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Interactions between vegetation and sediment in post‐fire landscapes play a critical role in sediment connectivity. Prior research has focused on the effects of vegetation removal from hillslopes, but little attention has been paid to the effects of coarse woody debris (CWD) added to the forest floor following fires. We investigate the impacts of CWD on hillslope sediment storage in post‐fire environments. First, we present a new conceptual model, identifying “active” storage scenarios where sediment is trapped upslope of fire‐produced debris such as logs, and additional “passive” storage scenarios including the reduced effectiveness of tree‐throw due to burnt roots and snapped stems. Second, we use tilt table experiments to test controls on sediment storage capacity. Physical modeling suggests storage varies nonlinearly with log orientation and hillslope gradient, and the maximum storage capacity of log barriers in systems with high sediment fluxes likely exceeds estimates that assume simple sediment pile geometries. Last, we calculate hillslope sediment storage capacity in a burned catchment in southwest Montana by combining high‐resolution topographic data and digitization of over 5000 downed logs from aerial imagery. We estimate that from 3500–14 000 m³of sediment was potentially stored upslope of logs. These estimates assume that all downed logs store sediment, a process that is likely temporally dynamic as storage capacity evolves with CWD decay. Our results highlight the role that CWD plays in limiting rapid sediment movement in recently burned systems. Using a range of potential soil production rates (50–100 mm/ky), CWD would buffer the downslope transport of ~35–280 years of soil produced across the landscape, indicating that fire‐produced CWD may serve as an important source of sediment disconnectivity in catchments. These results suggest that disturbance events have previously unaccounted‐for mechanisms of increasing hillslope sediment storage that should be incorporated into models of sediment connectivity.

Feedbacks between geomorphic processes and riparian vegetation in river systems are an important control on fluvial morphodynamics and on vegetation composition and distribution. Invasion by nonnative riparian species alters these feedbacks and drives management and restoration along many rivers, highlighting a need for ecogeomorphic models to assist with understanding feedbacks between plants and fluvial processes, and with restoration planning. In this study, we coupled a network‐scale sediment model (Sediment Routing and Floodplain Exchange; SeRFE) that simulates bank erosion and sediment transport in a spatially explicit manner with a recruitment potential analysis for a species of riparian vegetation (Arundo donax) that has invaded river systems and wetlands in Mediterranean climates worldwide. We used the resulting ecogeomorphic framework to understand both network‐scale sediment balances and the spread and recruitment ofA. donaxin the Santa Clara River watershed of Southern California. In the coupled model, we simulated a 1‐year time period during which a 5‐year recurrence interval flood occurred in the mainstem Santa Clara River. Outputs identify key areas acting as sources ofA. donaxrhizomes, which are subsequently transported by flood flows and deposited in reaches downstream. These results were validated in three study reaches, where we assessed postflood geomorphic and vegetation changes. The analysis demonstrates how a coupled model approach is able to highlight basin‐scale ecogeomorphic dynamics in a manner that is useful for restoration planning and prioritization and can be adapted to analogous ecogeomorphic questions in other watersheds.

The strength of interactions between plants and river processes is mediated by plant traits and fluvial conditions, including above‐ground biomass, stem density and flexibility, channel and bed‐material properties, and flow and sediment regimes. In many rivers, concurrent changes in (1) the composition of riparian vegetation communities as a result of exotic species invasion and (2) shifts in hydrology have altered physical and ecological conditions in a manner that has been mediated by feedbacks between vegetation and morphodynamic processes. We review howTamarix, which has invaded many southwestern US waterways, andPopulusspecies, woody pioneer trees that are native to the region, differentially affect hydraulics, sediment transport, and river morphology. We draw on flume, field, and modelling approaches spanning the individual seedling to river‐corridor scales. In a flume study, we found that differences in the crown morphology, stem density, and flexibility ofTamarixcompared toPopulusinfluenced near‐bed flow velocities in a manner that favoured aggradation associated withTamarix. Similarly, at the patch and corridor scales, observations confirmed increased aggradation with increased vegetation density. Furthermore, long‐term channel adjustments were different forTamarix‐ versusPopulus‐dominated reaches, with faster and greater geomorphic adjustments forTamarix. Collectively, our studies show how plant‐trait differences betweenTamarixandPopulus, from individual seedlings to larger spatial and temporal scales, influence the co‐adjustment of rivers and riparian plant communities. These findings provide a basis for predicting changes in alluvial riverine systems which we conceptualize as a Green New Balance model that considers how channels may adjust to changes in plant traits and community structure, in addition to alterations in flow and sediment supply. We offer suggestions regarding how the Green New Balance can be used in management and invasive species management.

Sediment regimes, i.e., the processes that recruit, transport, and store sediment, create the physical habitats that underpin river‐floodplain ecosystems. Natural and human‐induced disturbances that alter sediment regimes can have cascading effects on river and floodplain morphology, ecosystems, and a river's ability to provide ecosystem services, yet prediction of the response of sediment dynamics to disturbance is challenging. We developed the Sediment Routing and Floodplain Exchange (SeRFE) model, which is a network‐based, spatially explicit framework for modeling sediment recruitment to and subsequent transport through drainage networks. SeRFE additionally tracks the spatially and temporally variable balance between sediment supply and transport capacity. Simulations using SeRFE can account for various types of watershed disturbance and for channel‐floodplain sediment exchange. SeRFE is simple, adaptable, and can be run with widely available geospatial data and limited field data. The model is driven by real or user‐generated hydrographs, allowing the user to assess the combined effects of disturbance, channel‐floodplain interactions and particular flow scenarios on the propagation of disturbances throughout a drainage network, and the resulting impacts to reaches of interest. We tested the model in the Santa Clara River basin, Southern California, in subbasins affected by large dams and wildfire. Model results highlight the importance of hydrologic conditions on postwildfire sediment yield and illustrate the spatial extent of dam‐induced sediment deficit during a flood. SeRFE can provide contextual information on reach‐scale sediment balance conditions, sensitivity to altered sediment regimes, and potential for morphologic change for managers and practitioners working in disturbed watersheds.