AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING ECOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO DAM REMOVAL: THE MANATAWNY CREEK STUDY1

ABSTRACT: Dam removal has been proposed as an effective method of river restoration, but few integrative studies have examined ecological responses to the removal of dams. In 1999, we initiated an interdisciplinary study to determine ecological responses to the removal of a 2 m high dam on lower Manatawny Creek in southeastern Pennsylvania. We used an integrative monitoring program to assess the physical, chemical, and biological responses to dam removal. Following removal in 2000, increased sediment transport has led to major changes in channel form in the former impoundment and downstream reaches. Water quality did not change markedly following removal, probably because of the impoundment's short hydraulic residence time (less than two hours at base flow) and infrequent temperature stratification. When the impoundment was converted to a free flowing reach, the composition of the benthic macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages in this portion of Manatawny Creek shifted dramatically from lentic to lotic taxa. Some fish species inhabiting the free flowing reach downstream from the dam were negatively affected by large scale sediment transport and habitat alteration following dam removal, but this appears to be a short term response. Based on our observations and experiences in this study, we provide a list of issues to evaluate when considering future dam removals.     

浙江湖州及邻区地貌与环境地质问题分析

浙江湖州及邻区地貌总体特征是以平原为主，丘陵次之，本文在讨论了影响区域地貌发育因素的基础上，对平原区和丘陵区的次级地貌单元进行了划分并作了总结。详细分析了区内不同地貌单元下存在原生和受人类经济活动影响出现的环境地质灾害问题，指出原地生质－地貌条件下区域环境地质问题（如地壳稳定性，软土地基，地下水水质，土壤渍害，水土流失等），大多数对人类社会影响不大或者已经有了相应的防治对策，但是，受人类经济活动影响，人为的或人工诱发的环境地质问题则越来越严重，如平原区由于过量开采地下水出现的地面沉降，丘陵区由于开采石矿引起的景观破坏，水土流失，岩溶塌陷和滑坡等地质灾害。     

Improved Bankfull Discharge Prediction Using 2‐Year Recurrence‐Period Discharge1

Abstract:  Knowledge of bankfull discharge (Q_bf) is essential for planners, engineers, geomorphologists, environmentalists, agricultural interests, developments situated on flood prone lands, surface mining and reclamation activities, and others interested in floods and flooding. In conjunction with estimating Q_bf, regionalized bankfull hydraulic geometry relationships, which relate Q_bf and associated channel dimensions (i.e., width, depth, and cross‐section area) to drainage basin area (A_da), are often used. This study seeks to improve upon the common practice of predicting Q_bf using A_da exclusively. Specifically, we hypothesize that predictions of Q_bf can be improved by including estimates of the 2‐year recurrence‐period discharge (Q₂) in regression models for predicting Q_bf. For testing this hypothesis, we used Q_bf estimates from 30 reports containing data for streams that span 34 hydrologic regions in 16 states. Corresponding values of Q₂ and A_da were compiled from flood‐frequency reports and other sources. By comparing statistical measures (i.e., root mean squared error, coefficient of determination, and Akaike’s information criterion), we determined that predicting Q_bf from Q₂ rather than A_da yields consistently better estimates of Q_bf. Other principal findings are (1) data are needed for at least 12 sites in a region for reliable hydraulic geometry model selection and (2) an approximate range of values for Q_bf/Q₂ is 0.10‐3.0.     

A HYPOTHESIS ABOUT FACTORS THAT AFFECT MAXIMUM SUMMER STREAM TEMPERATURES ACROSS MONTANE LANDSCAPES1

ABSTRACT: Temperature is an important variable structuring lotic biotas, but little is known about how montane landscapes function to determine stream temperatures. We developed an a priori hypothesis that was used to predict how watershed elements would interact to affect stream temperatures. The hypothesis was tested in a series of path analyses using temperature data from 26 sites on second‐order to fourth‐order streams across a fifth‐order Rocky Mountain watershed. Based on the performance of the first hypothesis, two revised versions of the hypothesis were developed and tested that proved to be more accurate than the original hypothesis. The most plausible of the revised hypotheses accounted for 82 percent of the variation in maximum stream temperature, had a predicted data structure that did not deviate from the empirical data structure, and was the most parsimonious. The final working hypothesis suggested that stream temperature maxima were directly controlled by a large negative effect from mean basin elevation (direct effect = ‐0.57, p < 0.01) and smaller effects from riparian tree abundance (direct effect = ‐0.28, p = 0.03), and cattle density (direct effect = 0.24, p = 0.05). Watershed slope, valley constraint, and the abundance of grass across a watershed also affected temperature maxima, but these effects were indirect and mediated through cattle density and riparian trees. Three variables included in the a priori hypothesis ‐ watershed aspect, stream width, and watershed size ‐ had negligible effects on maximum stream temperatures and were omitted from the final working hypothesis.     

Upstream Channel Changes Following Dam Construction and Removal Using a GIS/Remote Sensing Approach1

Abstract: This study used an innovative GIS/remote sensing approach to study historical river channel changes in the Huron River, a wandering gravel‐bedded river in northern Ohio. Eight sets of historical aerial photographs (1958‐2003) span the construction of a low‐head dam (1969), removal of the spillway (1994), and removal of the dam itself (2002). Construction of the dam modified stream gradients >4 km upstream of the small impounded reservoir. This study tracked changes in the polygon size, shape, and centroid position of 12 sand‐gravel bars through a study reach 0.2‐4.1 km upstream of the dam. These bars were highly responsive, tending to migrate obliquely downstream and toward the outer bank at rates up to 9 m/year. Historical changes in the size and position of the bars can be interpreted as the downstream translation of one or more sediment waves. Prior to dam construction, a sediment wave moved downstream through the study reach. Following construction of the dam, this sediment wave became stationary and degraded in situ by dispersion. The growth of bars throughout the study reach during this time interval resulted in a progressive increase in channel sinuosity. Removal of the spillway rejuvenated downstream translation of a sediment wave through the study reach and was followed by a reduction in channel sinuosity. These results illustrate that important geomorphologic changes can occur upstream of low‐head dams. This may be a neglected area of research about the effects of dams and dam removals.     

无人机数字摄影测量与激光雷达在地形地貌与地表覆盖研究中的应用及比较

无人机数字摄影测量（UAV-DAP）与激光雷达（LiDAR）凭借其机动灵活、高效便捷和高分辨率的特点,在地形地貌、生态监测、工程勘察、环境规划、林业资源清查等领域得到广泛应用。本文针对数字摄影测量与激光雷达的技术特征和应用趋势,着重比较两者在数据采集、数据处理、应用领域以及成本耗费等方面的区别,分析了两种技术在林业资源清查、地形地貌研究、灾害防控等领域的最新应用动态,并且基于两者的技术特点和发展动态提出了进一步的可能应用前景。基于运动结构重建算法的数字摄影测量技术获得的数字地表模型在一定条件下可以达到激光雷达技术的超高空间分辨率程度（如0.2 m×0.2 m）,但是数字摄影无法穿透植被冠层,而激光雷达可以较好地穿透植被层从而获取植被及地表信息。然而数字摄影测量技术设备简单、操作方便,成本低廉,并具有较高的空间分辨率,因而能够和高精度、高耗费、大数据量的激光雷达技术形成优势互补。无人机数字摄影测量与激光雷达技术是林业资源清查、地形地貌研究、灾害防控等领域在快速响应、高精度调查、多时期扫描等方面进一步发展的重要突破口。     

Characterizing Geomorphic Change from Anthropogenic Disturbances to Inform Restoration in the Upper Cache River,Illinois

Over the past century, channelization, agricultural tiling, and land use changes have resulted in significant stream channel degradation of the Cache River in southern Illinois. With the increasing interest in restoration of the watershed's bottomland forests and swamps, we sought to characterize geomorphic change over the past 110 years to inform restoration and management. A previously surveyed stretch of river was resurveyed in the fall of 2011, following a record flood in the spring of that year. Results suggest that the slope of the channel in this section of the river has increased 345% between 1903 and 1972 (p < 0.01), but has not changed significantly since (p = 0.12). Within that same time period, bank heights increased between 1 and 7 m and bed elevation decreased between 1 and 5 m. Changes in resurveyed cross sections appear to be primarily due to recent flood scour. It appears as though early 20th Century stream channel modifications had immediate effects on the geomorphology of the channel; however, channel geometry is now at or near equilibrium. This case study of the Cache River watershed demonstrates how and why successful restoration will require integration of geomorphic processes of the system.     

Describing Damage to Stream Modification Projects in Constrained Settings

Complex relationships between stream functions and processes make evaluation of stream modification projects difficult. Informed by vague objectives and minimal monitoring data, post‐construction project evaluations can often be a subjective attribution of success or failure. This article provides a simple framework to rapidly describe the degree of damage in stream modification projects performed in constrained settings. Based on widely accepted evaluations of physical habitat quality and stream stability, the damage states framework describes a continuum of damage in multiple categories that relate natural stream functions to the often desired state of static equilibrium. Given that channel form is closely related to stream function, it follows that changes to the channel form result in changes in function. The damage states focus on damage to flow hydraulics, sediment transport and channel equilibrium, hydraulic, and geomorphic parameters that describe basic stream functioning and support higher level functions in the modified channel. The damage states can be used in decision making as a systematic method to determine the need for repair and design adjustments.     

万宁地区近地面氯离子沉积速率的影响因素研究

目的 研究热带海洋大气环境中不同地貌下氯离子沉积速率的分布规律及主要影响因素。方法 通过挂片法采集万宁地区的氯离子沉积速率,并分析离海距离、地形地貌对氯离子沉积速率的影响,以及其与海水因素、自然环境因素间的相关性。结果 近海开阔区域氯离子沉积速率受离海距离和地貌的影响显著,在300 m处降低至90 m处的1/3左右,地貌的变化导致同一距离点处的氯离子沉积速率相差30倍。另外,高的海水有效波高、风速和东风占比使春季氯离子沉积速率高于夏季。结论 不同地貌下的氯离子沉积速率均与海水有效波高、风速间呈较强的正相关性。