Ecological effects of a long-term flood program in a flow-regulated river
The natural flow regime of many rivers on the globe has been altered by regulation, strongly influencing river morphology and aquatic biota. The incorporation of regimebased criteria such as flow and temperature regimes in restoration plans is an important step in river management. This paper summar...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institut de Géographie Alpine
2008-03-01
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| Series: | Revue de Géographie Alpine |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/rga/450 |
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| _version_ | 1841546675531808768 |
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| author | Sabine Mannes Christopher-Thomas Robinson Urs Uehlinger Thomas Scheurer Johannes Ortlepp Uta Mürle Peter Molinari |
| author_facet | Sabine Mannes Christopher-Thomas Robinson Urs Uehlinger Thomas Scheurer Johannes Ortlepp Uta Mürle Peter Molinari |
| author_sort | Sabine Mannes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The natural flow regime of many rivers on the globe has been altered by regulation, strongly influencing river morphology and aquatic biota. The incorporation of regimebased criteria such as flow and temperature regimes in restoration plans is an important step in river management. This paper summarizes the effects of a long-term flood program (15 floods over 8 years) on the river Spöl, Swiss National Park, on water physico-chemistry and river biota (periphyton, macroinvertebrates and fish). Due to hypolimnetic release, the floods had little impact on physical and chemical parameters. Periphyton biomass was reduced by the early floods and remained at low levels throughout the study period. Macroinvertebrate taxon richness, biomass and density were also significantly reduced and the macroinvertebrate assemblage shifted towards more disturbance-resistant taxa. The quality of fish habitat, especially for spawning, was noticeably improved by the floods. Further analysis suggested that the response of biota to floods of similar magnitude have changed over the study period in concert with the compositional shift in biotic assemblages. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a141a32f9d7c4d20b7bfed255a3994dd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0035-1121 1760-7426 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2008-03-01 |
| publisher | Institut de Géographie Alpine |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue de Géographie Alpine |
| spelling | doaj-art-a141a32f9d7c4d20b7bfed255a3994dd2025-01-10T15:56:25ZengInstitut de Géographie AlpineRevue de Géographie Alpine0035-11211760-74262008-03-0196112513410.4000/rga.450Ecological effects of a long-term flood program in a flow-regulated riverSabine MannesChristopher-Thomas RobinsonUrs UehlingerThomas ScheurerJohannes OrtleppUta MürlePeter MolinariThe natural flow regime of many rivers on the globe has been altered by regulation, strongly influencing river morphology and aquatic biota. The incorporation of regimebased criteria such as flow and temperature regimes in restoration plans is an important step in river management. This paper summarizes the effects of a long-term flood program (15 floods over 8 years) on the river Spöl, Swiss National Park, on water physico-chemistry and river biota (periphyton, macroinvertebrates and fish). Due to hypolimnetic release, the floods had little impact on physical and chemical parameters. Periphyton biomass was reduced by the early floods and remained at low levels throughout the study period. Macroinvertebrate taxon richness, biomass and density were also significantly reduced and the macroinvertebrate assemblage shifted towards more disturbance-resistant taxa. The quality of fish habitat, especially for spawning, was noticeably improved by the floods. Further analysis suggested that the response of biota to floods of similar magnitude have changed over the study period in concert with the compositional shift in biotic assemblages.https://journals.openedition.org/rga/450artificial floodsresidual flow regimemacroinvertebratesperiphytonbrown troutSwitzerland |
| spellingShingle | Sabine Mannes Christopher-Thomas Robinson Urs Uehlinger Thomas Scheurer Johannes Ortlepp Uta Mürle Peter Molinari Ecological effects of a long-term flood program in a flow-regulated river Revue de Géographie Alpine artificial floods residual flow regime macroinvertebrates periphyton brown trout Switzerland |
| title | Ecological effects of a long-term flood program in a flow-regulated river |
| title_full | Ecological effects of a long-term flood program in a flow-regulated river |
| title_fullStr | Ecological effects of a long-term flood program in a flow-regulated river |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ecological effects of a long-term flood program in a flow-regulated river |
| title_short | Ecological effects of a long-term flood program in a flow-regulated river |
| title_sort | ecological effects of a long term flood program in a flow regulated river |
| topic | artificial floods residual flow regime macroinvertebrates periphyton brown trout Switzerland |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/rga/450 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sabinemannes ecologicaleffectsofalongtermfloodprograminaflowregulatedriver AT christopherthomasrobinson ecologicaleffectsofalongtermfloodprograminaflowregulatedriver AT ursuehlinger ecologicaleffectsofalongtermfloodprograminaflowregulatedriver AT thomasscheurer ecologicaleffectsofalongtermfloodprograminaflowregulatedriver AT johannesortlepp ecologicaleffectsofalongtermfloodprograminaflowregulatedriver AT utamurle ecologicaleffectsofalongtermfloodprograminaflowregulatedriver AT petermolinari ecologicaleffectsofalongtermfloodprograminaflowregulatedriver |