IDYST special seminar
Fluxes of water are commonly conceptualized as the primary influence on floodplain process and form. Although flow regime exerts a vital influence on floodplains, river scientists increasingly recognize the importance of the sediment regime, riparian vegetation, and other factors such as large wood and beaver ecosystem engineering in shaping floodplains. In this talk, I focus on the role of large wood and beavers in creating and maintaining floodplain form and function. Wood and beavers are important in both ecological and geomorphic contexts. I review controls on the volume and spatial distribution of large wood on floodplains, introducing three large wood-floodplain process domains with respect to the recruitment and spatial distribution of wood. I then discuss the geomorphic effects of spatial distribution of wood and beaver alterations in the context of floodplain spatial heterogeneity.