Publications (FIS)

Impact of a 100-year flood on vegetation, benthic invertebrates, riparian fauna and large woody debris standing stock in an alpine floodplain

authored by: Daniel Hering, Marc Gerhard, Randolf Manderbach, Michael Reich
Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of a 100-year flood in May 1999 on community composition and large woody debris standing stock in an alpine floodplain (Isar, Germany). Detailed pre-flood data sampled from 1993 to 1998 are compared with the situation directly after the flood. In those parts of the Isar floodplain mainly covered with pioneer vegetation prior to flooding, the coverage of unvegetated gravel bars increased by 22% following the flood. However, the flood did not remove larger amounts of older successional vegetation stages (willow thickets, floodplain forest). No significant changes in the benthic invertebrate fauna were recorded. The lowest densities of riparian ground beetles (Carabidae) within the study were recorded one month after the flood. Two months later, the ground beetle densities increased to the highest values ever recorded, indicating the ground beetle's high potential for recolonization. These results highlight the degree of resilience of both the aquatic and the riparian invertebrate fauna. The flood also caused a significant increase in large woody debris standing stock; in one section the number of logs increased tenfold and the volume increased by a factor of 20, leading to the assumption that most woody debris in alluvial flood-plains is provided by catastrophic events.
Organisation(s): Institute of Environmental Planning
External Organisation(s): University of Duisburg-Essen
Philipps-Universität Marburg
Type: Article
Journal: River research and applications
Volume: 20
Pages: 445-457
No. of pages: 13
ISSN: 1535-1459
Publication date: 07.2004
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Environmental Chemistry, Water Science and Technology, General Environmental Science
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.759 (Access: Closed)

BibTeX

@article{4fe21995f49c4a2ba7423f1a21c0ee48,
title = "Impact of a 100-year flood on vegetation, benthic invertebrates, riparian fauna and large woody debris standing stock in an alpine floodplain",
abstract = "This paper investigates the impact of a 100-year flood in May 1999 on community composition and large woody debris standing stock in an alpine floodplain (Isar, Germany). Detailed pre-flood data sampled from 1993 to 1998 are compared with the situation directly after the flood. In those parts of the Isar floodplain mainly covered with pioneer vegetation prior to flooding, the coverage of unvegetated gravel bars increased by 22% following the flood. However, the flood did not remove larger amounts of older successional vegetation stages (willow thickets, floodplain forest). No significant changes in the benthic invertebrate fauna were recorded. The lowest densities of riparian ground beetles (Carabidae) within the study were recorded one month after the flood. Two months later, the ground beetle densities increased to the highest values ever recorded, indicating the ground beetle's high potential for recolonization. These results highlight the degree of resilience of both the aquatic and the riparian invertebrate fauna. The flood also caused a significant increase in large woody debris standing stock; in one section the number of logs increased tenfold and the volume increased by a factor of 20, leading to the assumption that most woody debris in alluvial flood-plains is provided by catastrophic events.",
keywords = "Alluvial floodplain, Benthic macroinvertebrates, Flood, Floodplain vegetation, Large woody debris, Residual flow, Riparian fauna",
author = "Daniel Hering and Marc Gerhard and Randolf Manderbach and Michael Reich",
year = "2004",
month = jul,
doi = "10.1002/rra.759",
language = "English",
volume = "20",
pages = "445--457",
journal = "River research and applications",
issn = "1535-1459",
publisher = "John Wiley and Sons Ltd",
number = "4",
}