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Flood Magnitude (flood + magnitude)
Selected AbstractsEffects of floods versus low flows on invertebrates in a New Zealand gravel-bed riverFRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 12 2006ALASTAIR M. SUREN Summary 1. Floods and low flows are hydrological events that influence river ecosystems, but few studies have compared their relative importance in structuring invertebrate communities. Invertebrates were sampled in riffles and runs at eight sites along 40 km of a New Zealand gravel-bed river every 1,3 months over 2.5 years, during which time a number of large flood and low flow events occurred. Flows were high in winter and spring, and low in summer and autumn. Four flow-related variables were calculated from hydrological data: flow on the day of sampling (Qsample), maximum and minimum flow between successive samples (Qmax and Qmin, respectively), and the number of days since the last bed-moving flood (Ndays). 2. The invertebrate community was summarised by relative densities of the 19 most abundant taxa and four biotic metrics [total abundance, taxon richness, the number of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera taxa (i.e. EPT richness), and per cent EPT]. Invertebrate density fluctuated greatly, and was high in summer and autumn, and low during winter and spring. Stepwise multiple regression (SMR) analysis was used to investigate relationships between the invertebrate community and season, flow, habitat and water temperature. 3. Seasonal variables were included in almost 50% of the SMR models, while flow-related variables were included in >75% of models. Densities of many taxa were negatively correlated to Qmin and Qmax, and positively correlated to Ndays, suggesting that while high flows reduced invertebrate densities, densities recovered with increasing time following a flood. Although season and flow were confounded in this study, many of the taxa analysed display little seasonal variation in abundance, suggesting that flow-related variables were more important in structuring communities than seasonal changes in density associated with life-cycles. 4. Five discrete flood and low flow events were identified and changes to invertebrate communities before and after these events examined. Invertebrate densities decreased more commonly after floods than after low flows, and there was a significant positive relationship between the number of taxa showing reductions in density and flood magnitude. Densities of most invertebrates either remained unchanged, or increased after low flow events, except for four taxa whose densities declined after a very long period (up to 9 months) of low flow. This decline was attributed to autogenic sloughing of thick periphyton communities and subsequent loss of habitat for these taxa. 5. Invertebrate communities changed more after floods and the degree of change was proportional to flood magnitude. Community similarity increased with increasing time since the last disturbance, suggesting that the longer stable flows lasted, the less the community changed. These results suggest that invertebrate communities in the Waipara River were controlled by both floods and low flows, but that the relative effects of floods were greater than even extended periods of extreme low flow. 6. Hydraulic conditions in riffles and runs were measured throughout the study. Riffles had consistently faster velocities, but were shallower and narrower than runs at all measured flows. Invertebrate density in riffles was expressed as a percentage of total density and regressed against the flow-related variables to see whether invertebrate locations changed according to flow. Significant negative relationships were observed between the per cent density of common taxa in riffles and Qsample, Qmax and Qmin. This result suggests either that these animals actively drifted into areas of faster velocity during low flows, or that their densities within riffles increased as the width of these habitats declined. [source] The influence of elevation error on the morphometrics of channel networks extracted from DEMs and the implications for hydrological modellingHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 11 2008John B. Lindsay Abstract Stream network morphometrics have been used frequently in environmental applications and are embedded in several hydrological models. This is because channel network geometry partly controls the runoff response of a basin. Network indices are often measured from channels that are mapped from digital elevation models (DEMs) using automated procedures. Simulations were used in this paper to study the influence of elevation error on the reliability of estimates of several common morphometrics, including stream order, the bifurcation, length, area and slope ratios, stream magnitude, network diameter, the flood magnitude and timing parameters of the geomorphological instantaneous unit hydrograph (GIUH) and the network width function. DEMs of three UK basins, ranging from high to low relief, were used for the analyses. The findings showed that moderate elevation error (RMSE of 1·8 m) can result in significant uncertainty in DEM-mapped network morphometrics and that this uncertainty can be expressed in complex ways. For example, estimates of the bifurcation, length and area ratios and the flood magnitude and timing parameters of the GIUH each displayed multimodal frequency distributions, i.e. two or more estimated values were highly likely. Furthermore, these preferential estimates were wide ranging relative to the ranges typically observed for these indices. The wide-ranging estimates of the two GIUH parameters represented significant uncertainty in the shape of the unit hydrograph. Stream magnitude, network diameter and the network width function were found to be highly sensitive to elevation error because of the difficulty in mapping low-magnitude links. Uncertainties in the width function were found to increase with distance from outlet, implying that hydrological models that use network width contain greater uncertainty in the shape of the falling limb of the hydrograph. In light of these findings, care should be exercised when interpreting the results of analyses based on DEM-mapped stream networks. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Responses of Aquatic Macrophytes to Disturbance by Flash Floods in a Brazilian Semiarid Intermittent Stream,BIOTROPICA, Issue 4 2001Leonardo Maltchik ABSTRACT Resistance and resilience of Najas marina to disturbance by flash floods were studied in a permanent fluvial pool of a Brazilian semiarid intermittent stream. A total of 21 macrophyte samples was collected in the high-rainfall season during two annual cycles (1996,1997). Decreases in macrophyte biomass were positively correlated with flood magnitude (Pearson, P = 0.047), varying from 25 to 53 percent when discharges were lower than or equal to 0.5 m3/ sec and between 70 and 100 percent when discharges were higher than 1.0 m- 3/sec. Macrophyte resilience was greater after floods of low magnitude. After floods of 0.5 m- 3/sec, three weeks were necessary to re-establish 88 percent of biomass lost, and after a flood of 1.4 m-Vsec, six months were needed to initiate A, marina regrowth. This population of N. marina in Avelós stream has higher stability in response to small disturbances, but as expected, its resistance and resilience decreases with larger disturbances. In general, the high resistance and resilience of N. marina m response to small disturbances have been observed in intermittent tropical streams. The absence of large floods during the study period and the low variability of water temperature in this tropical region may have influenced these results. RESUMES A influencia de cheias rápidas na resistência e na resistência de Najas marina foram estudadas em uma poça fluvial permanente de um riacho efêmero do Semi-árido Brasileiro. Vinte e uma coletas de macrófitas aquáticas foram realizadas durante o período de chuvas de dois ciclos anuais (1996 e 1997). A variaçäo da biomassa de macrófitas aquáticas estava diretamente correlacionada com a magnitude da cheia (Pearson, P=0.047), variando entre 25 e 53 por cento quando as vazöes eram inferiores ou iguais à 0.5 m3 -Vsec e entre 70 e 100 por cento quando as vazöes eram superiores à 1.0 m3/sec. A resiliência de macrófitas era maior após às cheias de baixa magnitude. Após a cheia de 0.5 m3 -Vsec, foram necessários seis meses para restabelecer 88 por cento da biomassa perdida, e após a cheia de 1.4 m3/ sec, foram necessáries seis meses para iniciar a resiliência de Najas marina. Esta populaçäo de N. marina do riacho Avelós apresentou maior estabilidade frente ás perturbaçöes hidrológicas de baixa magnitude, mas a resistêncía e a resiliéncia diminuíam à medida que a magnitude da perturbaçao aumentava. A alta resístência e resiliência de N marina frente às perturbaçöes hidrológicas de baixa magnitude, geralmente tem sido observadas em riachos intermi-tentes tropicais. A ausência de grandes cheias durante o periodo estudado e a pequena amplitude térmica da água superficial desta regiäo tropical podem ter favorecido estes resultados. [source] Evidence for Changing Flood Risk in New England Since the Late 20th Century,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 2 2009Mathias J. Collins Abstract:, Long-term flow records for watersheds with minimal human influence have shown trends in recent decades toward increasing streamflow at regional and national scales, especially for low flow quantiles like the annual minimum and annual median flows. Trends for high flow quantiles are less clear, despite recent research showing increased precipitation in the conterminous United States over the last century that has been brought about primarily by an increased frequency and intensity of events in the upper 10th percentile of the daily precipitation distribution , particularly in the Northeast. This study investigates trends in 28 long-term annual flood series for New England watersheds with dominantly natural streamflow. The flood series are an average of 75 years in length and are continuous through 2006. Twenty-five series show upward trends via the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test, 40% (10) of which are statistically significant (p < 0.1). Moreover, an average standardized departures series for 23 of the study gages indicates that increasing flood magnitudes in New England occurred as a step change around 1970. The timing of this is broadly synchronous with a phase change in the low frequency variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation, a prominent upper atmospheric circulation pattern that is known to effect climate variability along the United States east coast. Identifiable hydroclimatic shifts should be considered when the affected flow records are used for flood frequency analyses. Special treatment of the flood series can improve the analyses and provide better estimates of flood magnitudes and frequencies under the prevailing hydroclimatic condition. [source] | |||||||||||||