Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Role of Abandoned Channels as Refugia for Sustaining Pioneer Riparian Forest Ecosystems

  • Published:
Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In disturbance-prone ecosystems, organisms often persist in spatial refugia during stressful periods. A clear example is the colonization of abandoned river channels by pioneer riparian trees. Here, we examine the prominence of this establishment pathway for a foundation tree species (Fremont cottonwood, Populus fremontii) within the riparian corridor of a large river, the Sacramento River in central California. We quantified the total proportion of forest that initiated as a result of channel abandonment for a 160-km reach, analyzed concurrent patterns of tree establishment with floodplain accretion and sedimentation history, and developed a conceptual model of biogeomorphic evolution of abandoned channels. Historical air photo analysis indicated that stands associated with abandoned channels comprised more than 50% of the total extant cottonwood forest area. Tree-ring evidence showed that cottonwood stands commonly developed immediately following abandonment, and the recruitment window ranged from 4 to 40 years, but was less than 10 years at most sites. Rates of floodplain rise and fine sediment accumulation were high in young sites and decreased logarithmically over time. Together, these results suggest that abandoned channels are an important refuge for cottonwood recruitment, that the greatest opportunity for colonization occurs within a short period after the cutoff event, and that sedimentation processes influence the duration of the colonization window. On rivers where tree recruitment along the active channel is severely limited by hydrologic regulation and/or land management, abandoned channel refugia may play an even more important role in sustaining an ecologically functional riparian corridor. Preserving bank erosion, active meander corridors and forest regeneration zones created by cutoff events are therefore key conservation measures on shifting rivers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amlin NM, Rood SB. 2002. Comparative tolerances of riparian willows and cottonwoods to water-table decline. Wetlands 22:338–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asplund KK, Gooch MT. 1988. Geomorphology and the distributional ecology of Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) in a desert riparian canyon. Desert Plants 9:17–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bond WJ, Midgley JJ. 2001. Ecology of sprouting in woody plants: the persistence niche. Trends Ecol Evol 16:45–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bornette G, Amoros C, Piégay H, Tachet J, Hein T. 1998. Ecological complexity of wetlands within a river landscape. Biol Conserv 85:35–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bornette G, Tabacchi E, Hupp C, Puijalon S, Rostan JC. 2008. A model of plant strategies in fluvial hydrosystems. Freshw Biol 53:1692–705.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braatne J, Rood S, Heilman P. 1996. Life history, ecology, and conservation of riparian cottonwoods in North America. In: Stettler R, Bradshaw H, Heilman P, Hinckley T, Eds. Biology of Populus and its implications for management and conservation. Ottawa (ON): NRC Research Press, National Research Council of Canada. p 57–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braatne JH, Jamieson R, Gill KM, Rood SB. 2007. Instream flows and the decline of riparian cottonwoods along the Yakima River, Washington, USA. River Res Appl 23:247–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buer K, Forwalter D, Kissel M, Stohler B. 1989. The middle Sacramento River: human impacts on physical and ecological processes along a meandering river. In: Abell DL, Ed. Proceedings of the California Riparian Systems Conference: protection, management, and restoration for the 1990s. Berkeley (CA): Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service. pp. 22–32.

  • Cayan DR, Maurer EP, Dettinger MD, Tyree M, Hayhoe K. 2008. Climate change scenarios for the California region. Clim Change 87:S21–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Citterio A, Piégay H. 2009. Overbank sedimentation rates in former channel lakes: characterization and control factors. Sedimentology 56:461–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Constantine JA, Dunne T. 2008. Meander cutoff and the controls on the production of oxbow lakes. Geology 36:23–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Constantine JA, Dunne T, Piégay H, Kondolf GM. 2010. Controls on the alluviation of oxbow lakes by bed-material load along the Sacramento River, California. Sedimentology 57:389–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper DJ, Merritt DM, Andersen DC, Chimner RA. 1999. Factors controlling the establishment of Fremont cottonwood seedlings on the upper Green River, USA. Regulat Rivers Res Manag 15:419–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper DJ, Andersen DC, Chimner RA. 2003. Multiple pathways for woody plant establishment on floodplains at local to regional scales. J Ecol 91:182–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper DJ, Dickens J, Hobbs NT, Christensen L, Landrum L. 2006. Hydrologic, geomorphic and climatic processes controlling willow establishment in a montane ecosystem. Hydrol Process 20:1845–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cordes LD, Hughes FMR, Getty M. 1997. Factors affecting the regeneration and distribution of riparian woodlands along a northern Prairie River: the Red Deer River, Alberta, Canada. J Biogeogr 24:675–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corenblit D, Tabacchi E, Steiger J, Gurnell AM. 2007. Reciprocal interactions and adjustments between fluvial landforms and vegetation dynamics in river corridors: a review of complementary approaches. Earth Sci Rev 84:56–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dayton PK. 1972. Toward an understanding of community resilience and the potential effects of enrichments to the benthos at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. In: Parker BC, Ed. Proceedings of the colloquium on conservation problems in Antarctica. Lawrence (KS): Allen Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De’ath G, Fabricius KE. 2000. Classification and regression trees: a powerful yet simple technique for ecological data analysis. Ecology 81:3178–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon MD, Turner MG, Jin CF. 2002. Riparian tree seedling distribution on Wisconsin River sandbars: controls at different spatial scales. Ecol Monogr 72:465–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Douhovnikoff V, McBride JR, Dodd RS. 2005. Salix exigua clonal growth and population dynamics in relation to disturbance regime variation. Ecology 86:446–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dufour S, Piégay H. 2008. Geomorphological controls of Fraxinus excelsior growth and regeneration in floodplain forests. Ecology 89:205–15.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dufour S, Piégay H. 2010. Channel vertical mobility, hydro-geomorphic disturbances and understory vegetation in floodplain forests of the Ain River (France). Géomorphologie 4:371–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dykaar BB, Wigington JPJ. 2000. Floodplain formation and cottonwood colonization patterns on the Willamette River, Oregon, USA. Environ Manag 25:87–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison AM, Bank MS, Clinton BD, Colburn EA, Elliott K, Ford CR, Foster DR, Kloeppel BD, Knoepp JD, Lovett GM, Mohan J, Orwig DA, Rodenhouse NL, Sobczak WV, Stinson KA, Stone JK, Swan CM, Thompson J, Von Holle B, Webster JR. 2005. Loss of foundation species: consequences for the structure and dynamics of forested ecosystems. Front Ecol Environ 3:479–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enright NJ, Lamont BB. 1989. Seed banks, fire season, safe sites and seedling recruitment in 5 co-occurring Banksia species. J Ecol 77:1111–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everitt BL. 1968. Use of the cottonwood in an investigation of the recent history of a flood plain. Am J Sci 266:417–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenner P, Brady WW, Patton DR. 1985. Effects of regulated water flows on regeneration of Fremont cottonwood. J Range Manag 38:135–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisk HN. 1947. Fine grained alluvial deposits and their effects on Mississippi River activity, Vols 1 & 2. Vicksburg (MS): Mississippi River Commission.

  • Florsheim JL, Mount JF, Chin A. 2008. Bank erosion as a desirable attribute of rivers. Bioscience 58:519–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman JM, Osterkamp WR, Scott ML, Auble GT. 1998. Downstream effects of dams on channel geometry and bottomland vegetation: regional patterns in the Great Plains. Wetlands 18:619–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagliano S, Howard P. 1984. The neck cutoff oxbow lake cycle along the Lower Mississippi River. In: Elliott CM, Ed. River meandering: proceedings of the conference Rivers’ 83. New Orleans (LA): American Society of Civil Engineers. p 147–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graf WL. 2006. Downstream hydrologic and geomorphic effects of large dams on American rivers. Geomorphology 79:336–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greco SE, Fremier AK, Plant RE, Larsen EW. 2007. A tool for tracking floodplain age land surface patterns on a large meandering river with applications for ecological planning and restoration design. Landsc Urban Plan 81:354–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grime JP. 2001. Plant strategies, vegetation processes, and ecosystem properties. Second Edition edn. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper EB, Stella JC, Fremier AK. (in press). Global sensitivity analysis for complex ecological models: a case study of riparian cottonwood population dynamics. Ecol Appl. doi:10.1890/10-0506.1.

  • Hooke JM. 2008. Temporal variations in fluvial processes on an active meandering river over a 20-year period. Geomorphology 100:3–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansson R, Nilsson C, Renöfält B. 2000. Fragmentation of riparian floras in rivers with multiple dams. Ecology 81:899–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson WC. 1994. Woodland expansion in the Platte River, Nebraska: patterns and causes. Ecol Monogr 64:45–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalliola R, Salo J, Puhakka M, Rajasilta M. 1991. New site formation and colonizing vegetation in primary succession on the Western Amazon floodplains. J Ecol 79:877–901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knowles N, Dettinger MD, Cayan DR. 2006. Trends in snowfall versus rainfall in the Western United States. J Clim 19:4545–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lake PS, Bond N, Reich P. 2007. Linking ecological theory with stream restoration. Freshw Biol 52:597–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen EW, Girvetz EH, Fremier AK. 2007. Landscape level planning in alluvial riparian floodplain ecosystems: using geomorphic modeling to avoid conflicts between human infrastructure and habitat conservation. Landsc Urban Plan 79:338–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lytle DA, Merritt DM. 2004. Hydrologic regimes and riparian forests: a structured population model for cottonwood. Ecology 85:2493–503.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lytle DA, Poff NL. 2004. Adaptation to natural flow regimes. Trends Ecol Evol 19:94–100.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney JM, Rood SB. 1998. Streamflow, requirements for cottonwood seedling recruitment—an interactive model. Wetlands 18:634–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marks PL. 1974. The role of pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica L.) in the maintenance of stability in northern hardwood ecosystems. Ecol Monogr 44:73–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marks PL. 1983. On the origin of field plants of the Northeastern United States. Am Nat 122:210–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maurer EP, Stewart IT, Bonfils C, Duffy PB, Cayan D. 2007. Detection, attribution, and sensitivity of trends toward earlier streamflow in the Sierra Nevada. J Geophys Res Atmos 112.

  • Michalková M, Piégay H, Kondolf GM, Greco SE. 2010. Lateral erosion of the Sacramento River, California (1942–1999), and responses of channel and floodplain lake to human influences. Earth Surf Process Landforms. doi:10.1002/esp.2106.

  • Micheli ER, Larsen EW. 2010. River channel cutoff dynamics, Sacramento River, California, USA. River Res Appl. doi:10.1002/rra.1360.

  • Naiman RJ, Décamps H. 1997. The ecology of interfaces: riparian zones. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 28:621–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naiman RJ, Bechtold JS, Beechie TJ, Latterell JJ, Van Pelt R. 2010. A process-based view of floodplain forest patterns in coastal river valleys of the Pacific Northwest. Ecosystems 13:1–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ne’eman G, Goubitz S, Nathan R. 2004. Reproductive traits of Pinus halepensis in the light of fire—a critical review. Plant Ecol 171:69–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson C, Berggren K. 2000. Alterations of riparian ecosystems caused by river regulation. Bioscience 50:783–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacala SW, Rees M. 1998. Models suggesting field experiments to test two hypotheses explaining successional diversity. Am Nat 152:729–37.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patten DT. 1998. Riparian ecosystems of semi-arid North America: diversity and human impacts. Wetlands 18:498–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piégay H, Hicks DM. 2005. Sediment management in river systems: a need to assess changing processes in the long term and at a large scale. River Res Appl 21:689–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piégay H, Darby SE, Mosselman E, Surian N. 2005. A review of techniques available for delimiting the erodible river corridor: a sustainable approach to managing bank erosion. River Res Appl 21:773–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piégay H, Hupp CR, Citterio A, Dufour S, Moulin B, Walling DE. 2008. Spatial and temporal variability in sedimentation rates associated with cutoff channel infill deposits: Ain River, France. Water Resour Res 44:18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polzin ML, Rood SB. 2006. Effective disturbance: seedling safe sites and patch recruitment of riparian cottonwoods after a major flood of a mountain river. Wetlands 26:965–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rood SB, Gourley CR, Ammon EM, Heki LG, Klotz JR, Morrison ML, Mosley D, Scoppettone GG, Swanson S, Wagner PL. 2003. Flows for floodplain forests: a successful riparian restoration. Bioscience 53:647–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rood SB, Samuelson GM, Braatne JH, Gourley CR, Hughes FMR, Mahoney JM. 2005a. Managing river flows to restore floodplain forests. Front Ecol Environ 3:193–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rood SB, Samuelson GM, Weber JK, Wywrot KA. 2005b. Twentieth-century decline in streamflows from the hydrographic apex of North America. J Hydrol 306:215–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rood SB, Pan J, Gill KM, Franks CG, Samuelson GM, Shepherd A. 2008. Declining summer flows of Rocky Mountain rivers: changing seasonal hydrology and probable impacts on floodplain forests. J Hydrol 349:397–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott ML, Auble GT, Friedman JM. 1997. Flood dependency of cottonwood establishment along the Missouri River, Montana, USA. Ecol Appl 7:677–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sedell JR, Reeves GH, Hauer FR, Stanford JA, Hawkins CP. 1990. Role of refugia in recovery from disturbances: modern fragmented and disconnected river systems. Environ Manag 14:711–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shafroth PB, Stromberg JC, Patten DT. 2002. Riparian vegetation response to altered disturbance and stress regimes. Ecol Appl 12:107–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shankman D. 1991. Forest regeneration on abandoned meanders of a Coastal Plain River in Western Tennessee. Castanea 56:157–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shankman D. 1993. Channel migration and vegetation patterns in the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Conserv Biol 7:176–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shields FD, Abt SR. 1989. Sediment deposition in cutoff meander bends and implications for effective management. Regul Rivers Res Manag 4:381–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stella JC, Battles JJ. 2010. How do riparian woody seedlings survive seasonal drought? Oecologia 164:579–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stella JC, Battles JJ, Orr BK, McBride JR. 2006. Synchrony of seed dispersal, hydrology and local climate in a semi-arid river reach in California. Ecosystems 9:1200–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stella JC, Battles JJ, McBride JR, Orr BK. 2010. Riparian seedling mortality from simulated water table recession, and the design of sustainable flow regimes on regulated rivers. Restor Ecol 18:284–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stromberg JC, Beauchamp VB, Dixon MD, Lite SJ, Paradzick C. 2007. Importance of low-flow and high-flow characteristics to restoration of riparian vegetation along rivers in and south-western United States. Freshw Biol 52:651–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toner M, Keddy P. 1997. River hydrology and riparian wetlands: a predictive model for ecological assembly. Ecol Appl 7:236–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urban D, Goslee S, Pierce K, Lookingbill T. 2002. Extending community ecology to landscapes. Ecoscience 9:200–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Venables WN, Ripley BD. 2003. Modern applied statistics with S. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward JV. 1998. Riverine landscapes: biodiversity patterns, disturbance regimes, and aquatic conservation. Biol Conserv 83:269–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitham TG, Martinsen GD, Floate KD, Dungey HS, Potts BM, Keim P. 1999. Plant hybrid zones affect biodiversity: tools for a genetic-based understanding of community structure. Ecology 80:416–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yarnell SM, Viers JH, Mount JF. 2010. Ecology and management of the spring snowmelt recession. Bioscience 60:114–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • York RA, Battles JJ, Eschtruth AK, Schurr FG. 2009. Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) regeneration in experimental canopy gaps. Restor Ecol. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100X.2009.00537.x.

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by the CALFED Bay-Delta Program (JCS, JJB, MKH, AKF), University of California Agricultural Experiment Station (MKH and JJB), UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellowship (MKH), and CNRS Programme International de Coopération Scientifique (HP, SD, JCS, MKH). We thank Ryan Luster and Greg Golet (The Nature Conservancy), Adam Henderson (California Department of Water Resources), Monika Michalková, Cheryl Bondi, and Dr. Matt Kondolf for early study plan review, logistical support, and geospatial data acquisition and processing. We appreciate Adrian Alber, Marie-Laure Trémélo, Vincent Gaertner, Kristell Michel, Jordan Wolfe, Zach Tane, and Kiyomi Morino for valiant field and lab assistance. Ideas and analyses in this paper benefited greatly from discussions with Elizabeth Harper, José Constantine, and Christian Braudrick.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, One Forestry Drive, Syracuse, New York, 13210, USA

    John C. Stella

  2. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    Maya K. Hayden & John J. Battles

  3. CNRS UMR 5600 EVS/Site ENS Lyon, University of Lyon, 15 Parvis René Descartes, BP 7000, 69342, Lyon Cedex 07, France

    Hervé Piégay

  4. COSTEL-CNRS LETG UMR 6554, Département de Géographie, Université Rennes 2, Place du Recteur Henri Le Moal, 35043, Rennes Cedex, France

    Simon Dufour

  5. Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho, Box 441136, Moscow, Idaho, 83844-1136, USA

    Alexander K. Fremier

Authors
  1. John C. Stella
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maya K. Hayden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John J. Battles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hervé Piégay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Simon Dufour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Alexander K. Fremier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John C. Stella.

Additional information

Author Contributions

JCS, MKH, JJB, HP, and SD designed the study; JCS, MKH, HP, and SD performed research; JCS, MKH, and HP analyzed data; JJB, HP, SD, and AKF contributed new methods and data; and JCS, MKH, JJB, and AKF wrote the paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stella, J.C., Hayden, M.K., Battles, J.J. et al. The Role of Abandoned Channels as Refugia for Sustaining Pioneer Riparian Forest Ecosystems. Ecosystems 14, 776–790 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9446-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9446-6

Key words

Search

Navigation