Abstract
The goal of this study was to assess impact of flood on soil and vegetation cover in the Sazava river floodplain after an extreme spring flood in 2006. The impact on soil cover resulted mainly in vast erosion and sedimentation leading to differentiation of three fluvisol subtypes according to sediment coarseness. The impact on vegetation resulted in regeneration of herbaceous alluvial vegetation buried under a thin layer of sediments, succession of vegetation on eroded sites and succession of vegetation on new sediments. The regeneration of alluvial vegetation, expressed by vegetation cover, reached the same level as vegetation on undisturbed sites after 8 months. The succession of vegetation on new sites, studied within 25 m2 sampling plots and tested by using multivariate statistical methods, was primarily dependent on diaspores left on sites by the flood and on site type as well. The vegetation cover reached 100 percent at the end of the first vegetation season in both cases. There was a significant difference in species’ composition between eroded sites and sites on thick layers of sediments each year as hypothesized. There was also significant difference in vegetation succession between site types. <b>Sukcese vegetace a přeměna pokryvnosti půdy po extrémních záplavách. Případová studie v nivě Sázavy</b> Vliv extrémních záplav na vegetaci a půdní kryt byl studován v nivě Sázavy po jarní povodni v roce 2006. V prostoru nivy mezi Čerčany a Poříčím nad Sázavou došlo k rozsáhlé erozi a sedimentaci. Sledována byla jednak obnova aluviální vegetace pohřbené pod málo mocné vrstvy sedimentu, jednak sukcese vegetace na erozních plochách a mocných sedimentech. Regenerace aluviální vegetace byla rychlá. Pokryvnost vegetace disturbovaných ploch dosáhla po 8 měsících stejné pokryvnosti jako na plochách nedisturbovaných. Oproti předpokladu nebyla prokázána rozdílná rychlost zarůstání studovaných ploch (regenerující vegetace aluviálních luk, sukcese na erozních plochách a sukcese na sedimentech). Druhové složení vegetace na sukcesních plochách však bylo průkazně závislé na typu plochy. Druhové složení také průkazně závisí na typu plochy a sukcesním stáří.
Highlights
Floodplains belong to the youngest and most dynamics segments of the landscape
The purpose of this paper is to describe impact of an extreme flood on soil cover and succession and/or regeneration of vegetation after such event in the Sázava river floodplain
Vegetation relevés were conducted during the period of maximum vegetation development in June each year. 3 permanent study plots were situated in the part of the floodplain where meadow herbaceous vegetation was buried under loamy to sandy sediments up to 10 cm thick, 5 plots were situated in the eroded part of the floodplain and 5 plots in the eroded part with more than 30 cm thick layer of loamy to sandy sediments deposited with flood retreat
Summary
Floodplains belong to the youngest and most dynamics segments of the landscape. The dynamics is driven by natural as well as cultural processes. Regular floods represent natural disturbances of the floodplain that drive the pattern of vegetation and influence the pedogenesis (Geerling et al 2006). Floods during growing season bring a large amount of seeds and affect spread of species along the stream. They are especially favorable for spread of invasive species (Matějček 2007). The modifications tended to prevent regular flooding and mostly lead to changes in land use and species composition. Such modifications do not prevent extreme floods that have more severe impact on the altered floodplain than on the floodplain in natural state
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