Abstract:
Hydrologic variability plays a major role in structuring the riparian vegetation within river ecosystems. This study evaluates the spatial and temporal response of riparian vegetation to altered flow regimes below 16 river dams across the contiguous United States using a combination of a holistic Environmental Flow Assessment approach and satellite remote sensing. River flows were characterized using thirty-three (33) different Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) using the Range of Variability Approach (RVA). The alterations of riverflows were determined for post-dam scenarios comparing between the pre-dam and post-dam IHAs. Of the 16 locations assessed, 2 showed low levels, 11 moderate and 3 high levels of alteration. Change detection of riparian vegetation revealed an increase at majority of the sites (10 of the 16) immediately after the construction of the dam. Also, in a majority of the locations a decrease (10 of the 16) in vegetation was observed at the 1 year post-dam completion mark. Analyses show that vegetation change effects due to flow regime alterations below smaller dams occurred at shorter time spans (1-year post-completion) than larger dams (5-year post completion). It is inferred that categorizing dams based on capacity was successful in understanding effects on the vegetation extents better. In addition to the in-stream flow paradigm, regional climate and geomorphology are also identified as driving factors of riparian vegetation regulation. The need for a multi-factor model that drives annual changes in riparian zones is recognized to make better-informed decisions on sustainable dam operations.
