Upland and lowland (freshwater ecology)

Upland and Lowland (freshwater Ecology)

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Upland and lowland (freshwater ecology)

In studies of the ecology

Ecology

Ecology is the science study of the distribution and Abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their nature environment ....
of freshwater

Freshwater

Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids....
river

River

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Encyclopedia

In studies of the ecology

Ecology

Ecology is the science study of the distribution and Abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their nature environment ....
of freshwater

Freshwater

Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids....
river

River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
s, habitats are classified as upland and lowland. Upland habitats are cold, clear, rocky, fast flowing rivers in mountainous areas; lowland habitats are warm, slow flowing rivers found in relatively flat lowland areas, with water that is frequently coloured by sediment

Sediment

Sediment is any particulate matter that can be sediment transport by fluid dynamics, and which eventually is deposited.Sediments are most often transported by water transported by wind and glaciers....
and organic matter.

These classifications overlap with the geological definitions of "upland" and "lowland". In geology

Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
an "upland" is generally considered to be land that is at a higher elevation than the alluvial plain

Alluvial plain

Stream terrace

Stream terraces are relict features, such as floodplains, from periods when a stream was flowing at a higher elevation and has downcutting to a lower elevation....
, which are considered to be "lowlands".

Many freshwater fish and invertebrate communities around the world show a pattern of specialisation into upland or lowland river habitats.

Upland

In freshwater ecology, upland rivers and stream

Stream

A stream is a body of water less than 60 feet wide with a current , confined within a stream bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as brook, beck, Burn , creek, crick, kill, lick , rill, river syke, bayou, rivu...
s are the fast flowing rivers and streams that drain elevated or mountainous country, often onto broad alluvial plain

Alluvial plain

An alluvial plain is a relatively flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which Alluvium soil forms....
s (where they become lowland rivers). However, altitude is not the sole determinant of whether a river is upland or lowland. Arguably the most important determinants are that of stream power and course gradient. Rivers with a course that drops in altitude rapidly will have faster water flow and higher stream power or "force of water". This in turn produces the other characteristics of an upland river - an incised course, a river bed dominated by bedrock

Bedrock

File:Rockhead1.jpg.JPGIn stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated Rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth....
and coarse sediments, a riffle

Riffle

A riffle is a shallow stretch of a river or stream, where the current is above the average stream velocity and where the water forms small rippled waves as a result....
and pool structure and cooler water temperatures. Rivers with a course that drops in altitude very slowly will have slower water flow and lower force. This in turn produces the other characteristics of a lowland river - a meandering course lacking rapids, a river bed dominated by fine sediments and higher water temperatures. Lowland rivers tend to carry more suspended sediment

Sediment

Sediment is any particulate matter that can be sediment transport by fluid dynamics, and which eventually is deposited.Sediments are most often transported by water transported by wind and glaciers....
and organic matter as well, but some lowland rivers have periods of high water clarity in seasonal low flow periods.

Classifying rivers and streams as upland or lowland is important in freshwater ecology as the two types of river habitat are very different, and usually support very different populations of fish and invertebrate species.

The generally clear, cool, fast-flowing waters and bedrock and coarse sediment beds of upland rivers encourage fish species with limited temperature tolerances, high oxygen needs, strong swimming ability and specialised reproductive strategies to prevent eggs or larvae being swept away. These characteristics also encourage invertebrate species with limited temperature tolerances, high oxygen needs and ecologies revolving around coarse sediments and interstices or "gaps" between those coarse sediments.

Lowland

The generally more turbid, warm, slow-flowing waters and fine sediment beds of lowland rivers encourage fish species with broad temperature tolerances and greater tolerances to low oxygen levels, and life history and breeding strategies adapted to these and other traits of lowland rivers. These characteristics also encourage invertebrate species with broad temperature tolerances and greater tolerances to low oxygen levels and ecologies revolving around fine sediments or alternative habitats such as submerged woody debris ("snags") or submergent macrophyte

Macrophyte

A macrophyte is an aquatic plant that grows in or near water and is either emergent, submergent, or floating. In lakes macrophytes provide cover for fish and Substrate for Aquatic animal invertebrates, produce oxygen, and act as food for some fish and wildlife....
s ("water weed").

Upland and lowland (freshwater ecology)

Upland

Lowland

See also