Riparian vegetation and fluvial geomorphology: Problems and opportunities

Riparian vegetation exerts strong controls on numerous processes in fluvial geomorphology and, in turn, is dependent on many of those same processes. It affects the magnitude and distribution of important hydrologic, hydraulic, and geotechnical variables in river corridors and can therefore ameliorate or exacerbate processes that determine channel morphology. An understanding of the direct and indirect roles that riparian vegetation plays in fluvial geomorphology is critical in designing and conducting research aimed at more accurately quantifying channel hydraulics, sediment transport, and channel morphology.