Historic landscape and vegetation changes along the Missouri

Mark Dixon Introduction to River Studies October 13, 2011

Human Alteration of Riparian Ecosystems

Flow regulation (dams)
~45,000 large (>15 m high) large dams, 800,000 small dams worldwide Upstream effects inundation, raising water tables Downstream effects flow patterns, incision, reduced meandering reduced sediment

Levees, bank stabilization, channelization Flow diversion, river dewatering Groundwater depletion Land use (e.g., grazing, development) Other disturbances (e.g., fire) Non-native species Climate change Pollution

Impounded Remnant Channelized

Impacts of Missouri River Management on Cottonwood Forests

I. Historic land use/cover change II. Impacts on flow and sediment regimes and cottonwood regeneration III. Changes in species composition in cottonwood forests IV. Effects of changes on wildlife (songbirds) V. Effects of flood of 2011?

I. Historic Changes in Land Use

Historic Changes in Segment 10

II. Changes in Flow & Sediment Regimes:

Dams alter downstream flow patterns and flowdependent ecological processes

Flow Volume

Flow attenuation & stabilization

Time

From: Poff et al. 1997

Channel Bed Degradation, Gavins Point Reach

1 Water Surface Elevation Change (m) Relative to 1960 0.5 0 -0.5 -1 -1.5 1965 1986 1994/95

-2
-2.5 -3 -3.5 820 800 780 760 740

2002

River Mile (1960)

500,000

The Heart Beat of a RiverLost Missouri River Flow at Yankton, SD 1930 - 1995
Mainstem Dams and Year of Closure

Water Flow at Yankton (cubic feet per second)

450,000 400,000 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 Oahe 1962 Big Bend 1964 Ft. Peck 1937 Ft. Randall 1952 Garrison 1953 Gavins 1955

1949

1991

1930

1933

1937

1940

1943

1946

1953

1956

1959

1962

1965

1969

1972

1975

1978

1981

1985

1988

Date Slide courtesy of Wayne Nelson-Stastny, USFWS

1994

Hydrologic Alteration, Sioux City, Iowa km 1,178

80 70 60 50
Current Water-Control ROR Natural Plan Hydrograph

Discharge, kcfs

40 30 20 10 0
25 - 10 % 25 - 10 % 75 - 25 % 75 - 25 % 90 - 75 % 90 - 75 %

Jan

Mar

May

July

Sep

Nov

Slide courtesy of Wayne Nelson-Stastny, USFWS

Recruitment Box Concept

modified from Mahoney and Rood (1998)
Dispersal Interval for Species A Dispersal Intervals for other species

Elevation (m)

River Level

Stage decline <2.5 cm/day (root growth rate)

Elevation (m)

Recruitment Band for Species A

Sandbar Topography

Day of the Growing Season

# of Sandbar Plots

Mathematical Model of Succession in Missouri River floodplain forests

(adapted from Johnson 1992)

Projections of Cottonwood Succession Model for Garrison Reach, ND (Johnson 1992)

Cottonwood Forest Age Map

Cottonwood Age Distribution

% of Cottonwood Area

Relatively little recent recruitment, particularly in last 25 years (pink) But, moderate post-dam narrowing on some reaches, with pulse of cottonwood recruitment in 2 decades after dam closure.
50%

Garrison, ND Reach
50%

>114 yrs 50-114 yrs 25-50 yrs <25 yrs

40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Gavins Point, SD Reach

50%

Fort Randall, SD Reach

% of Cottonwood Area

% of Cottonwood Area

40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

40%

30%
20% 10% 0%

Importance Value

III. Changes in Species Composition

Non-native & invasive tree species are common (seg. 8 & 10)
White mulberry Russian olive Eastern red cedar

Non-native and Invasive Species

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

White Mulberry
Red cedar Russian olive

<10

10-25 25-50 50-114 114+

Stand Age Class (yrs)

Later Successional Native Species

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Importance Value

Native late successional species are scarce on post-dam sites

American Elm

Green ash

<10

10-25 25-50 50-114 114+

Stand Age Class (yrs)

Historic Change in Tree Species Composition on Segment 10 (59-mile MNRR)

1857-1869 (GLO Survey) 2007 (field sampling)

IV. Possible Implications of Missouri River Changes for Forest Songbirds

Species preferring early successional (shrub/sapling) habitats
Bells Vireo, Orchard Oriole, Yellow Warbler Post-dam non-cottonwood (e.g., Russian-olive)also provides suitable habitat

Possible Implications of Missouri River Changes for Forest Songbirds

Mature/old forest species
Ovenbird, Eastern-Wood Pewee, Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush Lower abundance for several in non-cottonwood

Possible Implications of Missouri River Changes for Forest Songbirds

Woodpeckers, other cavity nesters
Need mature and old forests (>50 years) other cavity nesters less so Lower abundance in non-cottonwood

Changes Affecting Floodplain Forests on Missouri River

Loss of forest to land conversions
Reservoir inundation and rising water tables upstream Increased cropland Clearing of forest

Reduced cottonwood regeneration

Increasing proportion of older forests

Changes in species composition

Successional change:
Decreases in cottonwood, increases in later successional trees

Terrestrialization
increases in upland species

Increase in introduced and invasive species

Floodplain disconnected from river processes

Channel down-cutting, flood control, levees, declining water tables

Restoring the Missouri

Degradation of the Missouri River ecosystem will continue unless some portion of the hydrologic and geomorphic processes that sustained the pre-regulation Missouri River and floodplain ecosystem are restored including flow pulses that emulate the natural hydrograph
National Research Council (2002) The Missouri River Ecosystem: Exploring the Prospects for Recovery

Restoring the Missouri

Native biota are keyed in to natural flow timing and periodic floods
Fish spawning Sandbars for plover and tern nesting Productivity of aquatic insects Cottonwood reproduction Replenishment of cottonwood forests for eagle nesting Floodplain-river connections
Photo by Tim Cowman

From Brian Richter, The Nature Conservancy

Ecological Functions and Flow-Regime Naturalization

SPRING PULSE(S):

BUILD BARS CONNECT FLOOD PLAIN SPAWNING CUE

SUMMER LOW:

EXPOSE BARS PROVIDE SWH

NESTING TERNS AND PLOVERS

Challenges in Missouri River Flow Restoration

Large, multi-purpose river, subject to socioeconomic, legal and political constraints
Stakeholders navigation, hydropower, land use, etc. Endangered Species Act, Biological Opinion

Restoring or mimicking natural flows may not restore other critical processes (e.g., sediment)
Uncertainty of ecological linkages to flow components (vs. certainty of socioeconomic costs)
E.g., pallid sturgeon

Effects of Flood of 2011?

Effects of Flood of 2011?

Erosion of banks
Loss of forest?

Deposition in new areas

May increase sandbar habitat But, may also be more channel down-cutting

Prolonged inundation
May cause mortality of trees
Redcedar, Cottonwood?

Effects on delta? Policies, Other?

More land set aside for conservation? New policies? Backlash against environmental management?

Platte River in Nebraska

Morphology, Landforms of a Braided River

1938

1998

Historic Channel Changes on the Platte River near Shelton, Nebraska

Channel Change 1938-2001 1938

2001

Platte River
NEED NEW SLIDES PHRAGMITES ALSO NEED SOME SUMMARY TEXT SLIDES FOR BOTH???
AT LEAST GIVE STUDENTS AN OUTLINE

Platte River
NEED NEW SLIDES PHRAGMITES ALSO NEED SOME SUMMARY TEXT SLIDES FOR BOTH???
AT LEAST GIVE STUDENTS AN OUTLINE

Platte River
NEED NEW SLIDES PHRAGMITES ALSO NEED SOME SUMMARY TEXT SLIDES FOR BOTH???
AT LEAST GIVE STUDENTS AN OUTLINE

Photo by Jim Rathbert

Least Tern

Sandhill Crane

Piping Plover
Photo by Chris Gondahl

Whooping Crane
Photo by Rocky Hoffman

Vegetation Clearing on the Platte

Platte River
Riparian vegetation has increased with flow regulation (dams, flow diversion)
Flood not large enough to scour vegetation out of active channel bed
Increase in low flows from irrigation returns, may increase seedling survival during droughts Cottonwood regeneration and area have increased! (opposite of Missouri) Channel has narrowed considerably since 1930s (sometimes >70%) River morphology has become less braided, more meandering

Platte River
Recent increases in exotic grass (Phragmites)
Concerns about geomorphic effects, sandbar stabilization Good at binding sediments and resisting floods Could lead to further channel narrowing and loss of sandbar habitat

Management to restore braided channel by clearing vegetation, prescribing floods, & adding sediment
Trying to restore open sandbar habitat for Whooping and Sandhill cranes, Piping Plover, Least Tern

Divergent Responses of Missouri and Platte to Flow Regulation

Meandering rivers (Missouri)
Flow regulation reduces channel meandering, creation of point bars Recruitment of cottonwoods decreases Long-term decline in cottonwood projected, increase in later successional species

Braided rivers (Platte)

Flow regulation may enhance low flows (help persistence) and reduce high flows (reduce scour) Facilitates colonization of the active channel bed by vegetation Channel narrows and may shift morphology

River morphology influences response to flow regulation

Friedman et al. 1998, Wetlands, 18, 619-633

Narrowed Migration Reduced Intermediate Case Aeolian Deposits: Glacial Deposit Locally Derived Deposit Sand Ancient Fluvial Deposit Loess