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Articles by Ellen Wohl
Interacting Effects of Wood and Channel Geometry on Pool Depth in Gravel-Bed Rivers
Filename Description esp70424-sup-0001-Supporting_Information.docxWord 2007 document , 558.1 KB Table S1 Descriptions of the variables measured in the field and remotely. Figure S1 Side-view schematic of a pool-riffle sequence. Table S2 Pool spacing at Montana sites considering all pools, those associated with wood and those not associated with wood. Table S3 Central tendencies and Kruskal–Wallis test results of logjams that did and did not span the channel.
The Influence of Context in the Reach-Scale Distribution of Logjams
Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Data Availability Statement The data that supports the findings of this study are available in the of this article. Supporting Information Filename Description esp70426-sup-0001-Supplementary_Material.docxWord 2007 document , 2.1 MB Table S1: Spatial and variable trends by reach. Figure S1A: Plots of K function with Ang correction for each single-thread channel reach.
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By J. C. Brüggenjürgen, Gerard Crowley, Zhulatai Bao, Ellen Wohl, Jelena Stajic Verified, Jack Huang, Jake Yeston Verified, Michael Funk Verified, Di Jiang, Marc S. Lavine Verified, Courtney S. Malo, Unnati Sonawala, Madeleine Seale, Corinne N. Simonti, Ekeoma Uzogara, Mattia Maroso, Priscilla Kelly Verified, Sacha Vignieri Verified, Angela Hessler, Phil Szuromi, John Foley Verified, John Chiang
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Publisher Correction: Increasing river sediment concentration and flux across the pan-Arctic
Correction to: Nature Geoscience https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-01960-z, published online 13 April 2026. In the version of this article initially published, there was an error in Fig. 3a, where a stray term “37%” appeared in the middle of the plot, and an error in Fig. 4, where the label now reading “Fire area per 10,000 km2” appeared originally as “RTS area….” The figures have been amended in the HTML and PDF versions of the article. About this article Tian, S., Li, D., Zhang, T. et al.
Increasing river sediment concentration and flux across the pan-Arctic
Abstract Arctic rivers transport water, sediment and carbon, playing a central role in coastal stability and biogeochemical cycling. Although freshwater discharge to the Arctic Ocean has increased in recent decades, limited observations have hindered system-wide assessment of long-term, reach-level sediment dynamics.
Strategies for Assessing Post-Wildfire Geomorphic Resilience in Semiarid Rivers
1 Introduction Wildfires are increasing in frequency, extent, and severity in many fire-prone regions of the world, including the western United States (Abatzoglou and Williams 2016; Wohl 2025).
Geomorphic Responses to Post-Grazing Recovery and Stream Restoration in Semiarid Grassland Streams
1 Introduction Grasslands cover roughly 40% of Earth's terrestrial surface and support extensive river networks that respond sensitively to both natural and human disturbances (Blair et al. 2014). In southeastern Colorado, the Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT) has been restoring grassland streams in the semiarid Mud Creek and Rule Creek catchments since 2013.
A review of the historic and present ecological role of aquatic and shoreline wood, from forest to deep sea
I. INTRODUCTION Today, forests cover 28% of Earth's land mass; a decline from 40% in pre-industrial times (Wohl & Iskin, 2021). Deforestation continues in most countries due to land conversion for agriculture, urbanisation, mining, and logging (Farrokhi et al., 2024). The ecology of forests, their losses, and terrestrial wood decomposition dynamics have been intensively studied and reviewed previously (Harmon et al., 1986; Harmon, 2021).
Compromised Rivers: Understanding Historical Human Impacts on Rivers in the Context of Restoration
Ecology and Society: Compromised Rivers: Understanding Historical Human Impacts on Rivers in the Context of Restoration
Ecology & Society: Volume 10, Issue 2
Skip to content Opens in a new window Opens an external site Opens an external site in a new window Research Special Feature Special Feature R. Cynthia Neudoerffer, David Waltner-Toews, D. D. Joshi, James J. Kay, Mukta S. Tamang, D. D. Joshi, James J. Kay, Mukta S. Tamang, D. D. Joshi, James J. Kay, Mukta S. Tamang Special Feature Special Feature Special Feature Special Feature
Fine Sediment Depositional Patterns and Fish Habitat Following Wildfire and Debris Flow
1 Introduction Increases in water, sediment, and other materials entering river corridors after wildfire are well documented in the western United States and other fire-prone regions (Abatzoglou and Williams 2016; Richardson et al. 2022; Ortega-Becerril et al. 2024; Ridgway et al. 2024). Increased water and sediment yields typically are greatest in the first 3–10 years following fire, until upland ground cover regrows and stabilizes hillslopes (Shakesby and Doerr 2006; Shakesby 2011; Rengers et al.
Reading the River: How to Measure the Frequency of Flooding
Phrases such as “10-year flood” or “100-year flood” are misleading. These terms are abbreviations for probability: a 10-year flood is a volume of flow that occurs on average once every 10 years, based on the records of flow for that stream. If there are only 10 years of record, the size of the 10-year flood is little more than a guess, and there is no reason that two 10-year floods cannot occur in successive years. It would be unusual but not impossible.
Following the Bend: How To Read a River and Understand Its Nature
. Sept. 2025. 304p. ISBN 9780691272474. $29.95. SCI COPY ISBN As a fluvial (i.e., related to rivers or streams) geomorphologist, Wohl (Colorado State Univ.; Dead Wood: The Afterlife of Trees) has made reading rivers her life’s work. That vocation and its attendant expertise are on full display here, as Wohl sets the scene with a few definitions and essential concepts before launching the reader on a journey through different ways of understanding rivers.
Trajectories of river‐floodplain morphology and hydraulics following compounding wildfire‐flood disturbances
1 INTRODUCTION River resilience is defined by the system's response to disturbances, where a disturbance is any force that can shift a system far from its equilibrium (Tabacchi et al., 2009; Wohl et al., 2024a). Disturbances can significantly alter river form and function (Phillips & Van Dyke, 2016) and are thought to respond proportionally to the magnitude of the disturbance (Knighton, 2014).
Conceptualizing River Floodplains
1 Introduction Most nations have a legal framework to protect river channels and associated water resources. In the United States, for example, the federal government has jurisdiction over the active channel below the ordinary high water mark (Wohl et al., 2016) and the Clean Water Act protects water quality (Walsh & Ward, 2022).
Post‐fire sediment attenuation in beaver ponds, Rocky Mountains, CO and WY, USA
1 INTRODUCTION Large-scale wildfires are becoming increasingly common and intense (Dennison et al., 2014). Wildfires increase the amount of sediment shed from hillslopes into fluvial systems (Kunze & Stednick, 2006) via reduced ground cover that alters hillslope roughness, evapotranspiration, and runoff generation (Blount et al., 2020). Intense heat also decreases infiltration rates by altering soil properties (DeBano, 2000; Ebel & Moody, 2017).
Islands in the stream: Wood‐induced deposition and erosion in the river corridor
1 INTRODUCTION The potential for individual wood pieces and accumulations of large and small wood and sediment (hereafter, wood jams) to induce sediment storage in channels and floodplains within river corridors has been recognized for decades (e.g., Keller & Swanson, 1979; Keller & Tally, 1979). Processes of sediment erosion and deposition influence the morphology of a river channel and floodplain, as well as the spatial distribution and residence time of sediment.
Working with wood in rivers in the Western United States
1 INTRODUCTION Recognition of the important physical and ecological roles played by large wood in channels and floodplains largely grew out of research conducted in the northwestern portion of the United States starting in the 1970s (Harmon et al., 1986; Keller & Swanson, 1979; Keller & Tally, 1979; Wohl, 2017).
Geomorphic context in process‐based river restoration
REFERENCES , , & (2020). Using two-eyed seeing to bridge Western science and indigenous knowledge systems and understand long-term change in the Saskatchewan River Delta, Canada. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 36(5), 757–776. https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2018.1558050 , & (2019). A data-driven analysis of flash flood hazard, fatalities, and damages over the CONUS during 1996–2017. Journal of Hydrology, 578, 124106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124106 , , & (2017).
Recognizing the ephemeral stream floodplain: Identification and importance of flood zones in drylands
1 INTRODUCTION Floodplains—broadly defined as the variably inundated area adjacent to a stream—are disproportionately functional landforms. Here, the term stream is used unanimously to refer to all fluvial channels irrespective of size. In perennial streams, variations in flow magnitude drive transient storage of sediment, water and nutrients within floodplains (Wohl, 2021), which supports diverse habitats, biotic productivity and nutrient cycling (Bellmore & Baxter, 2014; Hauer et al., 2016).
Carbon sequestration potential of process‐based river restoration
Human alterations and restoration of floodplain carbon stocks Human alterations of river corridors can reduce organic carbon stocks in floodplain vegetation, downed wood, and soil (Hanberry et al., 2015; Wohl et al., 2017).
Wood‐Based Carbon Storage in the Mackenzie River Delta: The World's Largest Mapped Riverine Wood Deposit
Radiocarbon Measurements and Calculation of Calendar Age Wood samples taken in the field were sub-sampled to capture several years of growth rings. Where possible, the outer ring was retained. These samples therefore represent the most recent part of the tree's growth. Cellulose was extracted from each wood sample for radiocarbon (14C) measurement at the NEIF Radiocarbon Laboratory, SUERC, East Kilbride, UK.
Why wood should move in rivers
1 INTRODUCTION Large wood (≥10 cm diameter, 1 m length) is inherently mobile in river corridors over diverse temporal and spatial scales (Comiti et al., 2016; Kramer & Wohl, 2017; Ruiz-Villanueva et al., 2016). Within the river corridor of active channel(s) and floodplain, wood is episodically recruited, transported laterally and downstream, and deposited for varying lengths of time (Benda & Sias, 2003; Kramer & Wohl, 2017; Ruiz-Villanueva et al., 2016).
Why Rivers Need Their Floodplains
Floodplains store materials moving downstream and, in doing so, provide habitat for a wide variety organisms. Water, dissolved materials, sediment, and organic matter move downstream, but individual water or solute molecules or sediment grains can be stored on floodplains for periods that range from a few minutes to 10,000 years for sediment on the floodplain of the Amazon River. Storage reflects the strongly three-dimensional movements of materials in a river corridor.
Conceptualizing Rivers as Ecosystems
ESEX COMMENTARY Ellen Wohl Corresponding Author Ellen.wohl@colostate.edu orcid.org/0000-0001-7435-5013 Department of Geosciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523‐1482 USA Correspondence Ellen Wohl, Department of Geosciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523‐1482 USA.
Landscape‐scale carbon storage associated with beaver dams
Abstract [1] Beaver meadows form when beaver dams promote prolonged overbank flooding and floodplain retention of sediment and organic matter. Extensive beaver meadows form in broad, low‐gradient valley segments upstream from glacial terminal moraines.
How rivers can help in climate change resilience
Resilience–the ability of a substance to spring back into shape—is a much-desired characteristic. Resilience is also the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, or toughness. As people and societies, we crave resilience to the difficulties imposed upon us, including those of our own making. Accelerating change in the climate that influences every aspect of our existence is one of the most frightening of those difficulties.
Small streams and wetlands are key parts of river networks – here's why they need protection - SOURCE
Biscuit Brook, a popular fly fishing spot in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Ellen Wohl, CC BY-ND The Trump administration is proposing to redefine a key term in the Clean Water Act: “Waters of the United States.” This deceptively simple phrase describes which streams, lakes, wetlands and other water bodies qualify for federal protection under the law. Government regulators, landowners, conservationists and other groups have struggled to agree on what it means for more than 30 years.
Small streams and wetlands are key parts of river networks-here's why they need protection
Biscuit Brook, a popular fly fishing spot in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Credit: Ellen Wohl, CC BY-ND The Trump administration is proposing to redefine a key term in the Clean Water Act: "Waters of the United States." This deceptively simple phrase describes which streams, lakes, wetlands and other water bodies qualify for federal protection under the law. Government regulators, landowners, conservationists and other groups have struggled to agree on what it means for more than 30 years.
Small streams and wetlands are key parts of river networks - here's why they need protection
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) The Trump administration is proposing to redefine a key term in the Clean Water Act: “Waters of the United States.” This deceptively simple phrase describes which streams, lakes, wetlands and other water bodies qualify for federal protection under the law.
Small streams and wetlands are key parts of river networks - here's why they need protection
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) The Trump administration is proposing to redefine a key term in the Clean Water Act: “Waters of the United States.” This deceptively simple phrase describes which streams, lakes, wetlands and other water bodies qualify for federal protection under the law.
Small streams and wetlands are key parts of river networks – here's why they need protection
The Trump administration is proposing to redefine a key term in the Clean Water Act: “Waters of the United States.” This deceptively simple phrase describes which streams, lakes, wetlands and other water bodies qualify for federal protection under the law. Government regulators, landowners, conservationists and other groups have struggled to agree on what it means for more than 30 years.
Landscape‐scale carbon storage associated with beaver dams
Abstract [1] Beaver meadows form when beaver dams promote prolonged overbank flooding and floodplain retention of sediment and organic matter. Extensive beaver meadows form in broad, low‐gradient valley segments upstream from glacial terminal moraines.
Of gutters and ecosystems: the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
Luna Leopold understood that rivers are far more than gutters. In a 1964 textbook, he wrote figuratively of the role of river channels in transporting sediment to lower elevations. In other writings, however, Leopold’s understanding of rivers was closer to that of his father, Aldo, author of A Sand County Almanac, who understood rivers as ecosystems. Straight and uniform in shape, gutters and canals are designed to convey water downstream as efficiently as possible.
Where does wood most effectively enhance storage? Network-scale distribution of sediment and organic matter stored by instream wood
We used 48 reach-scale measurements of large wood and wood-associated sediment and coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) storage within an 80 km2 catchment to examine spatial patterns of storage relative to stream order. Wood, sediment, and CPOM are not distributed uniformly across the drainage basin.
Disaster or disturbance: environmental science of natural extremes | OUPblog
Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane Maria. Natural disasters that will go down in the history of certain communities as ‘the big one’. Hurricanes and floods are disasters for human communities because of the loss of life and property and the damage to infrastructure. When I consider the recent hurricanes as an environmental scientist, however, I do not see them just as disasters.
Carbon dynamics of river corridors and the effects of human alterations
Research in stream metabolism, gas exchange, and sediment dynamics indicates that rivers are an active component of the global carbon cycle and that river form and process can influence partitioning of terrestrially derived carbon among the atmosphere, geosphere, and ocean. Here we develop a conceptual model of carbon dynamics (inputs, outputs, and storage of organic carbon) within a river corridor, which includes the active channel and the riparian zone.
Land before water: The relative temporal sequence of human alterationof freshwater ecosystems in the conterminous United States
Land before water: The relative temporal sequence of human alterationof freshwater ecosystems in the conterminous United States Anthropocene By: Ellen Wohl, Katherine B Lininger, and Jill Baron Links Abstract Human alteration of ecosystems prior to Euro-American contact in the area that became the conterminous United States disproportionately affected terrestrial systems compared to freshwater ecosystems, primarily through the use of fire and agriculture in some regions of the United States.
Substantial soil organic carbon retention along floodplains of mountain streams
Small, snowmelt-dominated mountain streams have the potential to store substantial organic carbon in floodplain sediment because of high inputs of particulate organic matter, relatively lower temperatures compared with lowland regions, and potential for increased moisture conditions.
Beaver-mediated lateral hydrologic connectivity, fluvial carbon and nutrient flux, and aquatic ecosystem metabolism
River networks that drain mountain landscapes alternate between narrow and wide valley segments. Within the wide segments, beaver activity can facilitate the development and maintenance of complex, multi-thread planform. Because the narrow segments have limited ability to retain water, carbon, and nutrients, the wide, multi-thread segments are likely important locations of retention.
The pulse of driftwood export from a very large forested river basin over multiple timescales, Slave River, Canada
This study presents a case study of large wood transport on the great Slave River in northern Canada with the objective to better understand the processes of and variability in pulsed wood fluxes from large forested catchments.
Introduction to special issue on carbon and landscape dynamics
In October, 2013, at the Geological Society of America annual meeting, a theme session focused on carbon and landscape dynamics. That event led to interest in producing a special issue in ESPL compiling papers on this subject. The 13 papers collected for this special issue reflect the diversity of recent geomorphic research, across a range of climatic and geomorphic settings, addressing some aspect of carbon dynamics.
Passion and compassion: The people who created the words and numbers of environmental science | OUPblog
These are the images I carry in memory that form my understanding of passion and compassion in science: Rachel Carson waking at midnight to return to the sea the microscopic marine organisms she has been studying, when the tidal cycle is favorable to their survival; John Muir clinging to the upper branches of a tall pine during a violent storm, reveling in the power of natural forces.
Using ground penetrating radar to ‘unearth’ buried beaver dams
Beavers, once abundant and widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, are now substantially reduced. Although beaver dams trap sediment, the relative importance of this sediment in Quaternary valley aggradation remains uncertain. We use ground penetrating radar (GPR) and near-surface seismic refraction to quantify the magnitude of beaver-induced Holocene sedimentation in Beaver Meadows, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (United States).
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