Spatially-explicit modelling of riparian vegetation dynamics under reservoir operations
空间显式模型模拟河流岸边带植被在水库运行作用下的演替

Riparian zones are important to the interception of diffusive pollutants and the rehabilitation of aquatic ecosystems. Due to the fluctuations of the water levels, riparian ecosystems usually have strong dynamic behaviors. This study focuses on the understanding of the vegetation dynamics and successions of riparian zones of compound channels when the flow regimes are fundamentally modified by river regulations such as reservoir operations. The research developed an integrated riparian vegetation model which couples the global continuum formulations of hydrodynamics with the local cellular automata of vegetation evolution. The model was then applied to a compound channel of Lijiang River in the Southwest China, which has been affected by the flow regulations for navigation purpose. Through the simulations, the previous changes of the riparian vegetations were analyzed and their future developments under the new flow regulation scheme were predicted. In particular, the potentials of integrating global formulation and cellular automata were well studied.