Dead wood, a source of life for the Drôme river

Lucile Béguin is the curator of the Ramières du Val de Drôme national nature reserve.

Before the 1970s, wood in the river was only considered a nuisance, a danger during floods.

When there is a flood, an entire piece of bank can fall into the river and wash away the vegetation and trees that are there. It happens very regularly on the Drôme river.

A natural ice jam is an accumulation of materials brought by water
Jerome Armand

In sectors where safety issues are less important, it is extremely advantageous to be able to leave wood to accumulate in the river.

The ice jams will act as a comb and a filter that will store the organic matter that is suspended in the river and this organic matter will serve as food for a large number of insects.

Crocothemis erythraea, the scarlet dragonfly
Crocothemis erythraea, the scarlet dragonfly
Ramieres Station

The presence of dead wood complicates the morphology and diversifies the dynamics of the river.

Sometimes, after a flood, you cannot recognize a sector that you knew very well before, the forest having completely disappeared.

Les Ramieres
Les Ramieres
Christopher Penpenic

LINKS TO GO FURTHER:

Ramieres Station

Syndicat Mixte Rivière Drôme and its tributaries


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