Channel and Vegetation Change on the Cimarron River, Southwestern Kansas, 1953–2001

Bibliographic Data

ID8378205
AuthorsJeffrey A VanLooy (0000-0002-7424-5516, University of Utah), Charles W Martin (0000-0001-9240-3824, Kansas State University)
Year2005
Volume95
Issue4
Pages727-739
Publication date2005-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnnals of the Association of American Geographers (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0004-5608 • E-ISSN: 1467-8306
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-8306.2005.00483.x
OpenAlexW2133845733
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited35

Little is known about historical channel change along rivers on the Great Plains of the United States. Focused on a 113 km reach of the Cimarron River, southwestern Kansas, this study revisits the site of CitationSchumm and Lichty's (1963) work that documented channel changes between 1874 and 1960. Based on field and archival evidence from Seward and Morton Counties, Kansas, we find that channel narrowing, which began in the 1940s, continues to the present. Between 1953 and 2001, the mean channel width of the Cimarron River decreased by 114 m, or 75 percent, although channel narrowing and the expansion of riparian vegetation were more pronounced in some locations than in others. The channel changes and increase in riparian vegetation both appear to have been caused by a decrease in annual peak flows, which favored in-channel sedimentation and the expansion of riparian vegetation. The decrease in annual peak flows coincided with a reduction in the annual variation in moisture conditions, as measured by the Palmer Drought Severity Index. Agricultural practices and groundwater withdrawals have likely contributed to the decline in peak flows since 1970. Key Words: fluvial geomorphologychannel changevegetation changeCimarron River. Acknowledgments Fieldwork for this research was partially supported by National Science Foundation Grant BCS-9978052. John A. Harrington Jr. and Charles (Jack) Oviatt provided numerous helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. We thank Basil Gomez, Robert Jacobson, and an anonymous Annals reviewer for their constructive comments and suggestions. Research support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Bonn, Germany, and a sabbatical leave from Kansas State University to C. Martin were helpful in the initial stages of this research; subsequent summer research support at the Geographisches Institut, Justus Liebig-Universität, Giessen, Germany, was crucial to preparation of the manuscript. Jeff Schmidt of the Natural Resources and Conservation Service office in Liberal, Kansas, and Joe Hartman and Nancy Brewer of the Cimarron National Grassland helped with field logistics. James VanLooy assisted in the field. Finally, we thank the many owners along the Cimarron River who graciously provided access to their land. Notes aStandard deviation in parentheses, bn=54, cn=32, dn=25, en=19, fn=29, gn=13. aPrecipitation data not available. aWidths from CitationSchumm and Lichty (1963). bWidths from this study. cn=31, dn=25, en=19, fn=40, gn=29, hn=13

Channel (broadcasting) · Geography · Hydrology (agriculture) · Riparian zone · Vegetation (pathology) · Ecology · Geology · Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes · Soil erosion and sediment transport · Tree-ring climate responses

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