Vyschlé a obnažené: vliv břehové vegetace na abiotické a biotické vlastnosti vysychavých toků
| Title in English | Dry and uncovered: effects of riparian vegetation on abiotic and biotic characteristics of intermittent streams |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Riparian vegetation forms the boundary between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and can influence flow regimes, stabilize channels, limit the runoff of fine sediments from agricultural land, and reduce the excessive input of nutrients and pollutants. Therefore, restoring riparian zones is a common measure used to improve stream conditions in agricultural landscapes. Some of the environmental parameters influenced by the presence of woody riparian vegetation are critical for the survival of organisms in temporary streams, particularly the dampening of high temperatures and the limitation of fine sediment deposition on the streambed. This led us to investigate this influence on the temporary stream ecosystem and verify whether the presence of woody buffer strips along streams mitigates the effects of drying on benthic algae and macrozoobenthos communities. We conducted a comparison of temporary streams with and without well-developed woody riparian buffer strips. The results showed that streams with riparian vegetation had slightly lower water temperatures, lower total phosphorus concentrations, and higher levels of dissolved oxygen. Exposed streams were subjected to much higher solar radiation, and the substrate was clogged with a greater amount of fine sediment. The benthic diatom communities in both stream types were very similar, whereas the macrozoobenthos communities showed clear differences between streams with and without riparian vegetation. Contrary to our expectations, the mitigating effect of riparian strips was not evident during prolonged dry periods. The dry period led to a similar decline in both diversity and the Biosucho index in both groups of streams. Our findings confirm the importance of woody riparian vegetation for streams and their biodiversity, even though its role in mitigating the impacts of drought was not proven. The research was supported by the TACR project SS06010258. |
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