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Large wood, sediment, and flow regimes: Their interactions and temporal changes caused by human impacts in Japan

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:http://hdl.handle.net/2115/72715

Title: Large wood, sediment, and flow regimes: Their interactions and temporal changes caused by human impacts in Japan
Authors: Nakamura, Futoshi Browse this author →KAKEN DB
Seo, Jung Il Browse this author
Akasaka, Takumi Browse this author
Swanson, Frederick J. Browse this author
Keywords: Regime shift
Channel incision
Forest expansion
Sediment discharge
Issue Date: 15-Feb-2017
Publisher: Elsevier
Journal Title: Geomorphology
Volume: 279
Start Page: 176
End Page: 187
Publisher DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.09.001
Abstract: Water, sediment, and large wood (LW) are the three key components of dynamic river-floodplain ecosystems. We examined variations in sediment and LW discharge with respect to precipitation, the presence of dams, land and river use change, and related channel incision and forest expansion on gravel bars and floodplains across Japan. The results indicated that unit sediment discharge and unit LW discharge were smaller in southern Japan where precipitation intensity is generally much greater. Effective precipitation, an index that takes current and antecedent precipitation into account, was a strong predictor of discharge in small watersheds, but not in larger watersheds. However, precipitation intensities related to unit sediment discharge in intermediate and large watersheds were smaller than those associated with unit LW discharge, which we attribute to differences in particle shape and size and also transport mechanisms. The relationship between river flow and discharge of sediment and LW lead us to posit that discharges of these components are supply limited in southern Japan and transport limited in northern Japan. The cross-sectional mean low-flow bed elevation of gravel-bed and sand-bed rivers in Japan decreased by similar to 0.71 and 0.74 m on average, respectively, over the period 1960-2000. Forest expansion on bars and floodplains has been prominent since the 1990s, and trees apparently began to colonize gravel bars similar to 10 to 20 years after riverbed degradation began. Forest recovery in headwater basins, dam construction, gravel mining, and channelization over the past half century are likely the dominant factors that significantly reduced downstream sediment delivery, thereby promoting channel incision and forest expansion. Changes in rivers and floodplains associated with channel incision and forest expansion alter the assemblages of aquatic and terrestrial organisms in riverine landscapes of Japan, and climate change may contribute to this change by intensified precipitation. Additionally, regime shifts of water, sediment, and LW may continue or they may reach a dynamic state of quasi-equilibrium in the future. Continued monitoring of these three components, taking into account their geographic variation, is critical for anticipating and managing future changes in river-floodplain systems in Japan and around the world. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Rights: ©2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Type: article (author version)
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2115/72715
Appears in Collections:農学院・農学研究院 (Graduate School of Agriculture / Faculty of Agriculture) > 雑誌発表論文等 (Peer-reviewed Journal Articles, etc)

Submitter: 中村 太士

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