Pressures and Status of the Riparian Vegetation in Greek Rivers: Overview and Preliminary Assessment
Riparian zones play an important role in the ecological stability of rivers. In particular, the quality of the riparian vegetation is a significant component of the hydromorphological status. In Europe, the QBR index (Qualitat del Bosc de Ribera) and the River Habitat Survey (RHS) are commonly used...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Hydrology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/8/1/55 |
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| author | Anna Latsiou Theodora Kouvarda Konstantinos Stefanidis George Papaioannou Konstantinos Gritzalis Elias Dimitriou |
| author_facet | Anna Latsiou Theodora Kouvarda Konstantinos Stefanidis George Papaioannou Konstantinos Gritzalis Elias Dimitriou |
| author_sort | Anna Latsiou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Riparian zones play an important role in the ecological stability of rivers. In particular, the quality of the riparian vegetation is a significant component of the hydromorphological status. In Europe, the QBR index (Qualitat del Bosc de Ribera) and the River Habitat Survey (RHS) are commonly used for the qualitative assessment of the riparian vegetation. In this study, we estimated the QBR index and the Riparian Quality index, which is derived from the RHS method, for 123 river reaches of the National Monitoring Network of Greece. Our field work included the completion of RHS and QBR protocols, as well as the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The aim of this study is to assess the riparian vegetation status and to identify linkages with the dominant land uses within the catchment. Correlation analysis was used to identify the relationships between hydromorphological alterations and the degradation of the riparian vegetation, as well as their connection to land uses in the catchment area. Our results highlighted severe modifications of the riparian vegetation for the majority of the studied reaches. We also showed a differentiation of the QBR with respect to changes in the altitude and the land uses in the catchment area. Overall QBR reflects the variation in the riparian vegetation quality better than RQI. Our findings constitute an assessment of the status of the riparian zones in Greek rivers and set the basis for further research for the development of new and effective tools for a rapid quality assessment of the riparian zones. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:58:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-83aa50421de149389112ee361ee0dd82 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2306-5338 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:58:11Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Hydrology |
| spelling | doaj.art-83aa50421de149389112ee361ee0dd822023-11-21T11:44:39ZengMDPI AGHydrology2306-53382021-03-01815510.3390/hydrology8010055Pressures and Status of the Riparian Vegetation in Greek Rivers: Overview and Preliminary AssessmentAnna Latsiou0Theodora Kouvarda1Konstantinos Stefanidis2George Papaioannou3Konstantinos Gritzalis4Elias Dimitriou5Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 46.7 km of Athens—Sounio Ave., 19013 Anavyssos, Attiki, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 46.7 km of Athens—Sounio Ave., 19013 Anavyssos, Attiki, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 46.7 km of Athens—Sounio Ave., 19013 Anavyssos, Attiki, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 46.7 km of Athens—Sounio Ave., 19013 Anavyssos, Attiki, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 46.7 km of Athens—Sounio Ave., 19013 Anavyssos, Attiki, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 46.7 km of Athens—Sounio Ave., 19013 Anavyssos, Attiki, GreeceRiparian zones play an important role in the ecological stability of rivers. In particular, the quality of the riparian vegetation is a significant component of the hydromorphological status. In Europe, the QBR index (Qualitat del Bosc de Ribera) and the River Habitat Survey (RHS) are commonly used for the qualitative assessment of the riparian vegetation. In this study, we estimated the QBR index and the Riparian Quality index, which is derived from the RHS method, for 123 river reaches of the National Monitoring Network of Greece. Our field work included the completion of RHS and QBR protocols, as well as the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The aim of this study is to assess the riparian vegetation status and to identify linkages with the dominant land uses within the catchment. Correlation analysis was used to identify the relationships between hydromorphological alterations and the degradation of the riparian vegetation, as well as their connection to land uses in the catchment area. Our results highlighted severe modifications of the riparian vegetation for the majority of the studied reaches. We also showed a differentiation of the QBR with respect to changes in the altitude and the land uses in the catchment area. Overall QBR reflects the variation in the riparian vegetation quality better than RQI. Our findings constitute an assessment of the status of the riparian zones in Greek rivers and set the basis for further research for the development of new and effective tools for a rapid quality assessment of the riparian zones.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/8/1/55QBR indexecological qualityriparian zonewater framework directiveriver habitat surveyrivers |
| spellingShingle | Anna Latsiou Theodora Kouvarda Konstantinos Stefanidis George Papaioannou Konstantinos Gritzalis Elias Dimitriou Pressures and Status of the Riparian Vegetation in Greek Rivers: Overview and Preliminary Assessment Hydrology QBR index ecological quality riparian zone water framework directive river habitat survey rivers |
| title | Pressures and Status of the Riparian Vegetation in Greek Rivers: Overview and Preliminary Assessment |
| title_full | Pressures and Status of the Riparian Vegetation in Greek Rivers: Overview and Preliminary Assessment |
| title_fullStr | Pressures and Status of the Riparian Vegetation in Greek Rivers: Overview and Preliminary Assessment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pressures and Status of the Riparian Vegetation in Greek Rivers: Overview and Preliminary Assessment |
| title_short | Pressures and Status of the Riparian Vegetation in Greek Rivers: Overview and Preliminary Assessment |
| title_sort | pressures and status of the riparian vegetation in greek rivers overview and preliminary assessment |
| topic | QBR index ecological quality riparian zone water framework directive river habitat survey rivers |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/8/1/55 |
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