Ecology and Restoration of Alluvial River Flood Plains

Expansive, alluvial flood plains are primary landscape components of the river corridors within intermontane valleys of the mountain ranges worldwide.  These flood plains are hot spots of biodiversity owing to the complex mosaic of ground and surface water and terrestrial habitats created and maintained by erosion and deposition of porous alluvium.  Because flood plains are rich agricultural lands and important sources of minerals and potable ground water, humans have extensively colonized, urbanized, farmed, placer mined, logged, revetted and otherwise modified the natural integrity of flood plains.

We are comparing natural floodplain processes in the Flathead River system, which is largely pristine, to the same processes in the rivers with legacies  of pervasive environmental degradation in the USA and Europe. The overall goal of this highly multidisciplinary research effort is to develop and export a knowledge base and process for restoration of damaged rivers worldwide.

Specific objectives include: (1) analysis and modeling of geohydrology and geochemistry as river water alternates between surface and interstitial flow pathways in relation to antecedent flood conditions;  (2) determination of patterns of species distribution in relation to microbial transformations of organic matter and plant growth nutrients as a consequence of interstitial flow and resurfacing of river water; (3) analysis and modeling flow-mediated transport and storage of organic matter and pollutants in riverine and riparian food webs; (4) development of digital tools for explicit spatial analysis of form and function of wetland habitats on flood plains and the river channel; and (5) influences of stream regulation by dams and diversions on the ecology of river systems. 

Related Publications:

Ellis, B. K., J. A. Stanford and J. V. Ward 1998.  Microbial assemblages and production in alluvial aquifers of the Flathead River, Montana, USA.  Journal of the North American Benthological Society 17(4):382-402.

Wissmar, R. C., J. A. Stanford and B. K. Ellis.  1997.  Stable nitrogen isotope tracing of trophic relations in food webs of river and hyporheic habitats. IN: Groundwater/Surface Water Ecotones:  Biological and Hydrological Interactions and Management Options.  J. Gibert, J. Mathieu and F. Fournier (eds).  Cambridge University Press, Port Chester. 166-171 pp.

Frissell, C. A. and D. Bayles.  1996.  Ecosystem management and the conservation of aquatic biodiversity and ecological integrity.  Water Res. Bulletin 32(2):229-240.

Stanford, J. A., J. V. Ward, W. J. Liss, C. A. Frissell, R. N. Williams, J. A. Lichatowich and C. C. Coutant.  1996.  A general protocol for restoration of regulated rivers.  Regulated Rivers 12:391-413.

Ward, J. V. and J. A. Stanford.  1995.  Ecological connectivity in alluvial river ecosystems and its disruption by flow regulation.  Regulated Rivers 11(1):105-119.

Ward, J. V. and J. A. Stanford.  1995.  The serial discontinuity concept:  extending the model to floodplain rivers.  Regulated Rivers 10(2-4):159-168.

Stanford, J. A., J. V. Ward and B. K. Ellis.  1994.  Ecology of the alluvial aquifers of the Flathead River, Montana, pp. 367-390.  IN:  Gibert, J.,  D. L. Danielopol and J. A. Stanford (eds.), Groundwater Ecology.  Academic Press, Inc., San Diego.

Frissell, C. A., W. J. Liss and D. Bayles.  1993.  An integrated, biophysical strategy for ecological restoration of large watersheds, pp. 449-456.  IN: Spangenborg, N. E.  and D. E. Potts (eds.), Proceedings of the Symposium on Changing Roles in Water Resources Management and Policy.  American Water Resources Association, Bethesda, MD.

Stanford, J. A. and J. V. Ward.  1993.  An ecosystem perspective of alluvial rivers:  connectivity and the hyporheic corridor.  J. North Am. Benthol. Soc. 12(1):48-60.