Effects of different vegetation cover types on stability of river banks in dry land (case study of Hirmand River)

Paper Details

Research Paper 01/05/2015
Views (258) Download (8)
current_issue_feature_image
publication_file

Effects of different vegetation cover types on stability of river banks in dry land (case study of Hirmand River)

Mansour Jahantigh
J. Bio. Env. Sci.6( 5), 439-446, May 2015.
Certificate: JBES 2015 [Generate Certificate]

Abstract

This study was conducted on comparing erosion on Hirmand River banks in Southeastern Iran. Sistan region covers the Southeastern part of Iran along the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Average annual rainfall of the region is 60 mm. The soil of this area is heavy with Silt clay loam texture and tends to salinity. Aim of this research was of vegetation analysis and it effects on sustainability of Hirmand River’s banks. Hirmand River with about 1150 Km length has its rise among the east-central Afghanistan Mountain. This research has done on 14.7 kilometers mentioned river length (from Zahak city until Iran – Afghanistan border). The results of this study showed that 8% of the river has been influenced by bank erosion and bed erosion take place not in area mentioned. Wind erosion starts first summer season following water dried on main part of the river and beginning 120- days wind. The wind erosion has appeared in two locations. However, there was an inverse relationship between erosion and vegetation cover. As, has been fixed the areas with suitable vegetation cover of Tamarix and area with shrub vegetation cover less than 20% has been influenced to the erosion. In addition, the survey results shows that the area with Aeluropus littoralis canopy covers more stability than the same area with Alhagi maurorum, canopy cover, as 30 and 70% of the erosion has occurred in Salsola, Aeluropus littoralis, Tamarix and Alhagi maurorum habitat, respectively.

VIEWS 12

Abernethy B, Rutherfurd ID. 1998. Where along a river’s length will vegetation most effectively stabilize stream banks? Geomorphology 23, 55–75.

Abernethy B, Rutherfurd ID. 2000. The effect of riparian tree roots on the mass-stability of riverbanks. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 25, 921–937.

Ashworth P. Best, Roden JE, Bristow CS, Klaassens GJ. 2000. Morphological evolution and dynamics of a large sand braid-bar, Jamuna River, Bangladesh, Sedimentology 47, 533– 555.

Beeson CE, Doyle PF. 1995. Comparison of bank erosion at vegetated and non- vegetated channel bends, Journal of the American Water Resources. Assoc 31, 983–990.

Chukwuka KS, Uka UN, Omotayo OE. 2008. Influence of persistent presence of water hyacinth on spe-cific physicochemical properties of a freshwater body in Southwestern Nigeria. Zonas Áridas 12: 209-217.

Connor DJ, Loomis RS, Cassman KG. 2011.Crop Ecology Productivity and management in Agricultural Systems; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK; 351 P.

Hey RD, Thorne CR. 1986. Stable channels with mobile gravel beds, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 112, 671–689.

Hickin EJ. 1984. Vegetation and river channel dynamics. The Canadian Geographer 28(2), 111-126.

Huang HQ, Nanson GC. 1997. Vegetation and channel variation: A case study of four small streams in southeastern Australia, Geomorphology, 18, 237– 249.

Mallik AU, Rasid H. 1993. Root-shoot characteristics of riparian plants in a flood con- trol channel: implications for bank stabilization. Ecological Engineering 2, 149-158.

Millar RG. 2000. Influence of bank vegetation on alluvial channel patterns, Water Resources, Research 36, 1109–1118.

Montgomery DR. 1997. What’s best on banks? Nature 388, 328–329.

Piegay H, Cuaz M, Javelle E, Mandier P. 1997. Bank erosion management based on geomorphological, ecological and economic criteria on the Galuare River, France. Regulated Rivers Research and Management 13, 433–448.

Piegay H, Darby SE, Mosselman E, Surian N. 2005. A review of techniques available for delimiting the erodible river corridor: A sustainable approach to managing bank erosion. River Research and Applications 21, 773–789.

Pizzuto JE, Mecklenburg TS. 1989. Evaluation of a linear bank erosion equation. Water Resources Research 25, 1005–1013.

Pollen-Bankhead N, Simon A, Jaeger K, Wohl E. 2009. Destabilization of stream banks by removal of invasive species in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona. Geomorphology 103, 363–374.

Ralph SC, Poole GC, Conquest LL, Naiman RJ. 1994. Stream channel morphology and woody debris in logged and unlogged basins of western Washington. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 51, 37–51.

Roy AH, Rosemond AD, Paul MJ, Leigh D, Wallace JB. 2003. Stream macro invertebrate response to catchment urbanisation (Georgia, U.S.A.). Freshwater Biology 48, 329–346.

Simon A, Collinson A. 2002. Quantifying the mechanical and hydrologic effects of riparian vegetation on stream bank stability. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 27, 527–546.

Sudduth EB, Meyer JL. 2006. Effects of bioengineered streambank stabilization on bank habitat  and  macroinvertebrates  in  urban  streams. Journal of Environmental Management 38, 218–226.

Thorne CR. 1982. Processes and mechanisms of river bank erosion. Pages 227–221 in Hey RD, Bathurst JC, Thorne CR, eds. Gravel-Bed Rivers. Chichester (United Kingdom): Wiley.

Thorne CR. 1990. Effects of vegetation on riverbank erosion and stability, in Vegetation and Erosion: Processes and Environments, edited by J. B. Thornes, 125– 144 P, John Wiley, New York.