The Formation of Channel and Floodplain Habitats Essay

The Formation of Channel and Floodplain Habitats - Essay ExampleThe abundance of LW in teem channels is an indication of the intimate association of river ecosystems with the adjoin terrestrial environment (Naiman and Bilby 1998, Naiman and Dcamps 1997). Understanding this relationship is crucial in river basin management.Large wood abundance in the watershed depends on channel size, channel type, and the surrounding riparian lumber. LW is more abundant in small channels on a per unit area basis because LW is considerably transported in larger channels it follows that whilst abundance in large channels is lower, the average LW sizes are bigger (Bilby and Ward 1989). LW is also more abundant where the stream channel is unconstrained and has fine substrate compared to constrained channels with boulder substrate (Bilby and Wasserman 1989). Moreover, LW is more abundant in forests where conifers are preponderant compared to forests where hardwoods are dominant because conifers are l arger making them less transient (Harmon et al., 1986). The abundance of LW is also more pronounced where the forest is mature than in forest dominated by young stands of small hardwoods (Bilby and Ward 1991).Woodland river ecosystems in their natural and pristine conditions are surrounded by riparian forest and have multiple channels. everyplace the years, the anthropogenic disturbance has greatly reduced riparian forest cover, the topography graded for agricultural purposes, and rivers were constrained by levees into a single channel (Caroll & Robinson, 2007 Florsheim & Mount, 2002). Other than forest denudation, this also has deleterious effects on the morphological development of stream and the stream biota.