Succession of vegetation in alluvial floodplains after extreme floods

Abstract

The paper deals with the topic of vegetation changes and successional developments as well as spread of invasive species in alluvial plains after extreme floods. The issue has become topical in Czechia after several extreme floods concentrated in the last 10 years. The paper is based on the search of the Czech and foreign literature as well as authors own experience and research after catastrophic summer floods in 1997 and 2002 in Czechia. The attention is paid to processes and mechanisms of vegetation succession and regeneration after floods. Floods are functioning as important natural disturbances increasing both geodiversity and biodiversity in the riverine landscapes. Different successional stages as well as variable habitats create a varied mosaic of vegetation and cause high species and ecosystem biodiversity in floodplains. On the other hand the disturbance regime of floods is particularly favorable also for invasive species that spread rapidly through floodplain. While future spatial distribution and spread of invasive species is difficult to forecast, the processes of succession and regeneration of vegetation after floods as well as changes in species composition of communities are predictable and confirm basic ecological principles.