Meandering rivers dynamics has intrigued scientists since the nineteen fifties (Hooke, 2013). Meander migration models are regularly used to predict planimetric changes (Crosato, 2018), but they have not considered the figure, the reconstructed historical channel is shown. This alignment was obtained from the analysis of the existent water marks and channel trajectories that can be identified in satellite imagery. reconstruction of their historical alignments. This study deals with the reconstruction of a 9 km long reach of the Bodoquero River (see Figure 1), located in the Caquetá department, Colombia, combining the potential of meander migration models and vegetation succession to validate the modeled historical alignments.@en

This study investigates the effects of vegetation patch patterns on the morphological evolution of alluvial river channels at the reach-scale. For this, a new two-dimensional numerical biomorphodynamic model has been developed using the Telemac-Mascaret system. Considering the newest development in the topic, the effects of vegetation on bedload transport are included by extending Einstein's parameters for the sediment transport formula. The model was subsequently validated by published laboratory experiments reproducing alternate bar dynamics with different vegetation establishment scenarios. The validated model was then used to study the influence of vegetation patch patterns on the channel morphological evolution considering the two most observed ones: (a) the filled pattern with plants well distributed within the patch, and (b) the stripe pattern with plants established only along the patch edges. 14 scenarios were simulated in total, including sensitivity analyses on the coefficients of vegetation characteristics. The results indicate that the morphological responses of an alternate bar system to the stripe pattern consist of channel widening, steeper slope and reduced water depth, with increased sediment transport rates. The effects of the filled pattern are similar but weaker. The results also show that with the stripe pattern, the alternate bars tend to migrate toward the centerline forming center bars. Besides, the scroll bars forming downstream are shorter, corresponding to less visible chute channels, compared to the filled pattern. Despite much less vegetation coverage, the stripe pattern decreases the bar elongation rates in a way similar to the filled pattern.@en

1D hydraulic models are largely used to simulate the propagation of flood waves and for flood mapping along river systems. The most common approach to account for the hydraulic effects of vegetated floodplains consists of imposing higher roughness coefficients. However, the flow resistance of vegetation is governed by plant submergence, which is water-depth dependent and varies with the discharge, and thus with time. An improved method properly incorporating floodplain vegetation roughness in 1D models is presented here. The Manning coefficient is derived from a simplification of Baptist’s formula assuming horizontal floodplains, i.e., with the same water depth everywhere. Considering the dependency of vegetation roughness on local water depth (in case of variable flow conditions), a predictor-corrector approach of the derived formula is proposed to be applied at every computational time-step. If different types of vegetation are present, the roughness coefficient, one for each floodplain, is derived as a weighted average. The method is tested on a recently restored stream located in the Netherlands, the Lunterse Beek, using the HEC-RAS code. The results support the implementation of the proposed method, but validation is needed for river floodplains with non-uniform vegetation cover.@en

While the scientific community has long recognized that alluvial rivers are the product of interactions between flowing water and bed material transport, it is increasingly evident that vegetation mediates these interactions and influences the stream channel characteristics. In a novel set of mobile bed laboratory experiments with variable discharge, we demonstrate that vegetation colonization affects bank erosion rates, channel shape, channel sinuosity, and bar pattern. Our analyses compared the morphological evolution of channels with initially steady bars considering the following three scenarios: (1) channel without vegetation, (2) channel with vegetation added to the floodplains, and (3) channel with vegetation added to both the floodplains and the bar surfaces that emerge at low flows. Absence of vegetation produced the widest and shallowest channel with the lowest sinuosity. Floodplain vegetation in the second scenario reduced bank erosion and resulted in a deeper and more sinuous channel with shorter bars. In the third scenario, vegetation establishment on emerging bar surfaces intensified erosion on the opposing bank, enlarging the amplitude of bends. Enhanced sedimentation on vegetated bar areas increased both bar elevation and bar length compared to the second scenario. The results show that the colonization of bar surfaces by plants creates the conditions for new floodplain and island formation, fostering channel meandering and anabranching. Finally, our experiments emphasize the role of alternating high and low flows on the morphological development of streams mediated by vegetation.

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