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COMPONENTS OF SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE CONNECTIVITY IN A LARGE OREGON (USA) RIVER--WHAT CAN BE RESTORED?
Citation:
Landers, D H., A. G. Fernald, AND M. M. Erway. COMPONENTS OF SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE CONNECTIVITY IN A LARGE OREGON (USA) RIVER--WHAT CAN BE RESTORED? Presented at International Limnological Society Congress, Melbourne, Australia, February 2001.
Description:
We conducted research on the Willamette River in western Oregon (USA) to determine the ecological functions of off-channel habitats (OCH). OCHs have declined in our 70 km study reach of the active floodplain since European settlement. Surface and subsurface connectivity between the waters of the main channel and the OCH is a function of fluvio-geomorphic processes that determine the abundance and diversity of OCH. Surface waters in alcoves (i.e. parapotamons) are strongly influenced by river water downstream and hyphorheic flow upstream, providing diverse aquatic habitat. Restoring connectivity requires an approach that restores components of historic geomorphic processes.