ICG2022-734
https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-734
10th International Conference on Geomorphology
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

An approach to evaluate the dominant river biogeomorphic succession phase at the reach-scale 

Meiqin Han1, Gary Brierley2, Baotian Pan1, Haopeng Geng1, and Yan Shi2
Meiqin Han et al.
  • 1College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Gansu, China
  • 2School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

The Fluvial Biogeomorphic Succession phase model (FBS model) differentiates Geomorphic (G), Pioneer (P), Biogeomorphic (B) and Ecological (E) phases of hydro-geophysical-biological interactions in river systems. To date, quantitative applications of this model have been restricted to field surveys of vegetation composition analysis at the patch-scale. Here we develop a biogeomorphic landform mapping approach to determine the dominant biogeomorphic succession phase at the reach scale. We categorize river morphology into four biogeomorphic landform types (G-, P-, B- and E-landforms) that have particular geomorphic, substrate and vegetation cover characteristics. Ratios of these landforms are used to calculate the dominant succession phase in a given reach. A test of this method conducted for two contrasting anabranching reaches of the Upper Yellow River indicates that landform ratios provide an efficient and reliable approach to assess river biogeomorphic succession phase. The approach can be adapted to support systematic cross-scalar analyses across the range of river environments.

Key words: FBS model, Biogeomorphology, river processes, riparian vegetation, geomorphic mapping, interdisciplinary method

How to cite: Han, M., Brierley, G., Pan, B., Geng, H., and Shi, Y.: An approach to evaluate the dominant river biogeomorphic succession phase at the reach-scale , 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-734, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-734, 2022.