Sensitivity analysis of environmental changes associated with riverscape evolutions following sediment reintroduction: geomatic approach on the Drôme River network, France

The present paper aims to put into practice a conceptual framework for gravel-bed river sustainable management previously proposed by Pont et al. [(2009) Conceptual framework and interdisciplinary approach for the sustainable management of gravel-bed rivers: the case of the Drôme River basin (SE France). Aquatic Sciences, 71 (3), 356–370] for the Drôme River Basin (France). It tests the capacity of the functional sector concept (Petts, G.E. and Amoros, C., 1996. Fluvial hydrosystems. Springer) when used to assess the risks of environmental changes. The application of this concept is illustrated by examples focusing on the potential impacts of sediment replenishment on functional sector diversity used as a proxy of habitat diversity, and on trout distribution at a network scale. We used remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) methods to produce original data. A cluster analysis performed on the components of a principal component analysis established a functional sector typology based on channel planform parameters. We calculated an index of present and 1948 functional sector diversity for the entire channel network to highlight past evolutions. A sensitivity analysis was then performed to predict changes in functional sector diversity resulting from defined options of sediment reintroduction through planned forest removal. A similar procedure was developed to evaluate likely changes in brown trout distribution resulting from the impacts of the actions on canopy cover and summer water temperature. The methodological procedure is described, as well as the different assumptions made to move from a theoretical framework to a more practical one. Two examples are used as pilots to evaluate the value of a sensitivity analysis approach based on functional sector types (FSTs) to test management actions aimed at improving aquatic ecology. Limitations and potential improvements are then discussed.

[1]  R. Ferguson.  The Preferred Temperature of Fish and their Midsummer Distribution in Temperate Lakes and Streams , 1958 .

[2]  J. Hewlett,et al.  STREAM TEMPERATURE UNDER AN INADEQUATE BUFFER STRIP IN THE SOUTHEAST PIEDMONT , 1982 .

[3]  K. Gregory.  The human role in changing river channels , 2006 .

[4]  K. Tockner,et al.  Ecology of Braided Rivers , 2009 .

[5]  H. Piégay,et al.  Spatial disaggregation and aggregation procedures for characterizing fluvial features at the network-scale: Application to the Rhône basin (France) , 2011 .

[6]  D. Booth.  STREAM‐CHANNEL INCISION FOLLOWING DRAINAGE‐BASIN URBANIZATION , 1990 .

[7]  Neville Ash,et al.  Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: A Manual for Assessment Practitioners , 2010 .

[8]  D. Pont,et al.  Conceptual framework and interdisciplinary approach for the sustainable management of gravel-bed rivers: The case of the Drôme River basin (S.E. France) , 2009, Aquatic Sciences.

[9]  P. Verdonschot,et al.  A comparative analysis of restoration measures and their effects on hydromorphology and benthic invertebrates in 26 central and southern European rivers , 2010 .

[10]  D. Kohn,et al.  Plant species richness: the effect of island size and habitat diversity , 1994 .

[11]  H. Piégay,et al.  Channel response to increased and decreased bedload supply from land use change: contrasts between two catchments , 2002 .

[12]  F. Magdaleno,et al.  Hydromorphological alteration of a large Mediterranean river: Relative role of high and low flows on the evolution of riparian forests and channel morphology , 2011 .

[13]  M. Feller.  EFFECTS OF CLEARCUTTING AND SLASHBURNING ON STREAM TEMPERATURE IN SOUTHWESTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA , 1981 .

[14]  W. Bertoldi,et al.  Assessment of morphological changes induced by flow and flood pulses in a gravel bed braided river: The Tagliamento River (Italy) , 2010 .

[15]  C. Jackson,et al.  URBANIZATION OF AQUATIC SYSTEMS: DEGRADATION THRESHOLDS, STORMWATER DETECTION, AND THE LIMITS OF MITIGATION 1 , 1997 .

[16]  Ea Daley.  River Futures: An Integrative Scientific Approach to River Repair , 2009 .

[17]  Lenore Fahrig,et al.  Accessible habitat: an improved measure of the effects of habitat loss and roads on wildlife populations , 2008, Landscape Ecology.

[18]  J. Pederson,et al.  Geologic versus wildfire controls on hillslope processes and debris flow initiation in the Green River canyons of Dinosaur National Monument , 2006 .

[19]  J. Brasington,et al.  Geomorphic dynamics of floodplains: ecological implications and a potential modelling strategy , 2002 .

[20]  K. Fryirs,et al.  Don’t Fight the Site: Three Geomorphic Considerations in Catchment-Scale River Rehabilitation Planning , 2009, Environmental management.

[21]  M. Delong,et al.  The riverine ecosystem synthesis: biocomplexity in river networks across space and time , 2006 .

[22]  C. Frissell,et al.  ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT AND THE CONSERVATION OF AQUATIC BIODWERSITY AND ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY , 1996 .

[23]  John P. Wilson,et al.  Creating and coupling a high-resolution DTM with a 1-D hydraulic model in a GIS for scenario-based assessment of avulsion hazard in a gravel-bed river , 2007 .

[24]  S. Rood,et al.  Riparia: Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Streamside Communities , 2006 .

[25]  B. Gomez,et al.  Land‐use change, sediment production and channel response in upland regions , 2005 .

[26]  J. Gardner,et al.  On the Respiratory Exchange in Fresh Water Fish. Part I. On Brown Trout. , 1914, The Biochemical journal.

[27]  John R. Schott.  The role of remotely sensed data in studies of the thermal bar , 1986 .

[28]  Greg Hancock,et al.  The design of post‐mining landscapes using geomorphic principles , 2003 .

[29]  R. E. Grumbine.  What Is Ecosystem Management , 1994 .

[30]  S. Dufour,et al.  From the myth of a lost paradise to targeted river restoration: forget natural references and focus on human benefits , 2009 .

[31]  D. Pont,et al.  Intrabasin variations in age and growth of bullhead : the effects of temperature. , 2007 .

[32]  T. R. Hammer.  Stream channel enlargement due to urbanization , 1972 .

[33]  Hervé Piégay,et al.  Contemporary land use changes in prealpine Mediterranean mountains: a multivariate GIS-based approach applied to two municipalities in the Southern French Prealps , 2003 .

[34]  Tributaries and the Management of Main‐Stem Geomorphology , 2008 .

[35]  B. Eaton,et al.  Assessing the effect of vegetation‐related bank strength on channel morphology and stability in gravel‐bed streams using numerical models , 2009 .

[36]  Sang Joon Kim,et al.  A Mathematical Theory of Communication , 2006 .

[37]  David Gilvear,et al.  Quantifying channel planform and physical habitat dynamics on a large braided river using satellite data—the Brahmaputra, India , 2008 .

[38]  H. Piégay,et al.  Localisation et caractérisation semi-automatique des géomorphosites fluviaux potentiels. Exemples d’applications à partir d’outils géomatiques dans le bassin de la Drôme (France) , 2010 .

[39]  S. W. Hostetler,et al.  ANALYSIS AND MODELING OF LONG‐TERM STREAM TEMPERATURES ON THE STEAMBOAT CREEK BASIN, OREGON: IMPLICATIONS FOR LAND USE AND FISH HABITAT , 1991 .

[40]  Laurel Saito,et al.  Predicting the effects of shade on water temperature in small streams , 1997 .

[41]  H. Middelkoop,et al.  Impact of value-driven scenarios on the geomorphology and ecology of lower Rhine floodplains under a changing climate , 2009 .

[42]  S. Schumm.  The Fluvial System , 1977 .

[43]  K. Gregory,et al.  Urbanisation and stream channeles , 2002 .

[44]  K. Tockner,et al.  SHIFTING DOMINANCE OF SUBCATCHMENT WATER SOURCES AND FLOW PATHS IN A GLACIAL FLOODPLAIN, VAL ROSEG, SWITZERLAND , 1999 .

[45]  H. Piégay,et al.  The Drôme river incision (France): from assessment to management , 1998 .

[46]  J. Bolliger,et al.  Spatial sensitivity of species habitat patterns to scenarios of land use change (Switzerland) , 2007, Landscape Ecology.