A model study of the combined effect of above and below ground plant traits on the ecomorphodynamics of gravel bars

Both above- and below-ground plant traits are known to modulate feedbacks between vegetation and river morphodynamic processes. However, how they collectively influence vegetation establishment on gravel bars remains less clear. Here we develop a numerical model that couples above- and below-ground vegetation dynamics with hydromorphological processes. The model dynamically links plant growth rate to water table fluctuations and includes plant mortality by uprooting and burial. We considered a realistic hydrological regime and used the model to simulate the coevolution of alternate gravel bars and vegetation that displays trade-offs in investment of above- and below-ground biomass. We found that a balanced plant growth above- and below-ground facilitates vegetation to establish on steady, stable bars, because it allows plants to develop traits that maximise growth performance during low flow periods and thus survival during floods. Regardless of the growth strategy, vegetation could not establish on migrating bars because of large plant loss by uprooting during floods. These findings add on previous studies suggesting that morphodynamic processes play a key role on determining plant trait distributions and highlight the importance of including the dynamics of both above- and below-ground plant traits for predicting shifts between bare and vegetated states in river bars.