(January 25, 2022) - Dr. Alessandro Ielpi, an Associate Professor of Sedimentology at the Vale Living with Lakes Centre and the Harquail School of Earth Sciences of Laurentian University, has recently published a paper in the Earth and Environment category of Nature Reviews. The study takes a new look at the role of vegetation in controlling the shape of river channels. It was developed in collaboration with Dr. Mathieu G. A. Lapôtre and Dr. C. Kevin Boyce of Stanford University, and Dr. Martin R. Gibling of Dalhousie University.
The study takes a detailed look at meandering rivers - a type of river characterized by curvy bends that often develop in nearly flat, fertile plains rich in vegetation. These plains have offered good sites for human settlement for centuries, such that the history of human civilization and meandering rivers have been intimately intertwined. Understanding how vegetation along banks helps rivers bend is an often debated problem that has important implications for flood control and river management in a changing climate.
To understand how vegetation - or its absence - influences the shape of river channels, Dr. Ielpi and colleagues have canoed through thickly vegetated watersheds, have crossed on foot through barren deserts looking for otherworldly ephemeral streams, and have even looked at the surface of other planets like Mars, where the deposits of billions-year-old meanders are visible through its thin atmosphere. Their results demonstrate that although river meanders can form without vegetation, the latter reinforces channel banks, modulating floods and restraining erosion.
“These results allow us to look at Earth’s history with new eyes, but also to predict how rivers will behave in a near future if vegetation is continually removed from watersheds through wildfires, aggressive timber harvesting, or urbanization”, said Dr. Ielpi. Results also contribute to the timely and necessary understanding of how changes in our ecosystem impacted by factors such as climate, have widespread environmental and social effects. Especially in light of recent outcomes of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), research about the environment and its sustainability has immense value for people, places and resources.
Said Director of the Harquail School of Earth Sciences, Dr. Douglas Tinkam: “This paper is an example of the scientific, social, and environmental relevance of the study of Earth Sciences on a planetary and interplanetary scale. The authors have published a work that will help scientists and governments to better understand and predict river behaviour, offering valuable research that could help prevent or mitigate flood damage.”
Added Laurentian’s Vice-President of Research, Dr. Tammy Eger: “This paper by Dr. Ielpi and colleagues underscores the importance of international collaborations in scientific discoveries which highlight the healing power of nature. We commend Dr. Ielpi for this work and his commitment to building national and international teams of graduate students and scientists who are providing answers to critical questions helping our global society address issues related to climate change.”