Dynamics of the Morava River changes in relation to riparian vegetation based on the study of old maps and contemporary measurements: a  case study from the Strážnické Pomoraví

The contribution summarizes preliminary results of the study of the relation between the continual changes of the Morava River planform and changes of floodplain land use in the period of 1841–2007. The analysed reach is approximately 12-kilometre long segment of the river between the towns of Rohatec and Bzenec (south-east Moravia, Czech Republic) which represents one of the last remaining quasi-natural reaches of the large meandering lowland rivers in the Czech Republic. Nine sets of historic maps and orthophotos were consulted in order to trace the evolution of the planform. The channel geometry was vectorised in each of the time layers and the land use of riparian zone was categorised and recorded. For each of the time layers the fundamental stream morphometric parameters were defined and the total and the average rate of annual lateral migration for studied periods and types of land use of floodplain were calculated. Obtained data show high variability in the intensity of annual migration of banks with various land use and the strong repercussions of the anthropogenically straightened reaches on upstream river segments.The contribution summarizes preliminary results of the study of the relation between the continual changes of the Morava River planform and changes of floodplain land use in the period of 1841–2007. The analysed reach is approximately 12-kilometre long segment of the river between the towns of Rohatec and Bzenec (south-east Moravia, Czech Republic) which represents one of the last remaining quasi-natural reaches of the large meandering lowland rivers in the Czech Republic. Nine sets of historic maps and orthophotos were consulted in order to trace the evolution of the planform. The channel geometry was vectorised in each of the time layers and the land use of riparian zone was categorised and recorded. For each of the time layers the fundamental stream morphometric parameters were defined and the total and the average rate of annual lateral migration for studied periods and types of land use of floodplain were calculated. Obtained data show high variability in the intensity of annual migration of banks with various land use and the strong repercussions of the anthropogenically straightened reaches on upstream river segments