Chapters authored
Analysis of the Impacts of Changes in Streamflow and of Restoration on the Morphological Evolution of the Matambin River Channel in the St. Lawrence Lowlands (Quebec, Canada)
Although many plots of land that were once farmed have been reforested in the St Lawrence Lowlands of Quebec since the 1950s, no study has yet looked at the morphological impacts of this land‐use change. To address this, we analyzed the evolution of the Matambin River (99 km2) channel width and sinuosity using diachronic analysis of air photographs taken between 1935 and 2008. Results of this analysis show a roughly 21% decrease in mean channel bankfull width from 1935 to 1964. This time interval was characterized by a low frequency of strong flood flows in the region and a roughly 32% increase in the forested land area, the reforestation having started in the 1950s. After 1964, a trend of increasing mean channel bankfull width is observed. This increase is associated with the increase in frequency of strong flood flows in the region and a decrease in the amount of suspended sediments produced by soil erosion following the increase in forest cover in the watershed. In contrast, channel sinuosity did not change much over the period from 1935 to 2008.
Part of the book: Hydro-Geomorphology