Abstract
Natural flowing rivers actively meander and therefore strongly influence their floodplains through hydrodynamic and morphological processes. Those forceful processes lead to floodplains with a rich biodiversity. Regulated rivers, on the other hand, have their river course fixed and therefore do not influence their floodplains as much as natural flowing rivers. This diminished influence leads to floodplains overgrown with forests, jeopardizing water safety and leading to impoverished biodiversity.
Understanding how vegetation is shaped is crucial to manage both water safety and biodiversity in floodplains of regulated rivers. The so-called filter-trait concept could be useful, as this concept links filters (i.e. processes) to trait strategy composition (i.e. vegetation species composition). The filter-trait concept has been succesfully applied to various ecosystems, but the applicability of the concept for floodplains of regulated rivers is not without debate.
To research whether the filter-trait concept can generate insights that contribute to balancing water safety and biodiversity goals in floodplains of regulated rivers, the following main question was posed, in which the filter-trait concept was used as the leading principle:
What are the main steering processes shaping vegetation patterns in floodplains of regulated lowland rivers and how can this knowledge be used in floodplain management?
With the following sub-questions:
1. What does the filter-trait concept add to the understanding of vegetation composition in floodplains of regulated lowland rivers?
2. What are the main filters that govern vegetation dynamics in floodplains of regulated lowland rivers and are those filters scale-independent?
3. How can the knowledge of the filter-trait concept, as underpinning for the dynamics of plant trait strategies in floodplains of regulated rivers, be translated into a modelling approach?
The undertaken research demonstrated that the filter-trait concept that can be applied to floodplains of large, regulated lowland rivers using field and satellite data, as well as model development; the concept was able to identify the dominant filters for trait strategy composition on different spatial scales. As such, the filter-trait concept is helpful for water safety and biodiversity aims within floodplains of regulated lowland rivers.
Understanding how vegetation is shaped is crucial to manage both water safety and biodiversity in floodplains of regulated rivers. The so-called filter-trait concept could be useful, as this concept links filters (i.e. processes) to trait strategy composition (i.e. vegetation species composition). The filter-trait concept has been succesfully applied to various ecosystems, but the applicability of the concept for floodplains of regulated rivers is not without debate.
To research whether the filter-trait concept can generate insights that contribute to balancing water safety and biodiversity goals in floodplains of regulated rivers, the following main question was posed, in which the filter-trait concept was used as the leading principle:
What are the main steering processes shaping vegetation patterns in floodplains of regulated lowland rivers and how can this knowledge be used in floodplain management?
With the following sub-questions:
1. What does the filter-trait concept add to the understanding of vegetation composition in floodplains of regulated lowland rivers?
2. What are the main filters that govern vegetation dynamics in floodplains of regulated lowland rivers and are those filters scale-independent?
3. How can the knowledge of the filter-trait concept, as underpinning for the dynamics of plant trait strategies in floodplains of regulated rivers, be translated into a modelling approach?
The undertaken research demonstrated that the filter-trait concept that can be applied to floodplains of large, regulated lowland rivers using field and satellite data, as well as model development; the concept was able to identify the dominant filters for trait strategy composition on different spatial scales. As such, the filter-trait concept is helpful for water safety and biodiversity aims within floodplains of regulated lowland rivers.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
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| Award date | 3 Jul 2023 |
| Place of Publication | Enschede |
| Publisher | |
| Print ISBNs | 978-94-6473-141-5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 3 Jul 2023 |