Great Basin Riparian Ecosystems

by Chambers, Jeanne C.; Miller, Jerry R.; Macmahon, James A.

• ISBN13: 9781559639873
• ISBN10: 1559639873
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-02-01
• Publisher: Island Pr

Summary

Established by the USDA Forest Service in 1993, the Great Basin Ecosystem Management Project for Restoring and Maintaining Sustainable Riparian Ecosystems is a large-scale research study that uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the effects of climate change and human disturbance on riparian areas. Structured as a collaborative effort between management and research, the project focuses on understanding the geomorphic, hydrologic, and biotic processes that underlie riparian structure and function and the interrelated responses of those processes to disturbances, both natural and anthropogenic. Great Basin Riparian Ecosystems, edited by Jeanne C. Chambers and Jerry R. Miller, presents the approach used by the researchers to study and understand riparian areas in the Great Basin region. It summarizes the current state of knowledge about those areas and provides insights into the use of the information generated by the project for the restor-ation and management of riparian ecosystems. Because semi-arid ecosystems like the Great Basin are highly sensitive to climate change, the study considered how key processes are affected by past and present climate. Great Basin Riparian Ecosystems also examined the processes over a continuum of temporal and spatial scales. Great Basin Riparian Ecosystems addresses restoration over a variety of scales and integrates work from multiple disciplines, including riparian ecology, paleoecology, geomorphology, and hydrology. While the focus is on the Great Basin, the general approach is widely applicable, as it describes a promising new strategy for developing restoration and management plans, one based on sound principles derived from attention to natural systems.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
James A. MacMahon
Preface	xiii
Restoring and Maintaining Sustainable Riparian Ecosystems: The Great Basin Ecosystem Management Project	1	(23)
Jeanne C. Chambers
Jerry R. Miller
Climate Change and Associated Vegetation Dynamics during the Holocene: The Paleoecological Record	24	(25)
Robin J. Tausch
Cheryl L. Nowak
Scott A. Mensing
Fluvial Geomorphic Responses to Holocene Climate Change	49	(39)
Jerry R. Miller
Kyle House
Dru Germanoski
Robin J. Tausch
Jeanne C. Chambers
Basin Sensitivity to Channel Incision in Response to Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbance	88	(36)
Dru Germanoski
Jerry R. Miller
Geomorphic and Hydrologic Controls on Surface and Subsurface Flow Regimes in Riparian Meadow Ecosystems	124	(38)
David G. Jewett
Mark L. Lord
Jerry R. Miller
Jeanne C. Chambers
Effects of Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances on Water Quality	162	(34)
Michael C. Amacher
Janice Kotuby-Amacher
Paul R. Grossl
Effects of Geomorphic Processes and Hydrologic Regimes on Riparian Vegetation	196	(36)
Jeanne C. Chambers
Robin J. Tausch
John L. Korfmacher
Dru Germanoski
Jerry R. Miller
David Jewett
Explanation, Prediction, and Maintenance of Native Species Richness and Composition	232	(29)
Erica Fleishman
Jason B. Dunham
Dennis D. Murphy
Peter F. Brussard
Process-Based Approaches for Managing and Restoring Riparian Ecosystems	261	(32)
Jeanne C. Chambers
Jerry R. Miller
Dru Germanoski
Dave A. Weixelman
About the Editors and Authors	293	(6)
Index	299