Expansion of Riparian Vegetation Due to Change of Flood Regime in the Cheongmi-cheon Stream, Korea

Abstract

: The distribution of floodplain vegetation is mainly affected by hydrological and hydraulic processes. In this study, we investigated changes in the vegetation distribution due to flood discharge alteration, and the relationship between the vegetation types and the flood frequency during the last ten-year period in the Cheongmi-cheon Stream. Flood discharge of the Cheongmi-cheon Stream tended to decrease from 2006 to 2016. It has greatly decreased to less than 160 m 3 /s since 2013. This resulted in the settlement of Phragmites japonica to the wide sand bar at the Cheongmi-cheon Stream, even though it had sparse vegetation before 2013. The sand bar was fully covered with P. japonica in 2016. Vegetation communities in the floodplain were classified by dominant species, i.e. the annual-hygrophytic, the perennial hygrophytic and the mesophytic communities. Analysis of the relationship between the vegetation communities and the flood frequency shows the annual hygrophytes, perennial hygrophytes and the mesophytes communities distributed in the range of under 1 year, 1-10 year and over 7 year flood inundation area, respectively. In conclusion, distribution of the floodplain vegetation is closely related with the flood discharge and frequency in the Cheongmi-cheon Stream.