Futoshi Nakamura

Abstract Effects of coarse woody debris (CWD) on channel morphology and sediment storage were investigated at five sites, representative of first‐order to fifth‐order streams. In the steep and bedrock‐confined stream (first‐second order), interaction between the channel and CWD was limited, except where breakage upon falling produced CWD pieces shorter than channel width. Channel widening, steepening and sediment storage associated with CWD were observed predominantly in third‐ to fifth‐order st

Geomorphological processes that commonly transport soil down hillslopes and sediment and woody debris through stream systems in steep, mountainous, forest landscapes can operate in sequence down gravitational flowpaths, forming a cascade of disturbance processes that alters stream and riparian ecosystems. The affected stream and riparian landscape can be viewed through time as a network containing a shifting mosaic of disturbance patches — linear zones of disturbance created by the cascading geo

The distribution of coarse woody debris in a fifth-order Cascade Range (Oregon) stream system was examined from a geomorphic point of view. The number, volume, location, orientation, decay class, and pool formation roles of coarse woody debris were investigated. The processes of coarse woody debris production, transport, and storage, which vary with channel and valley floor geomorphology, are responsible for the pattern of coarse woody debris distribution on valley floors. Channel width and sinu

Abstract The Kushiro Mire, the largest mire in Japan, presently faces the serious problem of turbid water flooding. Shortening of stream channels associated with agricultural development is a major cause of streambed aggradation. This aggradation reduces the carrying capacity of the channel, resulting in sediment laden water spilling over the wetlands in a flood event. Sedimentation progresses with repeated inundation by turbid water, which significantly alters the edaphic conditions, and thereb

The extraordinary population growth of the 20th century will subside in the 21st century, followed by depopulation, constituting the first population decline phase in human history in Japan and other developed countries. The drivers of land-use change during the population decline phase are expected to differ from those of the population growth phase; however, research on land-use drivers during the decline phase is limited. Identifying these drivers is necessary to develop effective management

Abstract The meanders and floodplains of the Kushiro River were restored in March 2011. A 1.6‐km stretch of the straightened main channel was remeandered by reconnecting the cutoff former channel and backfilling the straightened reach, and a 2.4‐km meander channel was restored. Additionally, flood levees were removed to promote river–floodplain interactions. There were four objectives of this restoration project: to restore the in‐stream habitat for native fish and invertebrates; to restore floo

Abstract Recent studies of sediment delivery and budgets in the United States indicate that upland erosion rates at a given time may not explain contemporaneous sediment yields from a drainage basin. This suggests temporal discontinuities in sediment delivery associated with hillslope and channel storage processes. Integration of sediment production, storage and transport is essential to understand sediment routing in basins. We analysed each process chronologically using aerial photographs, mon

ABSTRACT In recent years, we have experienced mega‐flood disasters in Japan due to climate change. In the last century, we have been building disaster prevention infrastructure (artificial levees and dams, referred to as “grey infrastructure”) to protect human lives and assets from floods, but these hard protective measures will not function against mega‐floods. Moreover, in a drastically depopulating society such as that in Japan, farmland abandonment prevails, and it will be more difficult to