An Expansive Perspective of Riverine Landscapes: Pattern and Process Across Scales

Abstract

Rivers are highly dynamic systems with interactive pathways that operate across a wide range of spatio-temporal scales and hierarchical levels. This article focuses on pattern and process at the landscape scale and presents a holistic perspective that integrates flood plains and alluvial groundwater aquifers into an expansive view of rivers. Natural disturbance from seasonal flooding interacts in predictable ways with catchment geochemistry, topography, climate, and vegetation to produce the shifting landscape mosaic of intact river ecosystems. Fluvial dynamics structure patterns of biodiversity and productivity, sustain a diversity of successional stages, and maintain ecological connectivity between landscape elements. This expansive perspective of riverine landscapes has major implications for aquatic conservation (in particular, natural flood control and water purification). Abstract & Keywords → p. 79