Flood protection for aquatic organisms: Bedload plays an important role

A flood causes stress for organisms living in a watercourse. Their survival depends on factors such as whether there are refuge habitats to which they can retreat. Researchers from the Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology and Eawag studied how river widening as part of restoration measures improves potential refugia availability. They showed that refugia provision and thereby the protection of biodiversity depends crucially on the supply of bedload.

Bedload
Dynamic river widenings, which provide more refugia for aquatic organisms during floods, strongly depend on the so-called bedload balance. (Photo: VAW / D-BAUG, ETH Zurich)

Go to Eawag Newscall_made

Original publication:

Cristina Rachelly, Kate L. Mathers, Christine Weber, Volker Weitbrecht, Robert M. Boes & David F. Vetsch

How does sediment supply influence refugia availability in river widenings?call_made

Journal of Ecohydraulics (2021), doi: 10.1080/24705357.2020.1831415

Learn more about research at VAW

/Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.