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Modeling riparian vegetation responses to flow alteration by dams and and climate change

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dc.contributor.authorAuerbach, Daniel Albert, author
dc.contributor.authorPoff, N. LeRoy, advisor
dc.contributor.authorBledsoe, Brian, committee member
dc.contributor.authorBoone, Randall, committee member
dc.contributor.authorMerritt, David, committee member
dc.contributor.authorWebb, Colleen, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T06:08:41Z
dc.date.available2015-01-31T05:57:00Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.description.abstractAs the interface between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems, riparian vegetation is a critical influence on biodiversity maintenance and ecosystem service production along river corridors. Understanding how altered environmental drivers will affect this vegetation is therefore central to sound watershed management. A river's flow regime exerts a primary control on the type and abundance of riparian vegetation, as differing adaptations to changing discharge levels mediate plant recruitment and persistence. Models of the relationships between flow and vegetation, generalized across species in terms of flow response traits such as flood tolerance, provide a means to explore the consequences of hydrologic alteration resulting from dams and climate change. I addressed these issues through development of a stage-structured model of woody riparian vegetation driven by variation in annual high flows. Simulation experiments offered insight into the potential trajectories of competing vegetation trait types relative to scenarios of dam construction, re-operation and removal. Modifying the size and frequency of the floods responsible for both disturbance mortality and establishment opportunities altered the relative abundance of pioneer and upland cover. Yet, qualitative differences in simulated outcomes resulted from alternative assumptions regarding seed limitation and floodplain stabilization, illustrating the need to carefully consider how these factors may shape estimated and actual vegetation responses to river regulation. In addition, I linked this simulation approach with an integrated watershed-modeling framework to assess the relative risk of invasion by the introduced plant Tamarix under multiple climate change scenarios. Though warming may increase the potential for Tamarix range expansion by weakening thermal constraints, the results of this work supported the expectation that hydrogeomorphic variation will control how this potential is realized. With simulated invasion risk strongly dependent on shifts in both the magnitude and timing of high flows, model outcomes underscored the importance of accounting for multiple, interacting flow regime attributes when evaluating the spread of introduced species in river networks. This research suggested the utility of simplified but process-based simulations of riparian flow-ecology relationships, demonstrating that such models can establish a first approximation of the potential consequences of management decisions and can highlight key questions for additional research, particularly where data are scarce and uncertainty is high.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.identifierAuerbach_colostate_0053A_11999.pdf
dc.identifierETDF2013500286ECOL
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/80930
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectdams
dc.subjectriparian vegetation
dc.subjectflow-response traits
dc.subject.lcshTamarix
dc.titleModeling riparian vegetation responses to flow alteration by dams and and climate change
dc.typeText
dcterms.embargo.expires2015-01-31
dcterms.embargo.terms2015-01-31
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineEcology
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

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