
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Correspondence to József Dezső .

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  1. Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

    Dénes Lóczy

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Dezső, J., Lóczy, D., Salem, A.M., Nagy, G. (2019). Floodplain Connectivity. In: Lóczy, D. (eds) The Drava River. Springer Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92816-6_14

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