Memorias de investigación
Communications at congresses:
Riparian Vegetation Encroachment in Mediterranean rivers
Year:2018
Research Areas
  • Natural environment,
  • Forest,
  • Hydrology,
  • Geomorphology
Information
Abstract
The encroachment of riparian vegetation is a widespread phenomenon in most of Mediterranean rivers. The causes of this process have been linked to changes in land use, to reduction of extensive livestock, to a great demand of water for irrigation, and currently, climate change is reinforcing it. These drivers have led to the stabilization of river channels; reducing their dynamism and favoring the growth of woody vegetation in the river banks, and reciprocally, the development of woody vegetation promotes this stabilization. The aim of this work is to assess the riparian vegetation encroachment in Spanish Rivers, frequently associated with changes in catchment land use and flow regulation. To that purpose, we have quantified the vegetation encroachment along the studied period (1956-2014) in some Spanish rivers as a first step to understand its controlling factors, such as: land use, floodplain and channel traits; flow regulation intensity; type of regulation etc. The study was conducted in 14 river reaches, 10 located in regulated rivers downstream large dams and 4 in non-regulated rivers. A diachronic analysis using aerial photographs from 1956 to 2014 was performed to evaluate the morphological evolution and land cover changes in river reaches. Our preliminary results show a generalized natural vegetation encroachment process, together a channel narrowing process.
International
Si
Congress
12th Internatinal Symposium on Ecohydraulics
960
Place
Tokio, Japan
Reviewers
Si
ISBN/ISSN
CDP08UPM
Start Date
19/08/2018
End Date
24/08/2018
From page
1
To page
2
Actas del 12th Internatinal Symposium on Ecohydraulics
Participants
Research Group, Departaments and Institutes related
  • Creador: Grupo de Investigación: Hidrobiología
  • Departamento: Sistemas y Recursos Naturales