TY - JOUR
T1 - How to build vegetation patches in hydraulic studies: a hydrodynamic-ecological perspective on a biological object
AU - Cornacchia, Loreta
AU - Lapetoule, G.
AU - Licci, Sofia
AU - Basquin, H.
AU - Puijalon, Sara
N1 - Funding Information:
The work was funded by the ANR-DFG 2016 project ESCaFlex (‘Experiments and simulations for the study of submerged aquatic canopies consisting of long flexible blades’, ANR-16-CE92-0020) and by the Research Executive Agency, through the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union, Support for Training and Career Development of Researchers (Marie Curie - FP7-PEOPLE-2012-ITN), which funded the Initial Training Network (ITN) HYTECH “Hydrodynamic Transport in Ecologically Critical Heterogeneous Interfaces,” N.316546. We acknowledge Baptiste Thevenet, Celine Lott, Félix Vallier, Christelle Boisselet and Sophie Poussineau for their help in field sampling and data collection. We thank Nicolas Rivière, Delphine Doppler and J. John Soundar Jerome for valuable discussions on the Cauchy number. We thank the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) for access to field sites. This study was conducted under the aegis of the “Zone Atelier Bassin du Rhône” (ZABR, LTSER France) and of the École Universitaire de Recherche H2O'Lyon (ANR-17-EURE-0018). We thank the Editor, the Associate Editor and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that have improved the quality of our manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023/7/3
Y1 - 2023/7/3
N2 - Vegetation in freshwater and coastal ecosystems modifies flows, retains sediment, protects banks and shorelines from erosion. Hydraulic laboratory studies with live vegetation or artificial plant mimics, or numerical models with abstracted patches, are often used to quantify the effects of vegetation on water flow and sedimentation. However, the choice of plant and patch characteristics is often not supported by field observations of patch dimensions, density or spacing between consecutive patches. The discrepancy between plants in natural conditions and in flume experiments or numerical studies may affect the relevance of these findings for natural ecosystems. In this study, we provide guidelines for building realistic vegetation patches in hydraulic studies. We collected data on four species of fully submerged freshwater aquatic macrophytes that can grow into well-defined patches. We considered three relevant levels: individual plants (inside patches), isolated patches and multiple neighbouring patches. At the plant level, we observed significant differences in biomechanical traits (Young’s modulus, flexural stiffness), resulting in stem Cauchy numbers ranging from 85.25 to 325.84, and leaf Cauchy numbers from 163.81 to 2003.97. At the patch level, we found significant relationships between patch length, width and height, showing covariation among different patch characteristics. The relationships among patch dimensions differed significantly among sampling sites for three of the four species, suggesting high intraspecific variability in patch sizes. By providing a first set of guidelines for choosing correct and ecologically relevant plant characteristics, this dataset aims to improve our understanding of the complex processes occurring inside and around submerged vegetated patches.
AB - Vegetation in freshwater and coastal ecosystems modifies flows, retains sediment, protects banks and shorelines from erosion. Hydraulic laboratory studies with live vegetation or artificial plant mimics, or numerical models with abstracted patches, are often used to quantify the effects of vegetation on water flow and sedimentation. However, the choice of plant and patch characteristics is often not supported by field observations of patch dimensions, density or spacing between consecutive patches. The discrepancy between plants in natural conditions and in flume experiments or numerical studies may affect the relevance of these findings for natural ecosystems. In this study, we provide guidelines for building realistic vegetation patches in hydraulic studies. We collected data on four species of fully submerged freshwater aquatic macrophytes that can grow into well-defined patches. We considered three relevant levels: individual plants (inside patches), isolated patches and multiple neighbouring patches. At the plant level, we observed significant differences in biomechanical traits (Young’s modulus, flexural stiffness), resulting in stem Cauchy numbers ranging from 85.25 to 325.84, and leaf Cauchy numbers from 163.81 to 2003.97. At the patch level, we found significant relationships between patch length, width and height, showing covariation among different patch characteristics. The relationships among patch dimensions differed significantly among sampling sites for three of the four species, suggesting high intraspecific variability in patch sizes. By providing a first set of guidelines for choosing correct and ecologically relevant plant characteristics, this dataset aims to improve our understanding of the complex processes occurring inside and around submerged vegetated patches.
U2 - 10.1080/24705357.2023.2176375
DO - 10.1080/24705357.2023.2176375
M3 - Article
SN - 2470-5357
VL - 8
SP - 105
EP - 120
JO - Journal of Ecohydraulics
JF - Journal of Ecohydraulics
IS - 2
ER -
