https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2021.2052
Pioneer annual vegetation of gravel-bed rivers: first insights on environmental drivers from three Apennine streams
Submitted: 13 August 2021
Accepted: 11 October 2021
Published: 12 October 2021
Accepted: 11 October 2021
Abstract Views: 565
PDF: 170
HTML: 13
HTML: 13
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
A huge knowledge gap exists on riverine pioneer vegetation. Despite its relevance in regulating the C metabolism at the catchment scale, and the triggering role in shrubs and trees establishment along riverbanks, little data is available on its environmental determinants. Indeed, most existing knowledge in this field refers to woody species or aquatic macrophytes neglecting the ecosystem relevance of ephemeral herbaceous vegetation. Focusing on three gravel bed rivers located in northern Italy (Baganza, Nure and Parma streams), the present study is aimed to evaluate the riverine ephemeral plant richness, considering both native and alien taxa, and the role of hydrogeomorphological disturbance and sediment quality in the observed richness patterns. At higher disturbance rates (e.g., larger river sizes), our data indicate a progressive decrease in overall plant richness, but also an increase in the coverage-abundance rates mainly due to alien species. This evidence confirms that variations in hydrology imply changes in pioneer plant species richness at in-stream periodically exposed sediments. More attention must be given to the vulnerability of pioneer vegetation to climate change and direct human impacts to fully understand the functioning of lotic ecosystems, especially the non-perennial ones.
Angiolini C, Viciani D, Bonari G, Lastrucci L, 2017. Habitat conservation prioritization: A floristic approach applied to a Mediterranean wetland network. Plant Biosyst. 151:598–612.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2016.1187678
Banfi E, Galasso G, 2010. La flora esotica lombarda. Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano, Milano: 273 pp.
Bartolucci F, Peruzzi L, Galasso G, Albano A, Alessandrini A, Ardenghi NMG, Astuti G, Bacchetta G, Ballelli S, Banfi E, Barberis G, Bernardo L, Bouvet D, Bovio M, Cecchi L, Di Pietro R, Domina G, Fascetti S, Fenu G, Festi F, Foggi B, Gallo L, Gottschlich G, Gubellini L, Iamonico D, Iberite M, Jiménez-Mejías P, Lattanzi E, Marchetti D, Martinetto E, Masin RR, Medagli P, Passalacqua NG, Peccenini S, Pennesi R, Pierini B, Poldini L, Prosser F, Raimondo FM, Roma-Marzio F, Rosati L, Santangelo A, Scoppola A, Scortegagna S, Selvaggi A, Selvi F, Soldano A, Stinca A, Wagensommer RP, Wilhalm T, Conti F, 2018. An updated checklist of the vascular flora native to Italy. Plant Biosyst. 152:179–303.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2017.1419996
Bolpagni R, 2021. Towards global dominance of invasive alien plants in freshwater ecosystems: the dawn of the Exocene? Hydrobiologia 848:2259–2279.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04490-w
Bolpagni R, Piotti A, 2015. Hydro-hygrophilous vegetation diversity and distribution patterns in riverine wetlands in an agricultural landscape: A case study from the Oglio River (Po Plain, Northern Italy). Phytocoenologia 45: 69–84.
Bolpagni R, Piotti A, 2016. The importance of being natural in a human-altered riverscape: Role of wetland type in supporting habitat heterogeneity and the functional diversity of vegetation. Aquat. Conserv.: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. 26:1168–1183.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2604
Bolpagni R, Folegot S, Laini A, Bartoli M, 2017. Role of ephemeral vegetation of emerging river bottoms in modulating CO2 exchanges across a temperate large lowland river stretch. Aquat. Sci. 79:149–158.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-016-0486-z
Bolpagni R, Laini A, Mutti T, Viaroli P, Bartoli M, 2019. Connectivity and habitat typology drive CO2 and CH4 fluxes across land-water interfaces in lowland rivers. Ecohydrology 12:e2036.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2036
Brandes D, 1999. Bidentetea-Arten an der mittleren Elbe. Braunschw.naturkdl.Schr. 5:781-809.
Burgazzi G, Laini A, Racchetti E, Viaroli P, 2017. Mesohabitat mosaic in lowland braided rivers: Short-term variability of macroinvertebrate metacommunities. J. Limnol. 76:1650.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2017.1650
Burgazzi G, Bolpagni R, Laini A, Racchetti E, Viaroli P, 2020. Algal biomass and macroinvertebrate dynamics in intermittent braided rivers: new perspectives from instream pools. River Res. Appl. 36:1682–1689.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3675
Burkart M, 2001. River corridor plants (Stromtalpflanzen) in Central European lowland: A review of a poorly understood plant distribution pattern. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 10:449–468.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1466-822x.2001.00270.x
Chytrý M, Otýpková Z, 2003. Plot sizes used for phytosociological sampling of European vegetation. J. Veg. Sci. 14:563–570.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2003.tb02183.x
Corenblit D, Tabacchi E, Steiger J, Gurnell AM, 2007. Reciprocal interactions and adjustments between fluvial landforms and vegetation dynamics in river corridors: a review of complementary approaches. Earth Sci. Rev. 84:56–86.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2007.05.004
Corenblit D, Steiger J, González E, Gurnell AM, Charrier G, Darrozes J, Dousseau J, Julien F, Lambs L, Larrue S, Roussel E, Vautier F, Voldoire O, 2014. The biogeomorphological life cycle of poplars during the fluvial biogeomorphological succession: a special focus on Populus nigra L. Earth Surf. Process. Landf. 39:546–563.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3515
Datry T, Larned ST, Tockner K, 2014. Intermittent rivers: a challenge for freshwater ecology. BioScience 64:229–235.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bit027
Galasso G, Conti F, Peruzzi L, Ardenghi NMG, Banfi E, Celesti-Grapow L, Albano A, Alessandrini A, Bacchetta G, Ballelli S, Bandini Mazzanti M, Barberis G, Bernardo L, Blasi C, Bouvet D, Bovio M, Cecchi L, Del Guacchio E, Domina G, Fascetti S, Gallo L, Gubellini L, Guiggi A, Iamonico D, Iberite M, Jiménez-Mejías P, Lattanzi E, Marchetti D, Martinetto E, Masin RR, Medagli P, Passalacqua NG, Peccenini S, Pennesi R, Pierini B, Podda L, Poldini L, Prosser F, Raimondo FM, Roma-Marzio F, Rosati L, Santangelo A, Scoppola A, Scortegagna S, Selvaggi A, Selvi F, Soldano A, Stinca A, Wagensommer RP, Wilhalm T, Bartolucci F, 2018. An updated checklist of the vascular flora alien to Italy. Plant Biosyst. 152:556-592.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2018.1441197
Gómez-Gener L, Siebers AR, Arce MI, Arnon S, Bernal S, Bolpagni R, Datry T, Gionchetta G, Grossart H-P, Mendoza-Lera C, Pohl V, Risse-Buhl U, Shumilova O, Tzoraki O, von Schiller D, Weigand A, Weigelhofer G, Zak D, Zoppini A, 2021. Towards an improved understanding of biogeochemical processes across surface-groundwater interactions in intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams, Earth-Sci. Rev. 220:103724.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103724
Guareschi S, Laini A, Viaroli P, Bolpagni R, 2020. Integrating habitat- and species-based perspectives for wetland conservation in lowland agricultural landscapes. Biodivers. Conserv. 29:153–171.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01876-8
Gurnell AM, Bertoldi W, Corenblit D, 2012. Changing river channels: the roles of hydrological processes, plants and pioneer landforms in humid temperate, mixed load, gravel bed rivers. Earth Sci. Rev. 111:129–141.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.11.005
Gurnell AM, Corenblit D, De Jalón DG, Del Tánago MG, Grabowski RC, O’hare MT, Szewczyk M, 2016. A conceptual model of vegetation–hydrogeomorphology interactions within river corridors. River Res. Appl. 32:142-163.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.2928
Hood WG, Naiman RJ, 2000. Vulnerability of riparian zones to invasion by exotic vascular plants. Plant Ecol. 148:105–114.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009800327334
Kuglerova L, Jansson R, Sponseller RA, Laudon H, Malm-Renöfält B, 2015. Local and regional processes determine plant species richness in a river-network metacommunity. Ecology 96:381–391.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/14-0552.1
Kuznetsova A, Brockhoff P., Christensen RHB, 2017. lmerTest Package: Tests in Linear Mixed Effects Models. J. Stat. Softw. 82:1–26.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v082.i13
Laini A, Beermann AJ, Bolpagni R, Burgazzi G, Elbrecht V, Zizka VMA, Leese F, Viaroli P, 2020. Exploring the potential of metabarcoding to disentangle macroinvertebrate community dynamics in intermittent streams. MBMG 4:65-79.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.4.51433
Lastrucci L, Landi M, Angiolini C, 2010. Vegetation analysis on wetlands in a Tuscan agricultural landscape (central Italy). Biologia 65:54–68.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-009-0213-5
Lazzaro L, Bolpagni R, Buffa G, Gentili R, Lonati M, Stinca A, Acosta ATR, Adorni M, Aleffi M, Allegrezza M, Angiolini C, Assini S, Bagella S, Bonari G, Bovio M, Bracco F, Brundu G, Caccianiga M, Carnevali L, Di Cecco V, Ceschin S, Ciaschetti G, Cogoni A, Foggi B, Frattaroli AR, Genovesi P, Gigante D, Lucchese F, Mainetti A, Mariotti M, Minissale P, Paura B, Pellizzari M, Perrino EV, Pirone G, Poggio L, Poldini L, Poponessi S, Prisco I, Prosser F, Puglisi M, Rosati L, Selvaggi A, Sottovia L, Spampinato G, Stanisci A, Venanzoni R, Viciani D, Vidali M, Villani M, Lastrucci L, 2020. Impact of invasive alien plants on native plant communities and Natura 2000 habitats: State of the art, gap analysis and perspectives in Italy. J. Environ. Manage. 274:111140.
Leuschner C, Ellenberg H, 2017. Banks, Shorelines and Muddy Habitats Influenced by Man, p. 751–764. In: C. Leuschner and H. Ellenberg (eds.), Ecology of Central European Non-Forest Vegetation: Coastal to Alpine, Natural to Man-Made Habitats. Springer.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43048-5_10
Leyer I, 2006. Dispersal, diversity and distribution patterns in pioneer vegetation: The role of river-floodplain connectivity. J. Veg. Sci. 17:407–416.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2006.tb02461.x
Mallast U, Staniek M, Koschorreck M, 2020. Spatial upscaling of CO2 emissions from exposed river sediments of the Elbe River during an extreme drought. Ecohydrology 13:e2216.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2216
Messager ML, Lehner B, Cockburn C, Lamouroux N, Pella H, Snelder T, Tockner K, Trautmann T, Watt V, Datry T, 2021. Global prevalence of non-perennial rivers and streams. Nature 594:391–397.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03565-5
Nobis A, Skórka P, 2015. River corridor plants revisited: What drivers their unique distribution patterns? Plant Biosyst. 150:244–253.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2014.972999
Salisbury E, 1970. The Pioneer Vegetation of Exposed Muds and Its Biological Features. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 259:207–255.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1970.0059
Steward AL, von Schiller D, Tockner K, Marshall JC, Bunn SE, 2012. When the river runs dry: human and ecological values of dry riverbeds. Front. Ecol. Environ. 10:202–209.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/110136
R Core Team, 2021. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Retrieved from https://www.R-project.org/
Tabacchi E, Planty-Tabacchi A-M, Salinas MJ, Décamps H, 1996. Landscape structure and diversity in riparian plant communities: a longitudinal comparative study. Reg. Riv.: Res. Manage. 12:367–390.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1646(199607)12:4/5<367::AID-RRR424>3.0.CO;2-X
Thomaz SM, da Cunha ER, 2010. The role of macrophytes in habitat structuring in aquatic ecosystems: methods of measurement, causes and consequences on animal assemblages' composition and biodiversity. Acta Limnol. Bras. 22:218–236.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4322/actalb.02202011
Wolman MG, 1954. A Method of Sampling Coarse River-Bed Material. Trans. AGU 35:951–956.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/TR035i006p00951
Supporting Agencies
Italian Ministry for Education, University and ResearchHow to Cite
Bolpagni, Rossano, and Alice Dalla Vecchia. 2021. “Pioneer Annual Vegetation of Gravel-Bed Rivers: First Insights on Environmental Drivers from Three Apennine Streams”. Journal of Limnology 80 (3). https://doi.org/10.4081/jlimnol.2021.2052.
Copyright (c) 2021 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Similar Articles
- Elisa Falasco, Francesca Bona, Recent findings regarding non-native or poorly known diatom taxa in north-western Italian rivers , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 72 No. 1 (2013)
- Maciej Karpowicz, Biodiversity of microcrustaceans (Cladocera, Copepoda) in a lowland river ecosystem , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 76 No. 1 (2017)
- Anna Rychła, Edyta Buczyńska, Anna Maria Szczucińska, The environmental requirements of Crunoecia irrorata (Curtis, 1834) (Trichoptera: Lepidostomatidae) and the potential of the species for use as an indicator: an example from the Vistulian glaciation area , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 74 No. 3 (2015)
- Piotr Dabkowski, Paweł Buczynski, Andrzej Zawal, Edyta Stepien, Edyta Buczynska, Robert Stryjecki, Stanislaw Czachorowski, Przemyslaw Smietana, Magdalena Szenejko, The impact of dredging of a small lowland river on water beetle fauna (Coleoptera) , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 75 No. 3 (2016)
- Kay Van Damme, Eugeniya I. Bekker, Alexey A. Kotov, Endemism in the Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) of Southern Africa , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 72 No. 3 (2013)
- Sonia Endrizzi, Maria Cristina Bruno, Bruno Maiolini, Distribution and biometry of native and alien crayfish in Trentino (Italian Alps) , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 72 No. 2 (2013)
- Feng Li, Gang Yang, Yonghong Xie, Xinsheng Chen, Zhengmiao Deng, Jiayu Hu, Competition between two wetland macrophytes under different levels of sediment saturation , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 74 No. 3 (2015)
- Sergio Cohuo, Maria del Carmen Hernández, Liseth Pérez, Javier Alcocer, Candona alchichica (Podocopida: Candonidae), a new ostracod species from saline, tropical Lake Alchichica, Mexico , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 76 No. 1 (2017)
- Zacarias Fresno Lopez, Tommaso Cancellario, Diego Fontaneto, Lyudmila Kamburska, Karimullah Karimullah, Robert L. Wallace, Elizabeth J. Walsh, Radoslav Smolak, A georeferenced dataset for occurrence records of the phylum Rotifera in Africa , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 82 No. s1 (2023): Georeferenced freshwater biodiversity data
- Mattia M. Azzella, Italian Volcanic lakes: a diversity hotspot and refuge for European charophytes , Journal of Limnology: Vol. 73 No. 3 (2014)
<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
List of Cited By :
