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G.T. Auble

Publications and source records attributed to G.T. Auble.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2009

Theory, methods and tools for determining environmental flows for riparian vegetation: Riparian vegetation-flow response guilds

Riparian vegetation composition, structure and abundance are governed to a large degree by river flow regime and flow-mediated fluvial processes. Streamflow regime exerts selective pressures on riparian vegetation, resulting in adaptations (trait syndromes) to specific flow attributes. Widespread modification of flow regimes by humans has resulted in extensive alteration of riparian vegetation communities. Some of the negative effects of altered flow regimes on vegetation may be reversed by restoring components of the natural flow regime. 2. Models have been developed that quantitatively relate components of the flow regime to attributes of riparian vegetation at the individual, population and community levels. Predictive models range from simple statistical relationships, to more complex stochastic matrix population models and dynamic simulation models. Of the dozens of predictive models reviewed here, most treat one or a few species, have many simplifying assumptions such as stable channel form, and do not specify the time-scale of response. In many cases, these models are very effective in developing alternative streamflow management plans for specific river reaches or segments but are not directly transferable to other rivers or other regions. 3. A primary goal in riparian ecology is to develop general frameworks for prediction of vegetation response to changing environmental conditions. The development of riparian vegetation-flow response guilds offers a framework for transferring information from rivers where flow standards have been developed to maintain desirable vegetation attributes, to rivers with little or no existing information. 4. We propose to organise riparian plants into non-phylogenetic groupings of species with shared traits that are related to components of hydrologic regime: life history, reproductive strategy, morphology, adaptations to fluvial disturbance and adaptations to water availability. Plants from any river or region may be grouped into these guilds and related to hydrologic attributes of a specific class of river using probabilistic response curves. 5. Probabilistic models based on riparian response guilds enable prediction of the likelihood of change in each of the response guilds given projected changes in flow, and facilitate examination of trade-offs and risks associated with various flow management strategies. Riparian response guilds can be decomposed to the species level for individual projects or used to develop flow management guidelines for regional water management plans. ?? 2009 Published.

Freshwater Biology↗
USGS2007

Early vegetation development on an exposed reservoir: Implications for dam removal

The 4-year drawdown of Horsetooth Reservoir, Colorado, for dam maintenance, provides a case study analog of vegetation response on sediment that might be exposed from removal of a tall dam. Early vegetation recovery on the exposed reservoir bottom was a combination of (1) vegetation colonization on bare, moist substrates typical of riparian zones and reservoir sediment of shallow dams and (2) a shift in moisture status from mesic to the xeric conditions associated with the pre-impoundment upland position of most of the drawdown zone. Plant communities changed rapidly during the first four years of exposure, but were still substantially different from the background upland plant community. Predictions from the recruitment box model about the locations of Populus deltoides subsp. monilifera (plains cottonwood) seedlings relative to the water surface were qualitatively confirmed with respect to optimum locations. However, the extreme vertical range of water surface elevations produced cottonwood seed regeneration well outside the predicted limits of drawdown rate and height above late summer stage. The establishment and survival of cottonwood at high elevations and the differences between the upland plant community and the community that had developed after four years of exposure suggest that vegetation recovery following tall dam removal will follow a trajectory very different from a simple reversal of the response to dam construction, involving not only long time scales of establishment and growth of upland vegetation, but also possibly decades of persistence of legacy vegetation established during the reservoir to upland transition. ?? 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Environmental Management↗
USGS2006

Transverse and longitudinal variation in woody riparian vegetation along a montane river

This study explores how the relationship between flow and riparian vegetation varies along a montane river. We mapped occurrence of woody riparian plant communities along 58 km of the San Miguel River in southwestern Colorado. We determined the recurrence interval of inundation for each plant community by combining step-backwater hydraulic modeling at 4 representative reaches with Log-Pearson analysis of 4 stream gaging stations. Finally, we mapped bottomland surficial geology and used a Geographic Information System to overlay the coverages of geology and vegetation. Plant communities were distinctly arrayed along the hydrologic gradient. The Salix exigua Nuttall (sand-bar willow) community occurred mostly on surfaces with a recurrence interval of inundation shorter than 2.2 years; the Betula occidentalis Hooker (river birch) community peaked on sites with recurrence intervals of inundation between 2.2 and 4.6 years. The hydrologic position occupied by communities dominated by Populus angustifolia James (narrowleaf cottonwood) was strongly related to age of trees and species composition of understory shrubs. The fraction of riparian vegetation on surfaces historically inundated by the river decreased in the upstream direction from almost 100% near Uravan to <50% along the South Fork of the San Miguel River. In upstream reaches much of the physical disturbance necessary to maintain riparian vegetation is provided by valley-side processes including debris flows, floods from minor tributaries, landslides, and beaver activity. Where valley-side processes are important, prediction of riparian vegetation change based on alterations of river flow will be incomplete.

Western North American Naturalist↗
USGS2006

Riparian willow restoration at Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge

Riparian willow communities along the Illinois River at Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge in North Park near Walden, Colorado, provide important habitat for a number of wildlife species, including neotropical migratory birds. Existing stands in the northern (downstream) portion of the refuge are sparse and discontinuous (Photo 1) compared to upstream portions of the Illinois River and the parallel Michigan River.

The Green Line, Colorado Riparian Association News↗
USGS2005

Dominance of non-native riparian trees in western USA

Concern about spread of non-native riparian trees in the western USA has led to Congressional proposals to accelerate control efforts. Debate over these proposals is frustrated by limited knowledge of non-native species distribution and abundance. We measured abundance of 44 riparian woody plants at 475 randomly selected stream gaging stations in 17 western states. Our sample indicates that Tamarix ramosissima and Elaeagnus angustifolia are already the third and fourth most frequently occurring woody riparian plants in the region. Although many species of Tamarix have been reported in the region, T. ramosissima (here including T. chinensis and hybrids) is by far the most abundant. The frequency of occurrence of T. ramosissima has a strong positive relation with the mean annual minimum temperature, which is consistent with hypothesized frost sensitivity. In contrast the frequency of occurrence of E. angustifolia decreases with increasing minimum temperatures. Based on mean normalized cover, T. ramosissima and E. angustifolia are the second and fifth most dominant woody riparian species in the western USA. The dominance of T. ramosissima has been suspected for decades; the regional ascendance of E. angustifolia , however, has not previously been reported.

Biological Invasions↗
USGS2005

Use of individualistic streamflow-vegetation relations along the Fremont River, Utah, USA to assess impacts of flow alteration on wetland and riparian area

We analyzed the transverse pattern of vegetation along a reach of the Fremont River in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA using models that support both delineation of wetland extent and projection of the changes in wetland area resulting from upstream hydrologic alteration. We linked stage-discharge relations developed by a hydraulic model to a flow-duration curve derived from the flow history in order to calculate the inundation duration of 361 plots (0.5 × 2 m). Logistic regression was used to relate plant species occurrence in plots to inundation duration. A weighted average of the wetland indicator values of species was used to characterize plots as Aquatic, Wetland, Transitional, or Upland. Finally, we assessed how alterations in the flow duration curve would change the relative widths of these four zones. The wetland indicator values of species and the wetland prevalence index scores of plots were strongly correlated with inundation duration. Our results support the concept that plants classified as wetland species typically occur on sites inundated at least two weeks every two years. The portion of the riparian zone along the high-gradient study reach of the Fremont River that satisfied the vegetation criterion for a regulatory wetland was narrow (2 m wide). Both the unvegetated Aquatic zone (7.8 m) and the Transitional zone (8 m) were substantially wider. The Transitional zone included the maxima of several species and was, therefore, not merely a combination of elements of the Wetland and Upland zones. Multiplicative increases or decreases in streamflow regime produced a wetter, or drier, bottomland vegetation, respectively. Systematic reductions in flow variability reduced the width of both the Wetland and Transitional zones and increased the width of the Upland zone. Our approach is widely applicable to inform water management decisions involving changes in flow regime.

Wetlands↗
USGS2002

Potential responses of riparian vegetation to dam removal

Throughout the world, riparian habitats have been dramatically modified from their natural condition. Dams are one of the principal causes of these changes, because of their alteration of water and sediment regimes ( Nilsson and Berggren 2000 ). Because of the array of ecological goods and services provided by natural riparian ecosystems ( Naiman and Decamps 1997 ), their conservation and restoration have become the focus of many land and water managers. Efforts to restore riparian habitats and other riverine ecosystems have included the management of flow releases downstream of dams to more closely mimic natural flows ( Poff et al. 1997 ), but dam removal has received little attention as a possible approach to riparian restoration.

BioScience↗
USGS2000

Channel incision and patterns of cottonwood stress and mortality along the Mojave River, California

In 1995, mapping and classification of riparian vegetation along the Mojave River in southern California revealed an 8-km reach in which riparian cottonwoods ( Populus fremontii Wats.) were stressed or dying. We tested a set of predictions based on the inference that cottonwood decline was an indirect result of lowered water-table levels following flood-related channel incision. Comparisons of topographic cross-sections from 1963 and 1997, indicated a net change in channel elevation between −0·71 and −3·6 m within zones of cottonwood stress and mortality. Ages of young cottonwood and willow stems adjacent to the present channel and radial stem growth of surviving cottonwoods were consistent with the inference that channel incision, associated with sustained flooding in January and February of 1993, lowered channel elevations throughout the affected reach. Well records and soil redoximorphic features indicate that channel incision caused net water-table declines ⩾1·5 m on portions of the adjacent flood plain where cottonwood stand mortality ranged between 58 and 93%. In areas where water-table declines were estimated to be <1·0 m, stand mortality was 7–13%.

Journal of Arid Environments↗
USGS2000

High flow and riparian vegetation along the San Miguel River, Colorado

Riparian ecosystems are characterized by abundance of water and frequent flow related disturbance. River regulation typically decreases peak flows, reducing the amount of disturbance and altering the vegetation. The San Miguel River is one of the last relatively unregulated rivers remaining in the Colorado River Watershed. One goal of major landowners along the San Miguel including the Bureau of Land Management and The Nature Conservancy is to maintain their lands in a natural condition. Conservation of an entire river corridor requires an integrated understanding of the variability in ecosystems and external influences along the river. Therefore, the Bureau of Land Management and others have fostered a series of studies designed to catalogue that variability, and to characterize the processes that maintain the river as a whole. In addition to providing information useful to managers, these studies present a rare opportunity to investigate how a Colorado river operates in the absence of regulation.

Colorado↗
USGS1999

Responses of riparian cottonwoods to alluvial water table declines

Human demands for surface and shallow alluvial groundwater have contributed to the loss, fragmentation, and simplification of riparian ecosystems. Populus species typically dominate riparian ecosystems throughout arid and semiarid regions of North American and efforts to minimize loss of riparian Populus requires an integrated understanding of the role of surface and groundwater dynamics in the establishment of new, and maintenance of existing, stands. In a controlled, whole-stand field experiment, we quantified responses of Populus morphology, growth, and mortality to water stress resulting from sustained water table decline following in-channel sand mining along an ephemeral sandbed stream in eastern Colorado, USA. We measured live crown volume, radial stem growth, annual branch increment, and mortality of 689 live Populus deltoides subsp. monilifera stems over four years in conjunction with localized water table declines. Measurements began one year prior to mining and included trees in both affected and unaffected areas. Populus demonstrated a threshold response to water table declines in medium alluvial sands; sustained declines ???1 m produced leaf desiccation and branch dieback within three weeks and significant declines in live crown volume, stem growth, and 88% mortality over a three-year period. Declines in live Crown volume proved to be a significant leading indicator of mortality in the following year. A logistic regression of tree survival probability against the prior year's live crown volume was significant (-2 log likelihood = 270, ??2 with 1 df = 232, P < 0.0001) and trees with absolute declines in live crown volume of ???30 during one year had survival probabilities <0.5 in the following year. In contrast, more gradual water table declines of ~0.5 m had no measurable effect on mortality, stem growth, or live crown volume and produced significant declines only in annual branch growth increments. Developing quantitative information on the timing and extent of morphological responses and mortality of Populus to the rate, depth, and duration of water table declines can assist in the design of management prescriptions to minimize impacts of alluvial groundwater depletion on existing riparian Populus forests.

Environmental Management↗
USGS1999

Riparian restoration using physical manipulation and natural seedfall

In many arid landscapes, riparian sites are the only places wet enough to support trees. The vertical structure of trees and shrubs is critical to many riparian habitat and aesthetic values (Brinson et al. 1981). Thus, woody vegetation is often an important objective and success measure for riparian restoration. Effective restoration planning depends on some underlying model of how the ecosystem functions&ndash; what variables determine its condition, how it became degraded, and how it will respond to alternative management actions. Vegetation within a riparian system is dependent on site conditions and the processes that determine those conditions.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1998

Fluvial disturbance patches and cottonwood recruitment along the upper Missouri River, Montana

The disturbance patches most suitable for seedling establishment of pioneer riparian trees are also subject to future disturbances that produce high seedling mortality. We are monitoring plains cottonwood seedling establishment and mortality along the Wild and Scenic reach of the Missouri River upstream of Fort Peck Reservoir, Montana at four sites subject to livestock grazing and four paired, ungrazed enclosures. New seedlings at these sites were largely restricted to surfaces inundated by spring and summer flows. Winter ice drives and livestock grazing are important mortality factors along the study reach. Livestock grazing reduced seedling densities, although the position of these seedlings in normal flow years means it is unlikely that they will survive future disturbance. Average values of the maximum density parameter of a Gaussian curve of seedling distribution along a hydraulic gradient of inundating discharge were 30 and 114 seedlings/m 2 on ungrazed sites in 1996 and 1997, compared to 19 and 18 seedlings/m 2 for grazed sites. Water-surface elevations produced by ice drives and damming in the severe winter of 1995-1996 corresponded to inundating discharges of 1,670 to 4,580 m 3 /s. No existing trees at the study sites occurred at inundating discharges below 1,625 m 3 /s. Seedlings established as a result of maximum summer flows of 827 and 1,201 m 3 /s in 1996 and 1997 were all below the elevation of the 10-year return flow of 1,495 m 3/ s. Recruitment of plains cottonwood trees along this reach of the Missouri River is strongly dependent on infrequent high flows that position moist, bare disturbed patches high enough for seedlings to establish and survive subsequent flooding and ice scour, in contrast to other reaches and streams where hydrogeomorphic processes of channel meandering and narrowing produce different patterns of disturbance patches.

Montana↗
USGS1998

Establishment of woody riparian vegetation in relation to annual patterns of streamflow, Bill Williams River, Arizona

Previous studies have revealed the close coupling of components of annual streamflow hydrographs and the germination and establishment of Populus species. Key hydrograph components include the timing and magnitude of flood peaks, the rate of decline of the recession limb, and the magnitude of base flows. In this paper, we retrospectively examine establishment of four woody riparian species along the Bill Williams River, Arizona, USA, in the context of annual patterns of streamflow for the years 1993–1995. The four species examined were the native Populus fremontii, Salix gooddingii , and Baccharis salicifolia and the exotic Tamarix ramosissima . We modeled locations suitable for germination of each species along eight study transects by combining historic discharge data, calculated stage-discharge relationships, and seed-dispersal timing observations. This germination model was, a highly significant predictor of seedling establishment. Where germination was predicted to occur, we compared values of several environmental variables in quadrats where we observed successful establishment with quadrats where establishment was unsuccessful. The basal area of mature woody vegetation, the maximum annual, depth to ground water, and the maximum rate of water-table decline were the variables that best discriminated between quadrats with and without seedlings. The results of this study suggest that the basic components of models that relate establishment of Populus spp. to annual patterns of streamflow may also be applicable to other woody riparian species. Reach-to-reach variation in stage-discharge relationships can influence model parameters, however, and should be considered if results such as ours are to be used in efforts to prescribe reservoir releases to promote establishment of native riparian vegetation.

Arizona↗
USGS1998

Downstream effects of dams on channel geometry and bottomland vegetation: Regional patterns in the Great Plains

The response of rivers and riparian forests to upstream dams shows a regional pattern related to physiographic and climatic factors that influence channel geometry. We carried out a spatial analysis of the response of channel geometry to 35 dams in the Great Plains and Central Lowlands, USA. The principal response of a braided channel to an upstream dam is channel-narrowing, and the principal response of a meandering channel is a reduction in channel migration rate. Prior to water management, braided channels were most common in the southwestern Plains where sand is abundant, whereas meandering channels were most common in the northern and eastern Plains. The dominant response to upstream dams has been channel-narrowing in the southwestern Plains (e.g., six of nine cases in the High Plains) and reduction in migration rate in the north and east (e.g., all of twelve cases in the Missouri Plateau and Western Lake Regions). Channel-narrowing is associated with a burst of establishment of native and exotic woody riparian pioneer species on the former channel bed. In contrast, reduction in channel migration rate is associated with a decrease in reproduction of woody riparian pioneers. Thus, riparian pioneer forests along large rivers in the southwestern Plains have temporarily increased following dam construction while such forests in the north and east have decreased. These patterns explain apparent contradictions in conclusions of studies that focused on single rivers or small regions and provide a framework for predicting effects of dams on large rivers in the Great Plains and elsewhere. These conclusions are valid only for large rivers. A spatial analysis of channel width along 286 streams ranging in mean annual discharge from 0.004 to 1370 cubic meters per second did not produce the same clear regional pattern, in part because the channel geometries of small and large streams are affected differently by a sandy watershed.

Great Plains↗