Author(s): Piotr Parasiewicz; Jura Sabolek; Adam Kiczko; Dorota Miroslaw-Swiatek; Jan Wojtowicz

Linked Author(s): Dorota Miroslaw-Swiatek

Keywords: Mesohabitat modelling; Rating curves; Statistical hydraulic model; Oder River

Abstract: This study evaluates the ecohydraulic relevance of the statistical mesoscale hydraulic model approach (MesoHydraulics) by analysing its influence on habitat suitability in a large regulated river system. The method represents flow-dependent hydraulic conditions using frequency distributions of depth, velocity, and hydromorphological unit (HMU) areas derived from a single field survey and transferred between hydromorphologically comparable river reaches. Habitat rating curves for functional fish guilds derived from simplified hydraulic inputs closely matched those obtained from a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model (R²=0.98). The similarity of hydraulic distributions between the two modelling approaches, quantified using an affinity index, averaged 90%, with larger deviations observed at extreme flows. The results indicate that mesoscale habitat modelling in large regulated rivers is robust to simplified hydraulic representations and supports efficient ecohydraulic assessments at broader spatial scales.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64697/iahr.proc.ise2026.abs.331

Year: 2026