Influence of riparian and watershed alterations on sandbars in a Great Plains river

摘要: Anthropogenic alterations have caused sandbar habitats in rivers and the biota dependent on them to decline. Restoring large river sandbars may be needed as these are important components of ecosystems provide essential habitat terrestrial aquatic organisms. We quantified factors within riparian zone Kansas River, USA, its tributaries that influenced size density using aerial photographs land use/land cover (LULC) data. developed, a priori, 16 linear regression models focused LULC at local, adjacent upstream bend, segment (18–44 km upstream) scales used an information theoretic approach determine what best predicted sandbars. Variation was explained by contributing scale, which indicated reduced with increased forest tributary watersheds. Similarly, watersheds scale variation size. These agriculture decreased urban Our findings suggest sediment supply delivery from influential River preserving natural grassland reducing woody encroachment Great Plains help improve restore function. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.