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Stream channels are narrower in

pasture than in forest
a
Robert J. Davies‐Colley
a
National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd, P.O.
Box 11 115, Hamilton, New Zealand
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To cite this article: Robert J. Davies‐Colley (1997): Stream channels are narrower in pasture than
in forest, New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 31:5, 599-608

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 New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1997, Vol. 31: 599-608
0028-8330/97/3105-0599 $7.00/0 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 1997
Stream channels are narrower in pasture than in forest
ROBERT J. DAVIES-COLLEY
National Institute of Water & Atmospheric
Research Ltd
P.O.Box 11 115
Hamilton, New Zealand
Downloaded by [190.183.127.168] at 18:51 16 November 2012
Abstract In the Hakarimata Range, west of
Hamilton, New Zealand, second-order streams
appear to be wider in native than in pasture
catchments, whereas streams in pine plantations (18
years old) appear to be suffering active stream-bank
erosion. A working hypothesis to explain these
observations was that pasture vegetation replacing
original forest encroaches on the stream channel,
causing it to become narrower. To test the
hypothesis, channel widths were measured up
stream and down stream of "transitions" from native
forest to pasture in 20 streams of different size in
marginal ranges of the Waikato Basin. Small
streams (catchment area <1 km2, width in forest
<2 m) were found to be half the width in pasture
reaches as in forest. The degree of channel
narrowing decreased as stream size increased and
was minimal in large streams (catchment area >30
km2, width in forest >10 m). This narrowing of
stream channels implies that native forest clearance
in New Zealand has reduced stream channel habitat.
A concern regarding riparian planting for stream
restoration is that sediment stored in pasture stream
banks could be mobilised if grasses are extinguished
by shading, resulting in turbid streamwater and
sedimentation of fines in the channel.
Keywords channel morphology; aquatic habitat;
light climate; riparian zone; stream banks; stream
ecology
M96058
Received 6 August 1996; accepted 10 February 1997
599
INTRODUCTION
Stream channel morphology is important in stream
ecology, because, together with stream hydrology,
it determines the nature and amount of stream and
riparian habitat. Geomorphologists (e.g., Leopold
et al. 1964) have long known that basic measures
of stream hydraulic geometry relate in systematic
ways to stream size. Put simply, streams with greater
flow generally have wider and deeper channels. In
the river continuum concept (Vannote et al. 1980),
stream ecology is hypothesised to show a systematic
and broadly predictable pattern moving down
stream from headwater streams through mid-
reaches to large rivers. The biotic patterns are a
response to trends of water depth and velocity, water
temperature, substrate texture, organic matter
supply, and other variables. Change in stream
lighting from heavily-shaded headwaters in forested
areas, to more open mid-reaches, is a key factor
influencing stream biota along the river continuum.
Lighting of the streambed is controlled mainly by
stream width in relation to height and canopy
structure of riparian vegetation.
Stream channel morphology obviously relates
to the sediment regime of the stream. With the
exception of bedrock areas, the bed and banks of
streams are subject to a dynamic equilibrium
between erosion by moving water and deposition
of material eroded from up stream (Leopold et al.
1964). Changes in hydrology and sediment regime
induced by changes in vegetation cover in the
catchment may be expected to change the channel
morphology during a period of net erosion or
deposition. Furthermore, change in the vegetation
in the riparian zone can directly influence stream
morphology, at least in small streams, owing to the
protective role of vegetation on stream banks. For
example, Zimmerman et al. (1967) reported that the
channel widths of small streams in Vermont, United
States, were wider under riparian forest vegetation
than in meadow reaches, and attributed this
difference to grass turf protection against stream
erosion. In a stream that alternately flowed through
forest and meadow, these authors found that the
 600 New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1997, Vol. 31
channel width alternately widened and narrowed.
Murgatroyd & Ternan (1983) showed that
afforestation of a river reach was associated with
bank erosion and channel widening compared to
an up-stream non-forested reach|.
In the Hakarimata Range, west of the Waikato
Basin, second-order streams in pasture catchments
are appreciably narrower than streams in similarly-
sized native-forested catchments (Quinn et al.
1997). Moreover, streams in catchments that were
converted from pasture to pine plantations c. 18
years ago appear to be in the process of widening,
with active stream-bank erosion (slumping banks),
sedimentation of fines in the channel, and turbid
water. My working hypothesis to explain these
observations was that, following clearance of forest,
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pasture vegetation encroached on active stream
channels by trapping sediment and inhibiting
erosion at high flows, resulting in channel
narrowing. Afforestation of pasture catchments
apparently reversed this process, with extinction of
pasture species by shading, leading to stream-bank
recession.
A corollary of the above hypothesis is that
streams in native-forested catchments emerging into
cleared land should exhibit abrupt narrowing.
Conversely, streams in pasture that flow into forest
stands should widen abruptly. Measurements of
channel width of reaches in close proximity with
different vegetation along the same stream, should
provide a powerful test of the hypothesis, because
these reaches are conveying the same water flow,
including channel-forming flows. This was
essentially the approach taken by Sweeney (1993)
on six tributaries in the basin of White Clay Creek,
Pennsylvania, United States. The present paper
reports on the patterns of channel widths measured
up stream and down stream of forest-pasture
"transitions", in relation to stream size, in 20
streams in the marginal ranges of the Waikato Basin.
†Since acceptance of this manuscript for publication
(February 1997), a paper by Trimble (1997) has been
published which provides further evidence of the
morphological influence of riparian vegetation. Trimble
(1997) found that reaches of a stream with grassed banks
were narrower and also had other morphological and
hydraulic differences compared to nearby forested
reaches. Consistent with the present paper, Trimble
(1997) inferred storage of sediment in grassed stream
banks, and suggested that conversion to forest may
result in erosion of this sediment reservoir.
METHODS
Topographic maps (1:50 000) were examined to
find potential study sites where streams in native
forest emerge into pasture or vice versa, hence-
forth referred to as "forest/pasture transitions".
The maps in the vicinity of candidate sites were
examined carefully to ensure that there were no
significant tributaries for at least 100 m along
the stream channel on either side of the vegetation
boundary. In practice, all candidate sites with
more than a 10% increase in catchment area over
the >200 m total reach encompassing the
transition were rejected.
Geological maps (1:250 000) were consulted to
ensure that stream catchments above all potential
study sites had reasonably homogeneous rock types.
Streams with catchments in volcanic rocks in both
the Kaimai Range (andesite) and Pirongia Forest
Park (basalt) were studied as well as streams in
greywacke rocks in the Hakarimata Range, which
forms the western edge of the Waikato Basin (Table
1). Confining the work to the Waikato Basin ensured
that climate was not unduly variable in ways that
might influence stream morphology. In all of the
streams studied (n = 20, Table 1), the native forest
was broadly similar podocarp-hardwood rainforest,
with tawa (Beilschmeidia tawa) dominant among
the hardwoods, and podocarp trees (especially
rimu—Dacrydium cupressinum) occuring as a
discontinuous over-canopy.
On site, the forest/pasture transitions were
checked to ensure that a fenceline defined the forest
edge so that domestic animals could not encroach
into the forest, damaging plants and stream banks.
Where possible, the stream catchment was
examined from a high point, to check that the land
use was homogeneous up stream of the candidate
transition site, i.e., all forest or essentially all
pasture, so that the hydrology could be categorised
as "forest" or "pasture". Finally the candidate
stream reach was walked to check that stream
morphology was homogeneous, and similar in the
pasture and forest sub-reaches as regards
longitudinal profile and substrate. Waterfalls and
areas of rapids and boulder torrents were excluded
and work was confined to reaches where the channel
was formed mainly in erodible alluvium rather than
bedrock.
Stream channel widths were measured on either
side of 20 forest-pasture transitions (Table 1). Width
of the water surface was not measured, being very
dependent on state of flow in streams (e.g., Mosley
 CIS
t
<> '

I
(c ~>

^
f r
cn
Table 1 Stream widths across vegetation transitions (streams are listed in order of increasing catchment area).
f
Channel width (m) fa
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o
Vegetation Catch. Native forest Pasture Width ratio 3*
on f O>
Map (up-stream area (A) " (pasture/ SD of 3
Stream name notes Reference reach)} Rock type (km7) ea( SD ea( SD native) ratio 3
a
Kiripaka Stm, tributary! S14913767 Pasture Greywacke 0.16 2.21 1.06 1.30 0.41 0.59 0.34 0.
Kiripaka Stm, tributary! S14910767 Pasture Greywacke 0.19 1.82 0.60 0.99 0.31 0.54 0.24 &
Mangakawa Stm, left branch S15 987552 Native Volcanic 0.28 2.55 0.93 1.25 0.90 0.49 0.40
Rangitukia Stm, right branch S15963578 Native Volcanic 0.39 1.78 0.67 0.95 0.47 0.53 0.33
K.arakariki Stm, tributary! S14 934763 Pasture Greywacke 0.43 1.98 0.69 0.81 0.27 0.41 0.20
Kiripaka, left branchf S14 919776 Native Greywacke 0.62 2.25 0.50 1.19 0.30 0.53 0.18
Mangaotama Stm S14 949715 Pasture Greywacke 0.77 2.43 0.86 0.90 0.51 0.37 0.25
Kiripaka Stm, right branchf S14 919772 Native Greywacke 1.11 2.52 0.39 1.34 0.36 0.53 0.16
Tuoro Stm S14 924798 Native Greywacke 1.80 3.00 0.64 1.67 0.37 0.56 0.17
Te Pani Stm, right branch S14 964915 Native Greywacke 2.28 4.06 0.94 2.48 0.73 0.61 0.23
tCiripaka Stmf S14 928783 Pasture Greywacke 2.85 2.94 0.54 2.11 0.41 0.72 0.19
Mangakara Stm S15 996576 Native Volcanic 5.13 7.66 1.27 6.09 0.97 0.80 0.18
Wairongamai Stm T13 537011 Native Volcanic 8.04 11.07 2.07 7.61 1.93 0.69 0.22
Mangaotama Stm S14935790 Native} Greywacke 9.50 5.39 0.93 4.68 0.55 0.87 0.18
Wentworth River T12610361 Native Volcanic 10.78 8.90 2.26 7.11 1.07 0.80 0.24
Wharekirauponga Stm T12616332 Native} Volcanic 15.03 13.22 1.19 13.90 2.13 1.05 0.19
Omanawa Stm R15 846485 Pasture Volcanic 16.46 8.23 1.04 7.37 1.35 0.90 0.20
Firewood Creek, right branch S14957892 Pasture Greywacke 24.57 5.35 1.55 3.83 0.48 0.72 0.23
Waihorakeke Stm T12 658332 Native Volcanic 26.33 14.88 1.36 14.00 2.77 0.94 0.20
Vlakomako Stm R15 816592 Native Volcanic 28.37 8.11 0.75 9.20 1.27 1.13 0.19
f Sites located on AgResearch's Whatawhata Hill Country Research Station.
^Vegetation in the up-stream reach was the same throughout the upper catchment, except for the Mangaotama Stm (mixture of native and pasture) and the
Wharekirauponga Stm (with some pasture in a mostly native catchment).

O
 602 New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1997, Vol. 31
Fig. 1 Stream channel width plotted
against catchment area for paired
forest (solid points) and pasture
10 (circles) reaches. Standard deviations
of stream width (n = 20 cross-
sections) are shown as bars. Linear
regression (on log-transformed
Native variables) was used to fit the lines
forest shown to the data. Power laws
corresponding to the lines036iare, for
1 3 native forest: w = 3.06 A (r =
0.82), and for pasture: w = 1.76 /I0-508
a> (r = 0.83).
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0.1 10
Catchment area (km2)

1992), but data obtained in the Hakarimata Range traced to the point where the fenceline intersected
(Quinn et al. 1997) suggest that wetted width or crossed the stream channel.
follows the same broad trend with vegetation as
channel width.
On each of the 20 streams (Table 1), a 100-m- RESULTS
long reach was marked with a tape measure in the
Figure 1 shows the mean channel widths of the
forest and a second reach in adjacent pasture. These
paired reaches plotted against catchment area (the
paired reaches were started as close as possible to,
vegetation transition pairs can be identified because
but not closer than 20 m from the vegetation
they have the same catchment area). There was
boundary at the fenceline to avoid boundary effects.
appreciable variation in stream width point-to-point,
Measurements of channel width were made at 20
as indicated by the standard deviation bars: average
cross-sections perpendicular to the channel
coefficient of variation being 24% for native and
direction in each (matched) reach of 100 m length
27% for pasture reaches, but with a strong tendency
in both forest and pasture.
to decrease with increasing channel width
Channel width was measured by tape measure (Spearman rank correlation coeffient, rs = -0.74 for
from the point of maximum rate of change in both pasture and native reaches).
stream-bank slope (i.e., the point at which the
Channels in the forest reaches were wider on
stream bank was most strongly convex). The vege-
average than in pasture reaches, and the extent of
tation on the stream bank was used as an additional
narrowing in pasture, as measured by the vertical
guide to the extent of the active channel when there
distance between paired points, tended to decrease
was any ambiguity about precise position of the
as catchment area increased. On the logarithmic grid
channel edge. As discussed below, channel depth,
used in Fig. 1, the data are fairly well-fitted by
as well as width, is expected to be affected by
straight lines, with a steeper slope for pasture than
riparian vegetation, but depth was not measured in
for native reaches. This implies that both pasture
this study because it is intrinsically more variable
and forest stream widths (w) are power law
than width (and more onerous to measure) and
functions of catchment area (A):
possibly less significant for stream ecology.
Catchment area was measured (as a surrogate w = hA' (1)
for characteristic flow in a region of similar climate) where h and i are curve-fitting parameters. The
using a compensating planimeter on 1:50 000 scale exponent, i, is given by the log-log slope for each
maps on which catchment boundaries had been vegetation type in Fig. 1. For the forest stream
 Davies-Colley—Stream channel width
1.2
5 0.8
0.6
0.4 Pasture catchments.
Forest catchments
0.2
0.1 1 10
Catchment area (km2)
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Fig. 2 Ratio of stream channel width in pasture reaches to that in paired native forest reaches plotted versus: A,
catchment area; and B, channel width in forest. 95% confidence intervals on the mean ratios are shown as bars.
Triangles are for greywackes, and circles for volcanic rocks. Dashed lines were fitted by eye merely as a guide to the
trends in the data.
reaches, / = 0.363 indicating that width increases
relatively slowly with catchment area. The widths
of pasture stream reaches increase more rapidly with
catchment area (and, therefore, flow) than forest
streams over the range studied (i = 0.508), such that
the straight-line fits to the data converged at a
catchment area of 31 km2 and stream width of 11 m.
The convergence of the lines in Fig. 1 suggests
that the ratio of stream channel width in pasture to
width in forest increases as stream size increases (a
given displacement on a log scale corresponds to a
particular ratio). Fig. 2A shows this ratio (pasture
width: forest width) plotted against catchment area
and Fig. 2B shows it plotted against width in forest.
The ratio seems to follow an S-shaped curve from
c. 0.5 (pasture channel width about half of forest
channel width) for streams with catchment area <1.0
km2 and channel width <2 m in forest, to c. 1.0
(channel width in pasture similar to that in forest),
showing that channel width is almost independent
of riparian vegetation, in streams with catchment
area >30 km2 and channel width >10 m in forest.
The trend of channel width ratio does not seem to
depend on catchment geology or on the order of
the transition, whether from pasture to forest
(pasture catchment) or from forest to pasture (forest
catchment)—as is more common in New Zealand
where remnant native forest occurs mainly on
higher and steeper lands.
603
B.
.. Line of equal width
100 2 5 10
Channel width in forest (m)
DISCUSSION
The main finding in this study was that streams in
pasture are narrower than the same streams in
forest. This change in channel width occurs within
a few metres of the pasture-forest transition, which
is compelling evidence of the geomorphological
significance of riparian vegetation.
The narrowing of stream channels in pasture
compared with forest apparently reflects the
erosion-inhibiting action of grass turf with its dense
network of fine roots (Zimmerman et al. 1967;
Sweeney 1993). There can be little doubt that grass
turf efficiently inhibits stream-bank erosion. For
example, Smith (1976) reported experiments
showing that stream-bank sediment with a 5 cm
grass root mat had 20 000 times the resistance to
erosion by water currents of comparable bank
sediment lacking vegetation. However, grasses can
only protect stream banks where they can grow, and
along pasture streams, their shallow root mass is
frequently bypassed by undercutting below the turf.
The extent of channel narrowing in pasture
compared to forest decreases progressively as
stream size increases in an S-shaped pattern. A
possible explanation for this pattern, which is
apparently insensitive to the geology of the
catchment or the order of the transition, is that the
erosive stream power per unit bed area (and stream
erosive power, Bagnold 1966) increases with stream
 604 New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1997, Vol. 31
size. In large streams the riparian vegetation may
confer relatively little effective bank protection
during powerful channel-forming flows.
The light climate of the riparian zone controls
herb growth on the stream banks, which in turn
influences channel morphology. The forest canopy
is unbroken over the channels of small streams
which are therefore strongly shaded (typically
receiving c. 2% of light in the open: Quinn et al.
1997; Davies-Colley & Payne 1998) and few, if any,
grasses are present. In comparatively large rivers,
the canopy gap over forested channels provides
appreciably more light (50% or more of that in the
open along 15-m-wide forest stream channels:
Davies-Colley & Payne unpubl. data), and grasses
can grow on the banks, presumably enhancing their
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stability. This diminishing contrast in lighting and
vegetation as stream size increases may also
contribute to the convergence of stream channel
width in forest and pasture reaches (Fig. 1 and 2).
Geology might be expected to affect stream
morphology via its influence on hydrology as well
as on channel and bank sediments. The pattern in
pasture-to-forest width ratios did not appear to
depend on geology, possibly because all the streams
studied were located in comparatively erosion-
resistant rocks (greywackes, andesites, basalts).
Study of stream channel morphology in relation to
riparian vegetation, similar to the present work,
would be interesting in soft rock areas in New
Zealand such as the mudstones of inland Taranaki/
Wanganui and Gisborne Regions.
Surprisingly, there is no obvious difference in
the pattern in pasture-to-forest width ratios with
different catchment vegetation (and related
differences in hydrology and sediment yield), that
is, with the order of transition, forest-to-pasture versus
pasture-to-forest. A catchment in forest is expected
to have lower flood peaks and lower "channel-
forming" flows than the same catchment in pasture
(e.g., Fahey & Rowe 1992): therefore, a forest-to-
pasture transition (forest hydrology) might be
expected to have a somewhat greater contrast in
channel width than a pasture-to-forest transition
(pasture hydrology). Pasture catchments are also
expected to have much greater sediment yields, so
that the rate of supply of material for bank-building
is higher than in forest catchments, although a
higher sediment supply does not necessarily have
any implication for the "equilibrium" channel
width. Any difference in the pattern of stream
narrowing (as a function of stream size), with
different catchment vegetation may be obscured in
Fig. 2 by the appreciable error in stream-width
ratios.
The author has observed that farm streams tend
to be wider in the shade of isolated trees or
structures such as bridges where pasture is locally
supressed. This is further evidence for the erosion-
inhibiting influence of pasture vegetation on stream
banks.
A relatively few published studies of the
effects of vegetation on stream morphology all
report narrower channels where stream banks are
consolidated by grass turf. Zimmerman et al.
(1967) found that meadow streams in Vermont,
United States, were narrower than streams in
forest, and systematic channel width changes
occurred along a stream reach with discontinuous
forest shade. Murgatroyd & Ternan (1983)
attributed the increased bank erosion and wider
channel in a forested reach of a river, first, to the
supression of pasture turf by forest shade, and
second, to scour around logs and debris dams.
They noted that the wider forested reach was also
less sinuous, implying that riparian vegetation
can influence stream morphology in plan as well
as in cross-section. Sweeney (1993) reported
consistent contrasts in stream width in forest-
pasture transitions on six streams of different size
in White Clay Creek, Pennsylvania, United
States. Campbell (1993) referred in passing to
the finding that Keppel Creek, Victoria, Australia
was 50% narrower in pasture than in forest
immediately up stream. The findings of the
present study are consistent with these earlier
studies, and further extend our understanding by
quantifying the stream size-dependence of the
channel-narrowing phenomenon.
Since livestock are known to cause damage to
stream banks by trampling and grazing, stream
width might be expected to reflect animal access to
the riparian zone. In the western United States,
riparian retirement from grazing has reduced
stream-bank erosion (e.g., Rinne 1988). In New
Zealand, severe damage to stream banks by animals,
especially cattle, has been observed to cause local
channel widening, although livestock access does
not usually change channel width overall
(Williamson et al. 1992). Obvious "cattle crossing"
points were identified in some of the streams studied
here, and were deliberately avoided in the reaches
surveyed. At the stream reach scale, damage to
banks of pasture streams by livestock appears to be
outweighed by the erosion-inhibiting function of
pasture vegetation.
 Davies-Colley—Stream channel width
Notwithstanding the inhibition of stream-bank
erosion by grass turf, the total sediment yield in
pasture streams may be appreciably greater than in
native forest streams, because of greater catchment
and riparian yields, combined with "flashier"
hydrology and generally larger flood peaks. The
sediment stored in pasture stream-banks is prone
to erosion by undercutting (which bypasses the turf
protection) followed by bank collapse, especially
on the outside of bends.
Channel forming flow
The finding that streams in pasture are narrower
than streams in forest suggests that they are also
deeper and faster flowing. By definition, flow (Q)
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of rivers and streams is the product of width (w),
depth (d), and velocity (v) (e.g., Leopold et al.
1964):
=wdv (2)
This expression applies to the channel-forming
flow as well as flows generally. The channel-
forming flow is often taken to be approximately
the bank-full flow, i.e., the largest flow that can be
conveyed by the channel—one that just fills the
channel without overtopping the banks (Leopold
et al. (1964)). The bank-full flow is generally of
the same order as the mean annual flood, although
the return period may be appreciably different in
individual streams (Williams 1978).
At forest/pasture transitions, the same flow,
including the same channel-forming flow, must be
conveyed by the channel in pasture and in forest.
Therefore, on consideration of Equation 2, the
reduction in channel width in pasture compared with
forest implies a compensating increase in channel
depth of the channel-forming flow. Alternatively,
if the depth is not increased, then cross-sectional
area of the narrower channels in pasture will be
correspondingly reduced, implying more frequent
overbank flooding. A valuable extension to the
present study would involve cross-sectional survey
of the channel rather than merely width
measurement.
Catchment area can be viewed as a measure
of the magnitude of the channel-forming event
in a region of similar climate and hydrology.
Mosley (1992) has reported that the magnitude
of the mean annual flood in New Zealand rivers
increases slightly less rapidly than catchment
area—empirically as the 0.808 power of
catchment area: Q = ^O-808. The present study
found that channel width (in forest) is related to
605
catchment area by a power law (Equation 1) with
exponent = 0.363 (Fig. 1). This implies that
stream width of native-forested reaches increases
as the 0.363/0.808 = 0.45 power of the channel-
forming flow in a power law:
w ^ a tf (3)
The value b = 0.45 is consistent with earlier
work (on larger streams), being very similar to the
exponent of 0.48 reported by (Griffiths 1980) for
the power law relating channel width to bank-full
flow in gravel-bed New Zealand rivers, and to the
global average value of 0.5 (Mosley 1992).
Conceptual model
The findings in the present study are conveniently
illustrated by schematic cross-sections of the same
stream reach under different riparian vegetation
(Fig. 3). In native forest (the original condition),
the stream channel is wide and water depths seem
to be comparatively shallow (Fig. 3A). Gravel bars
in the active channel generally have no terrestrial
vegetation despite exposure for much of the time,
and stream banks are covered only by sparse and,
we may assume, slow-growing and shade-tolerant,
understorey plants such as ferns. Clearance of forest
exposes the stream channel and riparian zone to
sunlight, which promotes growth of pasture grasses
on exposed bars within the active channel, as well
as on the stream banks. The pasture apparently acts
to trap and consolidate alluvium or colluvium or
both, resulting in a general building-up, and out, of
banks and bars. The resulting narrower channel
(Fig. 3B) may mean that time-averaged and space-
averaged stream water depth, as well as channel
depth, is greater than in the original forest.
Observations by Quinn et al. (1997) on streams
in catchments planted in pines in the Hakarimata
Range are consistent with the concept of narrower
channels at equilibrium in pasture. The pines,
planted 18 years earlier on formerly pasture land,
have a closed canopy causing virtual extinction of
grasses by shading (average lighting ~ 3 % of that
in the open; Quinn et al. 1997), leaving the stream
banks unprotected by turf and prone to erosion. This
has apparently reversed the trend between Fig. 3A
and 3B. Fig. 3C illustrates the process of channel
widening. Slumping occurs along the banks and the
slumped material is entrained by the flowing water
leading to sedimentation in the channel bed and
turbid water. The stream-bank recession phase may
last for perhaps decades, during which time the
channel re-establishes a "forest" morphology. These
 606 New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1997, Vol. 31
Fig. 3 Conceptual model of the
channel form of small streams at
the same cross-section in
different riparian vegetation.
A, steady-state stream cross-
section in native forest; B,
steady-state stream cross-section
in pasture; and C, stream-bank
recession in a pasture stream
planted with pines (pictured after
canopy closure). Sediment stored
in the pasture stream banks is
indicated in Panel B.

A. Native forest
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Colluvium

Alluvium

Original surface
under native forest
(buried gravel bar)

B. Pasture

C. Pine plantation

observations and interpretations are consistent with
those of Murgatroyd & Ternan (1983) who showed
that afforestation of formerly pasture land was
associated with faster stream-bank erosion and
wider channels.
Source of sediment
The narrowed channels in pasture imply that a large
quantity of sediment has been stored in the stream
banks by turf consolidation as indicated in Fig. 3B.
There are two possibilities for the source of the
stored material: over-bank deposits of alluvium
during high flows; and colluvial debris from stream-
bank slumping and mass wasting from up slope.
Both processes seem to be occurring along banks
of pasture streams in the Hakarimata Range.
Colluvial debris on stream banks and in channels
often comprises intact blocks of pasture turf and
the grasses continue to grow in their new location.
Alluvial deposits on streambanks appear to be
rapidly trapped and consolidated by fast-growing
pasture grasses.
In headwater catchments with very steep slopes
(c. 30° in the Hakarimata Range), direct delivery
 Davies-Colley—Stream channel width
of colluvium to the stream channel by mass wasting
may be important, including slow, but potentially
cumulatively significant, soil creep as well as
catastrophic land sliding. For example, a large
landslide that occurred in the left branch Kiripaka
Stream at AgResearch's Whatawhata Hill Country
Research Station in winter 1995, delivered large
quantities of debris right to the stream channel at
the outside of a bend. This material has deposited
on stream banks for several kilometres down
stream, and the new deposits are now being
consolidated by pasture growth.
Pedological and geomorphic studies would be
useful to investigate the process of bank-building
following riparian forest clearance along streams.
Trenching to expose the original gravel bars that
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are presumably buried under the pasture-
consolidated bank deposits would permit direct
comparison of forest and pasture morphology, and
the volume of sediment stored in stream banks could
then be calculated.
Loss of streambed and hyporheic habitat
Sweeney (1993) observed that the narrowing of
stream channels in pasture, compared with forest
streams of the same size, means that the clearance
of forest has reduced channel bed habitat. He
combined data on stream narrowing in meadow
versus forest in streams of different size in the
catchment of White Clay Creek, with data on
distribution of channel size, to calculate that, in the
eastern United States, c. 54% of the total streambed
habitat (some of which is exposed gravel bars at
lower states of flow) may have been lost by
narrowing of streams following forest clearance.
Given appropriate data on the distribution of
channel widths in New Zealand, a similar
calculation could be made of the streambed habitat
lost to channel narrowing in this country.
The reduction in channel width in streams
converted to pasture may be expected to have also
reduced average water width (Quinn et al. 1997)
and therefore the habitat useable by aquatic
organisms. On consideration of Equation 2 we may
predict a corresponding increase in average water
depth to compensate for reduced width. Sweeney
(1993) noted that the inferred increase in average
water depth in pasture streams which results from
channel narrowing, has negative ecological
implications. In particular, sites for emergence of
adults of stream insects (such as emergent cobbles,
boulders, and woody debris) may be more
frequently inundated.
607
Channel narrowing may have reduced, not only
the surface benthic habitat in pasture streams, but
also the sub-benthic, hyporheic habitat. After forest
clearance the hyporheic zone occurring under the
gravel bars that were originally exposed at low
flows is mainly covered in fine sediment built into
new stream banks. Boulton et al. (1997) have
suggested that this process reduces the exchange
of surface water with the underlying hyporheic zone
so that it is no longer suitable habitat for hyporheic
fauna owing, particularly, to low dissolved oxygen.
The remaining hyporheic habitat, under the reduced
streambed area in narrow pasture streams, appears
also to have been degraded by sediment clogging
and reduced interstitial dissolved oxygen (Boulton
et al. 1997).
Thus the physical changes that have
accompanied narrowing of channels in small
streams following forest clearance in New Zealand
may cumulatively induce significant degradation
of our streambed habitats.
Ramifications for stream restoration
Exclusion of grazing animals and conservation
plantings along stream channels in pasture
landscapes are often promoted for their perceived
benefits to streams and down-stream waters,
including particularly, provision of shade, food in
the form of leaf litter, woody debris which provides
habitat diversity, and improved water quality
(reduced sediment, nutrient, and faecal bacterial
concentrations) (Collier et al. 1995). Some New
Zealand studies (Dons 1987; Williamson et al.
1996) have reported the expected reduction in
sediment yield following riparian retirement and
planting in pumice lands. However, the results of
the present study suggest that, more generally,
promotion of shading vegetation in the riparian zone
may increase sediment yields for a period of years
to decades as the stream channel attempts to re-
establish a forest morphology. For example, Smith's
(1992) study of small pasture streams at Moutere,
Nelson, 9 years after riparian plantings of pines,
revealed poorer water quality (higher suspended
solids and nutrients) in the riparian-planted
catchment than in the control (pasture)
catchments—despite lower water yields. The lower
water quality was attributed (mainly) to loss of
ground cover vegetation under the shading pine
canopy. I reiterate Smith's conclusion that "water
quality managers need to be cautious about
advocating widespread afforestation in pastoral
areas".
 608 New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1997, Vol. 31
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Jolanda van Veen, Jos Spier, Colleen Smith, and David
Speed assisted in the field on many stream survey
expeditions. Jolanda and Jos did initial data processing
which was continued by Colleen. Thanks to Bruce
Williamson for initial discussions which led to
development of the "channel narrowing" hypothesis, and
to John Quinn for further discussions, for suggesting field
sites, and for review of the manuscript. Helpful comments
were made by Kit Rutherford and Ian Prosser (CSIRO),
and the manuscript was further improved following
review by Ian and an anonymous referee.
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