Vegetated flows: impact and implications for the riverbed morphology

This research analyses how different vegetation types affect the riverbed morphology under varying flow conditions. The study shows that vegetation hinders sediment transport. Rigid vegetation causes local scour holes in the riverbed without altering the sediment flux direction. On the contrary, flexible vegetation induces sediment to spread slightly to the sides. Furthermore, the study of the high‐order structure functions demonstrates that the riverbed surfaces are simple fractals at small scales, but become multifractal when there is flexible vegetation or rigid and thick stems and high flow discharge. This means that, in these specific cases, the arrangement of local fluctuations in bed elevation data is slightly uneven.