Modelling physical and biological interaction

Anne Baar, Stijn Temmerman, Maarten Kleinhans

Fluvial and estuarine landscapes form and evolve through interactions between physical and biological processes. The colonization, growth and die-back of benthic algae, plants and animals strongly respond to hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and morphology along the fluvial – tidal transition. In turn, these physical processes, the sedimentology and morphology are actively modified by the biological activity. Such bio-physical feedbacks may show effects on different spatial scales (from detailed sedimentary structures to whole landscapes) and temporal scales (from individual flood events to millennia). Numerical models, in addition to field data and experiments, are increasingly used to elucidate how fluvial and tidal landscapes take shape and evolve through bio-physical feedbacks. In this session, we welcome contributions on numerical modelling and experimental studies of fluvial and/or tidal systems, revealing insights across and between the scales ranging from organism and outcrop, to entire landscapes.