Author(s): Songyi Li; Shan Zheng

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Abstract: Dramatic undercutting of the Shiting River, a gravel-bed river draining from the Longmen Mountains, has taken place since the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. The morphological conditions of the Shiting River have changed due to natural factors and anthropogenic impacts after the earthquake. In this study, we measured the river morphology using drone, and surveyed the macroinvertebrate communities at 18 sampling sites along a channel reach of ~25-km-long at the Shiting River in 2021. We divided the channel reaches into six segments and assessed the morphological quality of the segments using the Morphological Quality Index (MQI), a method recommended in the EU Water Framework Directive to assess and restore rivers. The results showed that, the MQI scores for the six segments varied between 0.45 to 0.7, which indicates poor to good morphological quality. Two segments are in poor condition and need to be restored first. The low MQI scores at the two segments are mainly because of poor longitudinal continuity and strong cross-section configuration by bank protection. A total of 54 species of macroinvertebrates were found in the channel reaches, and they belong to 3 phylum, 6 classes and 33 families. The diversity of macroinvertebrates is positively related with the MQI scores. This study may help to provide reference for the morphological and ecological restoration of rivers impacted by earthquakes or degradation.

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Year: 2022