WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, VOL. 37, NO.

12, PAGES 3275-3283, DECEMBER

2001

Riparian vegetation controls on braided stream dynamics

Karen

Gran and Chris Paola

Departmentof Geologyand Geophysics

and St. AnthonyFalls Laboratory,Universityof Minnesota
Twin Cities, Minneapolis,Minnesota,USA

Abstract. Riparianvegetationcan significantly

influencethe morphologyof a river,
affectingchannelgeometryand flow dynamics.To examinethe effectsof riparian
vegetationon gravelbed braidedstreams,we conducteda seriesof physicalexperiments
at the St. AnthonyFalls Laboratorywith varyingdensitiesof bar and bank vegetation.
Water discharge,sedimentdischarge,and grain sizewere held constantbetweenruns.For
eachrun, we alloweda braidedsystemto develop,then seededthe flume with alfalfa
(Medicagosativa),allowedthe seedsto grow,and then continuedthe run. We collected
data on water depth,surfacevelocity,and bed elevationthroughouteachrun usingimagebasedtechniquesdesignedto collectdata over a large spatialarea with minimal
disturbanceto the flow. Our resultsshowthat the influenceof vegetationon overallriver
patternsvaried systematically
with the spatialdensityof plant stems.Vegetationreduced
the numberof activechannelsand increasedbank stability,leadingto lower lateral
migrationrates,narrowerand deeperchannels,and increasedchannelrelief. These effects
increasedwith vegetationdensity.Vegetationinfluencedflow dynamics,increasingthe
varianceof flow directionin vegetatedruns and increasingscourdepthsthroughstrong
downwelling
wherethe flow collidedwith relativelyresistantbanks.This obliquebank
collisionalsoprovidesa new mechanismfor producingsecondaryflows.We found it to be
more important than the classicalcurvature-drivenmechanismin vegetatedruns.
terized by multiple channelswith high lateral migrationrates
relativeto single-thread
channels.Vegetationdirectlyopposes
The riparian corridor encompasses
a river systemand its thistendencyto migratefreelyby strengthening
and stabilizing
immediatebanks,an environmentwherethe hydrosphere,
the banks. Our experimentscomparedbraided rivers with and
biosphere,and the lithospherecometogether.Riparianvege- without riparian vegetationto determinehow vegetationaftation can substantiallyinfluencephysicalpropertiesof the fectschannelform and flow dynamics.
Vegetationdensitywas
river, primarilyby changingbank strengthand flow resistance. the main variable between runs, and other factors that could
Numerousstudieshave linked propertiesof river channels, influencethe channelform and pattern, includingwater and
includingwidth,depth,andvelocityto vegetationdensityin the sedimentdischarge,grain size,and slope,were held constant.
riparian zone [Hadley,1961;Brice, 1964; Zimmermanet al., We carriedout five runs:twowith no vegetationand threewith
1967;Charltonet al., 1978;Graf, 1978;Andrews,1984;Hey and vegetationon the bars and banks.These experimentswere
Thorne,1986;Huang and Nanson,1997;Rowntreeand Dollar, intendedto modelprocesses
in nature,complementing
existing
1999].Somehaveevenfounda correlationbetweenthe typeor studiesof naturalstreams,andprovidesomeadditionalinsight
densityof vegetationand the overall behavior of the river, into how riparianvegetationmay affectbraidedchannelform
The experiments
showthat vegetation
changingbetweenmeanderingand braidingas the vegetation andflowcharacteristics.
changes[Mackin, 1956;Brice, 1964; Nevins, 1969; Goodwin, by itself can causemajor changesin channelform and flow
1996].Becauseof the complexityof naturalvegetatedstreams, dynamicsin a braided system.The trendsin channelform and
however, it is often difficult to establish a direct causal rela- geometrycomparewell with trendsseenin natural rivers.
tionshipbetweenvegetationdensityand channelcharacteristics. Changesin vegetationdensitymay result from shiftsin 2. Methods
climate, water discharge,or sedimentdischarge,and any of
We conductedour experimentsat the St. Anthony Falls
these other factors can alter channel characteristics.
Laboratoryin a 2 m by 9 m flume (Figure 1). Water entered
We examinedthe relationshipbetweenriparianvegetation
from a constanthead tank througha pipe directedtowardthe
and braidedsystemsthrougha seriesof physicalexperiments
backwall of an entrancechamberto damp turbulence.Wellconductedat the St. AnthonyFalls Laboratory(Universityof
rounded,well-sorteddryquartzsand(Dso = 0.5 mm) wasfed
Minnesota,Minneapolis)[Gran, 2000]. Braidedriversrepre- in at a constant rate with a mechanical sediment feeder. The
sentthe main modeof instabilityfor unconstrainedflow over a bed was set to a slope of 0.014, and a straightchannelwas
noncohesive
bed [Murrayand Paola, 1994]. They are charac- carveddownthe middleof the flume2 cm deepand30 cmwide
1.

Introduction

to channel initial flow. We used the same water and sediment

Nowat Department
of EarthandSpaceSciences,
University
of
Washington,Seattle,Washington,USA.

Copyright2001 by the AmericanGeophysicalUnion.

Paper number2000WR000203.
0043-1397/01/2000WR000203 $09.00

discharge
(Qw = 3.5 x 10-4 m3/sandQs = 1.2 g/s)for all
runs,with Qw and Qs chosento maintainthe initial slope.The
initial straightchannelrapidlywidenedand developedinto a
braidedchannelsystem.We let the flumerun until mostof the
surface of the study reach had been reworked by the flow

3275

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CONTROLS

Feeder ::[:.:.'"'.....:::
:Sediment
1
............
:'::
Head
Tank
.-"
:.. 'J...
:..".-........

.....

.......

. .,
......

................
:::.:......:::...:..:%?-::
..........
...........
_.

...........

.....

. ..;.' .:.:.:.:.
...

..

....

Entrance

.....
:....,
Roughness
Elements

Chamber

;:..::..

Initial Channel

Figure 1. The upperendof the flumeprior to the startof a run. The bed surfaceis planedto a slopeof 0.014,
and a straightchannelis carved into the sandto initially channelflow. During the run, water and sediment
enter from a constanthead tank and sedimentfeeder into the entrancechamber.Roughnesselementskeep
the flow from stickingto the wallsof the flume.The dye tank holdsa measured2 ppm solutionof rhodamine
dye for use in depth measurements.

before addingvegetation.To preventthe flow from migrating sproutshad grown for 10-14 days,each sprout had a single
to the flume walls and stickingthere, roughnesselementswere stem ---30 mm high and 1 mm in diameter with two to four
placed along the sidesof the flume.
smallleavesat the top. Roots reacheda similar distancebelow
Care was taken to ensure that Froude numbers in the model
the surface(30 mm) and consistedof one main taproot with
were comparablewith thosein natural systemsand that flow in smaller branching rootlets. Water and sediment discharges
the model was turbulent. Froude numbers in the model runs
were returned to their original values,and the run continued
ranged from 0.42 to 0.98 with an averageof 0.77, indicating for an additional 30-36 hours of run time. There did not
subcriticalflow. For comparison,Froude numbersmeasured appearto be anysystematicchangesin flow parametersastime
on the SunwaptaRiver, a gravelbed braidedstreamin Alberta, progressedat the end of the run, sowe do not believethe small
Canada, ranged from 0.41 to 1.08 [Ashmore,1988]. Reynolds differences in run time affected the results.
numbersin the modelrangedfrom 800 to 3800with an average
We conductedfive runs.Runs 1 and 2 had no vegetationand
of 1400, indicatingturbulent flow.
were usedas controls.Runs 3, 4, and 5 had mean plant denAfter the braided channelwas fully established,we intro- sitiesof 1.2,4.2, and 9.2 stems/cm
2, respectively
(Table1).
duced the vegetation,for which we used alfalfa (Medicago Plant densitieswere measuredusing averagepoint countsof
satira). Seedswere soakedfor 48-72 hours,then air dried for the number of seedsin randomlyselectedplots on banksand
6-12 hoursprior to seeddispersal.During dispersalthe water barsfollowingseeddispersal.Sincenot all of the seedsgermidischargewas halved. At this discharge,sedimenttransport nated,the measuredplant densitiesmaybe slightlyhigherthan
was minimal, so the sedimentfeeder was turned completely the actual stem densities.
off. The seedswere dispersedover the flume by hand as uniFor eachrun, we measuredwater depths,surfacevelocities,
formly as possible.Some seeds landed directly on bars or and bed topographyalong five crosssectionsspaced0.5 m
banks,and somewere carriedby the flow and later deposited apart in the central portion of the flume. Water depthswere
along banksor washedout of the flume. This method of seed measuredevery2 hoursusinga new noninvasiveimage-based
dispersalis similar to many riparian speciesincludingwillows dye densitytechnique.The principlebehind the techniqueis
(Salix) and cottonwoods(Populus),which disperseseedsby similar to one developedby Winterbottom
and Gilvear [1997]
both wind and water [Johnson,1994].While the sproutswere usingairbornemultispectralimageryin natural rivers.We ran
growing,we maintainedjust enough dischargeto keep the a 2 ppm (partsper million) solutionof rhodaminedyethrough
sedimentdamp throughgroundwaterflow, but it wasnot high the flume and obtainedvertical imageswith a digital camera.
enoughto actuallyflow throughthe channels.After the alfalfa As the depth increased,the dye appeareddarker in the image.

GRAN AND PAOLA: RIPARIAN

VEGETATION

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3277

Table 1. Summaryof ChannelGeometry Characteristics

for Each Runa
Stem Density,

Run

stems/cm
2

2
3
4
5

0
1.2
4.2
9.2

BraidingIntensity

AspectRatio

Maximum

ChannelRelief

TopographicCorrelation

(BI)b

ac

Depth,
mm

yd

Coefficient
roe

ND f

125 _+43

18 + 6

0.20 + 0.06

ND f

158
71
101
21

15
16
19
25

0.14
0.23
0.27
0.39

0.57
0.75
0.69
0.80

5.0
4.1
3.3
2.4

+_ 0.3
_+ 0.3
+_ 0.3
+ 0.4

+_ 57
+_ 22
+_ 51
+_ 20

+_ 4
+ 4
+ 5
_+ 7

+ 0.04
+ 0.08
+ 0.11
_+ 0.14

aNote that these are mean values for each run. The listed variance is one standard deviation from the mean for the entire run.

bAyerage
numberof activechannels
alonga cross-section.
CActivechannelwidth dividedby the mean channeldepth.

dAverage
transverse
slopealonga cross-section.
eMeasureof the degreeof correlationbetweenconsecutive
bed profiles.An ro = 1 meansperfectcorrelation(low lateral mobilityrates).
Lower ro valuesimply higheramountsof lateral migration.
fNo data.

We extractedthe greenband from the RGB imagesand used

the colorvalue(0-255) in the greenbandasa measureof dye
intensity.We calibratedthe dyemethodby includinga calibration tray in the images.The calibrationtray was a rectangular
pan, 200 mm long, coated with the same uniformly lightcoloredsandusedin the experimentandtilted soasto produce

rectiondatawerethencompiledfor eachrun usingthe thinned

data set.

Bed elevationswere measuredalongeachcrosssectionap-

proximately
every6 hours.For the firstunvegetated
run, we

useda laserscanner
developed
byLeafetal. [1993]tomeasure
bed topography.The laserscannercouldnot accuratelymea-

a linear depthvariationfrom 0 to 50 mm. At thesedepths sure the bed surfacein areaswith vegetation,so we used a
under our experimentalconditions,dye intensityvaried lin-

point gageto recordbed profilesin the other four runs.

earlywith depth(Figure2). We checkedthe dye-estimated

depthsusing spot point gage measurementsthroughoutthe
runs.We eliminatedany crosssectionswhere the point gage
measurements
disagreedwith the dye-baseddepthby >3 mm.
Of the 295 crosssectionsmeasured,47 (16%) were removed.
For the 248 remainingcrosssectionsthe dye methodcalculations agreedwith the point gagemeasurements
with a mean
deviation

of +_1.0 mm.

3.

Results

3.1. Channel Geometry

The vegetationgenerallyreducedthe numberof activechannels as smaller channelsbecame choked and were unable to

reestablish
themselves.
We calculateda braidingintensity(BI)
for eachrun asthe averagenumberof activechannelsalonga

Surfacevelocitydata were collectedimmediatelypreceding cross section. An active channel was defined as a channel

depthmeasurements,
sothe twodatasetscouldbe correlated. capableof transportingsediment(depth >2 mm for our exWe measuredsurfacevelocitiesusinga surfaceparticletrack- perimentalconditions).
The BI decreased
from an averageof
ing technique.Liquid soapwas addedtO the flow upstream 5.0 in run 2 to 2.4 in run 5 (Table 1 and Figure 3). In the
from the studyarea, creatingsmallbubbles.A video camera
mounted directly overhead recorded the bubbles as they
floated downstream,and a particle tracking program calculated surfacevelocityvectorsalongthe pathswherethe bubblestraveled.To comparethe velocitydatabetweenruns,we
spatiallythinned the data to remove samplingbias favoring
swiftlyflowingzones.We establisheda grid suchthat at least
one data point remainedin eachgrid cell, and the data were
then thinnedrandomlywithin each cell until only one point
remained.Statisticson the velocityvector magnitudeand di-

highestdensityrun, channelclosureled to the developmentof

a wanderingriver with one or two main channelsseparatedby
largevegetatedislands(Figure4). In planviewit resembleda

stretch
of theAthabasca
Riverupstream
of FortAssiniboine
(Figure5), a wandering
gravelbedriverwithtwoto threemain
channels
separated
byforested
islands
[Neill,1973].
Channel cross-sectional
geometrychangedas vegetation
densityincreased.Aspectratiosa were an order of magnitude
lower in the highestdensityrun than in the unvegetatedruns
(Table 1 and Figure3). Here a = b/h, whereb is the sumof

all activechannel
widthsalonga crosssectionandh is the
meandepth.Maximumdepthsh maxandmeantransverse
slope
45

y=-0.28x
+53

magnitude
Sy.alongeachcrosssection
increased
withvegetationdensity
(Table1 andFigure3). To measure
Sy,wecalculatedslopemagnitudes
beiweenadjacent
cross-stream
points
on the bed and averaged
acrosseachcrosssection.Sy increasedby a factor of 2 from the unvegetatedruns to the
highestdensityrun.
Vegetationalsoinfluencedchannelmobility.As an indirect

measureof channelmobility,we comparedthe amountof

changebetweenbed profilesmeasuredevery5 to 7 hoursby

treating
theprofiles
asa formof timeseries
dataandcomput-

Light
Intensity 200

ingcorrelationcoefficients
ro betweensequentialprofiles.This
method is similar to the method

used to calculate

autocorre-

Figure 2. Examplecalibration
curveshowing
the linearrela- lation coefficientsin a singletime serieswith a givenlag time
tionshipbetweendepthand dyeintensityfor depths<50 mm.

[Brasand Rodriguez-Iturbe
, 1993]:

3278

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250..
Aspect
Ratio
0.6

Maximum
Depth

Local
Transverse
Slopes

o
1

CONTROLS

elevationat time 2, cov (rh, '12)is the covariancebetweenrh

and '12,andvar (rh) andvar ('12)are the variancesof rh and
'12.A perfectcorrelationwouldgivean ro = 1, with lowerro
implyinga lower degreeof correlationbetweenruns. Run 2
had the lowest ro, and run 5 had the highest,indicatinga
higherdegreeof channelstabilityin the denselyvegetatedrun
(Table 1 and Figure3).

BraidinqIntensity

VEGETATION

Bed TopographyCorrelationCoefficients(ro)

3.2. SurfaceFlow Dynamics

Riparian
vegetation
affected
flowdynamics
in theexperiments.Velocity vectormagnitudeswere lessvariable in runs4
and5 thanin runs1-3 asshownby a decreasein the coefficient
of variationcv with increasingvegetationdensity(Table 2).
Samplingbias may accountfor some excesslow-magnitude
data in the unvegetatedruns becausethe particle-tracking
method does not work in slow flowing plant-chokedareas.
However,evenwith the low-magnitude
velocitiesremoved,the
higherc vvaluesfor the unvegetatedrunsremain.Interestingly,
we observedno correlationbetweenvegetationdensityand
mean velocity magnitude. Evidently, the cutoff of lowdischargechannelsby plantsand the increasein bank strength
reducevelocityvariabilitybut do not speedthe flowup overall.
The vegetatedruns had a greaterspreadin velocityvector
anglesasshownby an increasein the standarddeviationof the
vectordirectiondata o'd,indicatingmore sinuousflowpathsin

the vegetatedruns (Table 2)..Analyzingthe vector angle

spreadusingthe methoddetailedby Curray[1956] showsthat
the percent correlationbetweenvector anglesL is lower in
vegetatedruns(Table2). We did not find a systematic
decrease
0.4
0
5
10
in L with vegetationdensity.Once the vegetationis estabStem Density(#stems/cm
)
lished,changesin its densitydo not seemto lead to increased
Figure 3. Channelgeometrycharacteristics
for all five runs sinuosityof flow paths.
plottedagainstvegetationdensity.Braidingintensity(BI) measuresthe averagenumber of active channelsalong a cross 3.3. Scour Features
section.Aspectratio is the average_active
channelwidth diScour holes are ubiquitousfeatures of braided streams,
vided by the mean depth (a = b/h). The maximumdepth formingwhereverflow pathscollide [Mosley,1976;Ashmore
hm refersto the maximumdepth_measured
alongeachcross and Parker, 1983; Best, 1986, 1987;Best and Ashworth,1997;
section.
Thelocaltransverse
slopeSyiscalculated
byaveraging
transverseslopemagnitudesbetweenadjacentpointsalonga Rhoadsand Kenworthy,1998].In the unvegetatedruns,scour
crosssection.The correlationcoefficientro is a measureof the holesup to fivetimesthe meanflow depthformedthroughout
correlationbetweenbed topographyprofilesthroughtime. A the stream,migratingand filling in rapidly.Once vegetation
high ro means a high degree of correlation,indicatinglow was introduced, scour features became much less mobile and
channelmobility.Eachdatapointon the graphrepresents
the transient,and some deepenedto as much as 6.4 times the
averageof all cross-sectional
data for the duration of a run. mean flow depth.Many scourfeaturesin the vegetatedruns
The spreadrepresentsone standarddeviationup and down migrateduntil they encountereda vegetatedbank where they
from the mean for the run. Actual values can be found in Table
stayedfixed,sometimesfor the remainderof the run. Differ1. Overall trends show a decreasein braiding intensityand encesin scourhole mobility can be seenin the time seriesof
aspectratio andan increasein maximumdepth,relief, andbed
bed elevationsfrom crosssectionsthat crossedmajor scour
stabilitywith increasingdensityof vegetation.
features,all of whichare givenby Gran [2000].For the highest
vegetationdensity(run 5), manyof the along-bankscourfeatureselongatedparallelto the bank and deepened.

cov (*h, '12)

ro= x/va
r(r/,)var
('12)

(1) 4.
4.1.

cov
(r/,,r/2)
= ] (r/,,-,)(r/2,-2)

(2)

var(rt)=n- 1 (Ti
--)2,

(3)

i=1

i=1

Discussion

Scaling

As vegetationdensityin the model increased,it affected

channelform and dynamics.
Many of the observedchangesin
channel geometry are consistentwith an increasein bank
strengthdue to the introductionof vegetationand are comparable to trends in natural river channels.As mentioned above,

we took care to use Froude numberscomparableto natural

where rh and '12representbed topographyat sequentialtime braided rivers and maintain turbulent flow in model channels,
steps,h is the averageelevationat time 1, t2 is the average sothe flowdynamics
canbe comparedwith naturalrivers.The

GRAN

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3279

f.-."'

. '":
:.-.
' ,,':5...

.,...-
.;.
..
,:..;:
......

;:.
'';.
-...
:...
:.. -:..'-.-'::
,; ;...'."".' ....
;,:......... ;:......:.;
..**-,....

:5'
,,'
-

'." '"'*:..',.

"'::'"F.. '"

- .%.,.:.,.%

-.:..:

Figure 4. Image of run 5, the run with the highest spatial vegetation density. The river resemblesa
wanderingstream,with one to two main channelsseparatedby large, vegetatedislands.

mm alfalfa stemsscaleup to 80 mm diameterfield vegetation.

This is a reasonablesize for young tree trunks. In addition,
To comparelength scales,we use as a prototypean unveg- slow flow through the vegetation in the model was nearly
etated reachof the SunwaptaRiver, 1-2 km downstreamfrom laminar as opposedto turbulent in flow through natural bank
the Athabascaglacier(Figure 6). The model usedquartz sand vegetation,so the zone of interferencefrom each stem in the
with a Dso = 0.5 mm, while the Sunwaptahad a Dso = 40 experimentsis larger than a similar zone of interferencein a
mm. The length scaleratio (model/prototype)is thus 0.0125. fully turbulent flow. This makesthe stemsappear larger than
Comparisonsbetween mean channel width and depth gave they really are to the experimentalflow.
similarscaleratios(0.008 and 0.01, respectively),but theseare
valuesset by the flow itself and are not independentvariables. 4.2. Channel Geometry
In shapethe alfalfa sproutswe usedin the experimentsare
Charltonet al. [1978],Andrews[1984], and Hey and Thorne
most similarto trees,with a solitarytrunk and high branches. [1986] have shownthat when bank sedimenttype is held conUsing the length scaleratio computedabove(0.0125), the 1 stant, the averagetotal wetted width/averagedepth (a) desizeof the alfalfa sproutscan be comparedwith natural vege-

tation

as follows.

Figure 5. A stretchof the AthabascaRiver near Fort Assiniboinein Alberta, Canada,describedas a

wanderingriver by Neill [1973]. There are one to two main channelsseparatedby large vegetatedislands.
Image modifiedfrom 1:50000map [Departmentof Mines and TechnicalSurveys,1959].

3280

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Table 2. Summaryof Spatial Velocity Characteristicsfor Each Runa

Run

Stem
Density,
stems/cm
2

1
2
3
4
5

MeanVector
Magnitude,
m/s

0
0
1.2
4.2
9.2

Cvb Vector
Magnitudes

0.21
0.18
0.21
0.20
0.19

0.53
0.45
0.42
0.33
0.37

cvb Vector
Magnitudes
>0.05m/s
0.48
0.45
0.41
0.32
0.36

o'dVector
Angles,
c
rad
0.34
0.43
0.60
0.50
0.61

L Vector

Angles,
d
%
96
93
85
90
85

aNotethat all listedvaluesare statisticalcompilationsfrom the entire run.

bHereCv is thecoefficient
of variation(standard
deviation/mean)
of thevectormagnitude
data.
CHeretrd is the standarddeviationof the vector angle data.

dL is thepercentcorrelation
of vectorangles.
creasesas the densityof vegetationincreases.This sametrend
is seenin the experimentalruns,with high vegetationdensity
correspondingto lower a. In the unvegetatedmodel runs, a
wasan order of magnitudehigherthan in run 5 and the natural
single-threadrivers.High a are characteristic
of braidedrivers
[Ashmore,1985],and a computedin runs1 and2 are consistent
with a computedfor other braided streams[Eschner,1983].
Run 5, with the highestvegetationdensity,had an averagea 21, which is within range of a computedfrom natural singlethreadchannels[Charltonet al., 1978;Andrews,1984;Hey and

Thorne,1986].The braidingindexwas alsolowestin this run,

and in plan view the channel resembleda wanderingriver
(Figures4 and 5). Althoughit was clearlynot a meandering
river, it wasshiftingtowarda meanderingbehaviorrather than
strictlybraiding. It has proven quite difficult to model true
meandersin a flume [Smith,1998], and one of the main reasonsmay be lack of vegetation[Hickin, 1984].
The observeddecreasein a with increasingvegetationis the
result of several factors. One of these is the closure of small

channelsby vegetation,forcingthe bulk of the dischargeinto

fewer channels.This showed up as a decreasein braiding
intensitywith increasingdensityof vegetation.This decreasein
the number

&
N

2 km

of active channels led to a decrease in the total

channelwidthpartiallyaccountingfor the observeddecreasein

a. The decreasein a also resultsin part from an increasein
bank strengthas more plants and thus more roots became
establishedon the banks.Although root densitywasnot measureddirectly,root densityscaleswith stemdensity.Rootsadd
tensile strength to the sediment, increasingthe bulk shear
strength[Vidal,1969;Thorne,1990],andthe strengthincreases
with increasingdensityof roots [Ziemer,1981;Gray and MacDonald, 1989]. In addition,the roughnessintroducedby bank
vegetationincreasesthe localboundarylayerthickness,forcing
the high-velocityzone away from the bank and decreasing
shearstresson the bank [Thorneand Furbish,1995].As bank
strengthincreases,deeper, narrower channelscan develop.
Brice [1964] found that the CalamusRiver in the Nebraska
Sandhillshad a straight,narrow channelwhere erosionalresistancewashigh and wide, braidedchannelswherebank erosional resistancewas low. The main factor controllingerosionalresistanceof the bankswasvegetation.
An increasein bank strengthalso increaseschannelrelief
through the formation of higher or steeperbanks. Channel
relief increasedwith vegetationdensityin our experiments,
consistentwith an increasein bank strength.An increasein
bank strengthshouldalsoaffectlateral migrationrates;in the
experiments,thisis expressedasa decreasein channelmobility
with increasingvegetationdensity.This decreasein erodibility
and lateral mobility resultingfrom vegetatedbanksand bars
hasbeen quantifiedin the field on anastomosing
[Smith,1976]
and meanderingstreams[Beesonand Doyle, 1995].

Glacier
snout
Alluvial
fan

Rock
gorge
Braidplain

Mount
Kirchner

\ Study

,........
each

3511

Gauging

Station/

Athabasca_
Glacier,,,/--'%

4.3.

Scour Features

The increaseddepth of scour features,particularlynearbank scour features, is consistent with an increase in bank

Figure 6. This map showsthe locationof the prototypesec- strengthdue to the presenceof vegetation.In an unvegetated
tion of the SunwaptaRiver in JasperNational Park, Alberta, braidedsystem,flow impingingon the bank tendsto erodethe
Canada.
bank, wideningthe channel.When the banksbecomestabi-

GRAN

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3281

sur

Cross-sectional

/ $

View

Top view

Figure 7. Definition sketchfor the vortex generateddue to

bank impingement.The sketchon the left showsthe angleof
attack O between the flow line and the bank. The sketch on the

right showsa cross-sectional

view throughthe flow. The vortex
generatedby bank impingementis assumedto encompass
the
entire flow depth h. Here r is radiusof vortex,t/surfis downstreamsurfacevelocitycomponent,p is densityof water, and
% is basalshearstress.

Figure 8. Definition sketch for secondaryflow generated

from channel curvature.

The formulation

is in curvilinear

co-

ordinates.R is radius of curvature, u is the downstreamveloc-

ity component,and v is the cross-stream

velocitycomponent.

lizedwith vegetation,flow impingingon the bank cannoterode

the bankasreadily,andflowmaybe directeddownward,scouring the bed. This processis similar to the classichorseshoe
vortex formed when flow impingesupon a vertical cylinder,
scouringthe bed around the cylinder [Shenand Schneider,
1969].
In order to determinehow strongthe helicalflow generated
by obliquebank impingementmightbe we developeda simple
model of an impingement-driven
vortex.The shearstressgenerated from secondaryflow due to obliquebank impingement
is then comparedto the shearstressgeneratedby curvaturedrivensecondaryflow to determinethe relativeimportanceof
the bank impingementvortex.
The shearstressgeneratedby flow impingingon the banks
canbe described
with a simpletorquebalance(Figure7). If we
assumethat a vortexwith a horizontalrotation axisgenerated
by the downwellingdevelopsthroughthe entire flow depth, a
torquebalancecan be written with the lever arm equal to half
the flow depth.The drivingforce is the pressureimbalanceat
the wall. Usingthe angleof attackO betweenthe flow and the
bank, we extract from the near-bankvelocitythe vector componentperpendicularto the wall, whichdrivesthe vortex.The
torque is givenby torque/area= pressurex lever arm:

A -- P(Usurf
sin0)2 h,

pographyis describedby a basicforce balancein curvilinear

coordinates:

u(z)2 10P
R

pOy

10zy
pOz'

(6)

whereu(z) is the downstream

velocitycomponent,R is radius

of curvature,
P is pressure,
andZyis shearstress.
The transversepressuregradientis balancedby centrifugalacceleration
at the point of meanvelocity5. Integratingover depth,we get
an equationin terms of bed shearstressZc:

R
ht/(Z)2
__
2dz= --,Tc
p

(7)

whereZo is the standardroughness

length.We then introduce
a shapefactor/3 suchthat/3 -< 1'

h[t/(Z)
2-2]
dz
h52
.

/3=

(8)

Combining(7) and (8), we have an equationfor the shear

stressgeneratedby secondaryflow due to curvature:

(4)

q'c 2h

R '

(9)

where p is densityof water, t/surfis surfacevelocityin downstreamdirection,and h is flow depth.This torque is balanced Now the shearstresses
from (5) and(9) canbe comparedto get
by shearstress% alongthe bed andthewall and rewrittenwith an estimateof the relative importanceof the bank impingeshear stress on the left-hand side:
ment-generated shearstress:
Tb

2 sin20
t/surf

'

This form of % is comparedwith the basal shear stressgeneratedby secondaryflow due to curvatureZc (Figure 8) [e.g.,
Roszovskii,
1957;SmithandMcLean, 1984].Note that our goal
here is an estimate of the magnitude of the stressdue to
secondaryflow, not a detailed model of the secondaryflow
field. To first order, secondaryflow in a wide curved open
channelunder steadyconditionsand without streamwiseto-

Tb

-'-t/surf

Rsin 20 '

From this ratio, it becomes clear that the main variables of

interestare flow depthh, radiusof curvatureR, and angleof

impingementO.
Twenty-fivescourholesfrom runs4 and 5 were examinedin
the vegetatedruns to determineratiosof Zc/%. For these25
scourholes the averagebank impingementangle is 39, the
mean radiusof curvatureis 0.34 m, and the averagepool depth

3282

GRAN

AND

PAOLA:

RIPARIAN

VEGETATION

CONTROLS

ing. To see if island geometry alone could accountfor the

increasein the flow angles,we measuredthe lengthand width
of 12 islandsfrom runs 4 and 5 and computedan average
length to width ratio of 2.2. The inversetangentof this ratio
0.004 to 3.18, with a median of 0.10. This indicates that bank givesa characteristic
angleof flow deviationequalto 0.4 rad. If
impingementvorticesare an important sourceof secondary we assumethat the flow affectedby the islandshas a typical
flowin vegetatedbraidedstreamsand suggests
that it wouldbe deviationangleof 0.4 rad, then only 2.4-26% of the total flow
worth developinga detailed model for vortex generationat mustbe influencedby islandsto causea flow deviationincrease
resistantbanksand the subsequent
evolutionof the vortexasit of 0.07-0.27 rad. Althoughthis is a simpleanalysis,it strongly
interacts with the flow field.
suggeststhat the flow deviation is a direct result of island
geometry.Sinceislandgeometryis not primarilya functionof
4.4. Surface Flow Dynamics
vegetationdensity,it is againnot surprisingthat we observed
Other evidencethat vegetationaffectedflow dynamicswas no trendsin angledeviationbetweenthe three vegetatedexseenin comparisons
of velocityvectorstatisticsbetweenruns. perimentalruns.
We measuredan increasein velocityvector angle deviation
with the additionof vegetation.This angledeviationincreaseis
probablyrelated to flow moving aroundvegetatedbars and 5. Conclusions
islandsof higherresistance.
As flowmovesdownstreamtoward
Our studywas designedto test if vegetationalone could
a vegetatedisland,it caneitherflowacrossthe island,a shorter
affectchannelgeometryandflow dynamicsin a braidedsystem
pathwith higherresistance,
or aroundthe island,a longerpath
and to determinehow the magnitudeof the effectsvarieswith
with lower resistance.Becausethe length of the flow path
vegetationdensity.By runninga seriesof physicalexperiments
aroundthe islandvariesdependingon the width of the bar or
wherethe onlyvariablewasvegetationdensityand othervariislandand the resistancevarieswith the densityof vegetation,
ables,includinggrainsize,slope,sedimentdischarge,
andwathe proportionof flow movingaroundthe islanddependsin
ter discharge,were held constant,we were able to showthat
part on both the geometryof the island and the densityof
riparian vegetationcan substantiallyalter channelgeometry
vegetation.
and flow characteristics.
Our resultsindicatethat asvegetation
To testthe possibilitythat the increasedangledeviationsare
densityincreases,
lateral mobilitydecreases,
braidingintensity
the result of flow steeringaround zonesof higher resistance,
decreases,
width
to
depth
ratios
decrease,
maximum
channel
we linearized a two-dimensional
flow model and introduced a
depthsincrease,andchannelrelief increases.
The relationships
small-scalesinusoidalperturbation to the flow resistancein
we observedbetweenvegetationdensityand channelgeometwo dimensions[Nayfeh,1993].This had the effectof creating
try, bank stability,and lateral mobility are similar to many
islandsof higher resistance,similar to the vegetatedbraided
observedin natural rivers,even thoughmostfield studiesexsystems
in our flume.Usingthismodel,we introduceda smallaminingvariablevegetationdensityeffectshave concentrated
scaleperturbation
e to the resistance
CT and analyzedthe on single-threadchannels.Of particularrelevanceto braided
resultingvelocityfield.For the experiments,
o-a increased0.07systemsis the relationshipbetweenscourholesand vegetated
0.27 rad betweenruns with and without vegetation.We used
banks and bars. This includesdecreasedscourhole mobility,
the linearized systemto see if it was possibleto achievethe
increasedscourhole depth, and the introductionof oblique
increasein o'a seenin our experimentaldata [Gran, 2000].
bank impingement-drivensecondaryflow in channelswith
We foundthat to get an increasein o-a of 0.07 rad, e had to
riparian vegetation.
be at least 0.53; that is, the resistancehad to vary by 53%. An
In the run with the highestvegetationdensity,widthto depth
e = 0.53translates
intoa maximum
Cf = 0.13. We computed ratiosapproachedthoseof natural single-threadchannels,the
an estimate
of Cf for our experimental
vegetation
by approx- braidingintensitydecreased,and in plan view the model reimating the stemsas vertical cylindersand summingthe drag
sembleda wanderingriver, with one to two main channels
along each cylinderset into the flow plus the bed resistance.
flowingaroundlarger vegetatedislands.Althoughwe cannot
For our lowestdensityrun thisgivesa CT = 0.18, whichis tell if changesin vegetation alone are enough to alter the
comparable
to but still higherthan the maximumCT in the generalpatternof a riverfrom braidedto meandering,we have
linear perturbationmodel usinge = 0.53. That the linearized
shownthat vegetationplaysan importantrole in stabilizingthe
theorydoesnot work perfectlyis not surprising;an e = 0.53 is
banks, constrainingchannelmigration, and allowingdeeper
hardly a smallperturbation,so rather it is surprisingthat the
and narrower channelsto develop.These are all effectsthat
linearizedtheorycomesas closeas it does.It shouldbe more
movethe channelpattern in the directionof meandering.
applicableat lowervegetationdensities.Observationally,
there
alsoappearsto be a thresholddensitywherethe resistanceis so
Acknowledgments.This researchwasfundedthrougha grantfrom
high that flow is essentiallyblockedby the vegetation,and the
bulk of the flow is forced around the vegetation.Our vegeta- the NationalScienceFoundation(EAR-9628393).Additionalfunding
tion densitieswere all abovethis threshold.This couldexplain came from a GraduateSchoolFellowshipthroughthe Universityof
Minnesotaand a FrancisGibsonFellowshipthroughthe Department
why we saw no link between o'a and increasingvegetation of Geologyand Geophysics.We appreciatethe commentsfrom two

is 0.021 m [Gran, 2000]. In all but one of the scourholesthe

shearstressrelated to a bank impingement-generatedvortex
is greater than the shear stressrelated to curvature-driven
secondary
flow.Shearstressratios(equation(10)) rangedfrom

densities.

anonymousreviewers.

If vegetatedislandstend to blockthe flow completely,then

island geometryshouldcontrol variability in flow direction.
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