Research on Sediment Deposition Characteristics and the Vegetation Restoration of Ecological Riverbanks in the Deep Waterway Regulation Scheme of Yangtze River

Abstract

In order to explore the sediment deposition characteristic of ecological riverbanks associated with vegetation restoration in the deep waterway regulation scheme of Yangtze River, two kinds of typical ecological riverbanks and a traditional riprap riverbank (TRR) in engineering areas were investigated. The vegetation community characteristics, sediment aggregate compositions, nutrient contents, total organic carbon (TOC), sediment microbial biomass carbon (MBC), sediment microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), and sediment microbial biomass phosphorus (MBP) were determined. The results indicated that the ecological restoration effect of the lattice gabion ballasted vegetation mat riverbank (LGBVR) was best, followed by the mesh grid riverbank (MGR), and that of the TRR was relatively poor. In different ecological riverbanks, the sediment aggregated compositions were not significantly varied. The sediment contents of NH4+-N, available phosphorus (AP), and TOC in ecological riverbank areas were relatively higher than those of the TRR. In the LGBVR, the sediment contents of MBC were relatively higher than those of the others. The sediment deposition characteristics and ecological restoration effects in the study area should be monitored for a long time.