Effects of the invasive plant Lupinus polyphyllus on vertical accretion of fine sediment and nutrient availability in bars of the gravel-bed Paloma river

Abstract

Floodplain vegetation is fundamental in fluvial systems, controlling river corridor geomorphology and ecology through a series of hydraulic, sedimentological, and biological processes. Changes caused by introduced plant species can thus result in shifts in river regime, succession trajectories and nutrient availability, affecting native biodiversity. The exotic bigleaf or marsh lupine Lupinus polyphyllus, introduced in Patagonia in the last decades, is aggressively invading fluvial corridors. It fills unoccupied ecological niches in southern Chilean rivers, due to its capacity for nitrogen fixation, its perennial habit, and high shoot density and leaf surface area.