Transcript Mar 23

Stream Networks and Riparian Zones
Landscape Ecology
(EEES 4760/6760)
Basic terminology
Stream Network
· Structure
· Function
· Management
Reading:
Gregory, S.V., F.J. Swanson, W.A. McKee, and K.W. Cummins. 1991. An ecosystem perspective of
riparian zones. Bioscience 41(8): 540-551.
River Continuum Concept:
•Streams and rivers in a landscape are connected to each other to form a geographic and
biological network. Biotic and abiotic characteristics, function, and movement and
distribution of biota and other matters are directly related to this network. e.g., aquatic
species, vegetation, water quality, movement of wildlife and dispersal of seeds.
Riparian zone:
•Streamside
•Streamside with distinguished vegetation and soil moisture
•Flooding area
•3-D perspective: outward to the limits of flooding and upward into the canopy of stream
side vegetation. Obviously, it is scale dependent.
Hyporheic zone:
•The interstitial habitat beneath the streambed that is the interface between water and the
adjoining groundwater; HZ was thought to be shallow and narrow but was found 3 km wide
and 10 m deep on the Flathead, Montana.
Stream Networks of
Five Watershed in
Continental U.S.
Methods of Ordering Streams
Within a Drainage Basin (from Ritter et
al. 1995)
Riparian Zone
STAND LEVEL
•Species resource (gene pool) and habitat
•Microclimate
•Course Woody Debris (CWD)
•Nutrient-energy sources
•Water quality and quantity
•Recreational values
•Other social values
LANDSCAPE LEVEL
•Landscape Corridors
•Landscape Connectivity
•Cumulative effects