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Tagliamento River, located in N.E. Italy, is a gravel-bed braided river 178 km long that runs from the southeastern Alps to the Adriatic Sea between Lignano and Bibione. The river is considered as the last wild river of the Alps. The active river corridor, reaching up to 2 km wide, is in a near-natural state and completely inundated by flood waters nearly twice a year. Such frequent and dynamic events rearrange channels, gravel bars, and vegetated islands.
Scientific interest in the Tagliamento River is prompted because most Alpine river systems have been trained during the past 100-200 years and knowledge about the functioning of a natural system is needed to support current restoration projects in more impacted systems. Research topics include geomorphic processes, habitat turnover at a landscape scale, vegetation dynamics, regeneration of woody species, invertebrate diversity, and processing of organic matter.
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