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Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Water Science and Application Series, Volume 8. Riparian Vegetation and Fluvial Geomorphology presents important new perspectives for the experimentalist, the field practitioner, the theorist, and the modeler, offering a synthesis of scientific advances along with discussions of unresolved problems and research opportunities. The volume is structured in five sections.
Riparian vegetation patterns within the blast, downstream of blast, and airfall tephra zones of Mount St. Helens are related to initial and secondary volcanic disturbance, post-eruption fluvial landforms, channel geometry, and streamflow characteristics. Vegetation patterns were determined from species presence observed on transects across landforms developed along the streams. Distinct species distribution patterns were found on three common geomorphic landforms: active channel, lower terrace-floodplain and upper terrace. Plant cover and species diversity vary greatly among landforms and among volcanic disturbance zones. Vegetation recovery was negligible recovery at themost severely Impacted sites but approached pre-eruption values in the Airfall Tephra Zone. The large between- and within-site variation in vegetation parameters is controlled by fluvial erosion and sedimentation affecting substrate stability and microsite suitability. At all sites, vegetation establishment near the active channel is greatly restricted by fluvial erosion and tephra deposition. Rhizomatous and prolifically seeding species were most common on highly altered landforms.
The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that wetlands be protected from degradation because of their important ecological functions including maintenance of high water quality and provision of fish and wildlife habitat. However, this protection generally does not encompass riparian areasâ€"the lands bordering rivers and lakesâ€"even though they often provide the same functions as wetlands. Growing recognition of the similarities in wetland and riparian area functioning and the differences in their legal protection led the NRC in 1999 to undertake a study of riparian areas, which has culminated in Riparian Areas: Functioning and Strategies for Management. The report is intended to heighten awareness of riparian areas commensurate with their ecological and societal values. The primary conclusion is that, because riparian areas perform a disproportionate number of biological and physical functions on a unit area basis, restoration of riparian functions along America's waterbodies should be a national goal.
Riparian Landscapes examines the ecological systems of streamside and floodplain areas from the perspective of landscape ecology. The specific spatial pattern of riparian vegetation is seen as a result of, and a control on, the ecological, geomorphological, and hydrological processes that operate along rivers. Riparian structures are controlled by the spatial dynamics of channels, flooding and soil moisture. These dynamics are part of integrated cascades of water, sediment, nutrients and carbon, to which animal and plant species respond in ways that illuminate community structure and competition. The role of the riparian zone in controlling species distribution and abundance is discussed. Intelligent management of these valuable ecological resources is highlighted. The potential for linking hydrological, geomorphological and ecological simulation models is also explored. This book will be of interest to graduate and professional research workers in environmental science, ecology and physical geography.
Biogeomorphology, a relatively new term, refers to relations between the biota and geomorphic form and process. Ecology is the study of organisms in relation to their physical and biotic environment. Thus, ecogeomorphology could have been an equally acceptable name for this publication which stresses the ecological aspects of the larger field of biology. Most of the articles relate vegetation to fluvial geomorphology, erosion, and sedimentation. However, articles showing the significance of animal ecological studies and their bearing on geomorphic form and process are also included. Geographically the papers range from arid areas in the American Southwest and Israel to the new world tropics. Most articles, however, are concerned with temperate areas of North America and Western Europe. This is among the first books to approach the role that biota and ecology play in geomorphic processes and should be on the shelf of every landscape ecologist.