Towards i5 Ecohydraulics: Field Determination of Manning’s Roughness Coefficient, Drag Force, and Macroinvertebrate Habitat Suitability for Various Stream Vegetation Types

Abstract

Ecohydraulic models have commonly used the flow velocity, water depth, and substrate type (i3 models) as the three fundamental determinants of the distribution of freshwater biota, but a fourth determinant has largely been neglected: stream vegetation. In this study, we provide the hydraulic and habitat information required to develop vegetation-adapted ecohydraulic models (i4 models) in streams. We calculated drag forces and Manning’s roughness coefficients (nV) for nine types of submerged, emergent, and overhanging stream vegetation. In addition, we developed habitat suitability curves (HSCs) for benthic macroinvertebrates for these stream vegetation types. Hydraulic modules can now be upgraded to simulate stream vegetation by including the vegetation-adapted nV values within an additive approach in which nV is added to the n value of the inorganic substrate to which the vegetation is rooted. Habitat modules can also be upgraded to include macroinvertebrate HSCs for stream vegetation, again by adding the vegetation-adapted habitat suitability to that of the inorganic substrate to which the vegetation is rooted. In combination, i4 ecohydraulic models (including vegetation) can now be designed and applied, and we suggest that ecohydraulic research should further focus on including a fifth variable (water temperature) to ultimately advance to i5 ecohydraulic models that will optimally simulate the hydroecological reality.