Wood-induced channel dynamism

Almost 100 years of aerial imagery in Iowa show the impacts of a logjam in a single reach. Preliminary findings suggest that the reach with a logjam present multiple times throughout the image history has a dynamic channel planform.

Historical channel margins of a dynamic reach buffered by agricultural fields.

Wood loads have been reduced in river corridors directly through wood removal and indirectly through deforestation for centuries. Agricultural regions are especially impacted. Our study site is a unique reach in Iowa that has consistently had logjams form in the same location over decades. There is a rich history of a meandering and bifurcation associated with this logjam. In the field we identified floodplain forests made up of diverse species and age classes.

This work is in-progress, stay tuned for upcoming presentations and publications!

Wood transport during a high flow.