The delivery of excessive fine sediment (particles
<2 mm in diameter) to rivers can cause serious deleterious effects to
aquatic ecosystems and is widely acknowledged to be one of the leading
contributors to the degradation of rivers globally. Despite advances in using
biological methods as a proxy, physical measures remain an important method
through which fine sediment can be quantified. The aim of this study was to
provide further insights into the environmental variables controlling sediment
accumulation in lowland gravel bed rivers. We sampled 21 sites, during spring
and autumn, selected to cover a gradient of excess fine sediment. Fine sediment
was sampled using a range of methods including visual assessments, the disturbance
method and suspended sediment concentrations. A range of abiotic predictors were
measured during sampling, and hydrological and antecedent flow indices were
derived from local flow gauging station data. The results show reach scale
visual estimates of fine sediment to be significantly and highly correlated
with fully quantitative estimates of total surface sediment. Multivariate
regression analysis showed that flow variables (regime, antecedent and local
flow characteristics) were strong predictors of deposited sediment metrics but
poor predictors of suspended sediment. Organic content was shown to be relatively
independent of total sediment quantity and is likely driven by other factors
which influence the supply and breakdown of organic matte