Field Guide to Rivers of North America (eBook)

Arthur C. Benke, Colbert E. Cushing (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2009 | 1. Auflage
472 Seiten
Elsevier Science (Verlag)
978-0-12-378577-0 (ISBN)

Infos

Based on the comprehensive, award-winning book Rivers of North America, the new Field Guide to Rivers of North America describes 200 of North America's most significant rivers in a reader-friendly, concise format. The guide is organized by geographic regions - each section begins with a map showing the relationship of rivers within one territory and a summary of the region's most important elements. Each individual river summary includes a two-page spread with a basin map, a full-color photograph and key river characteristics.

The compact format of this guide will be particularly useful to scientists carrying out field research in areas such as field ecology, entomology, botany. It is an easy-to-use reference that can easily be packed away with other scientific gear.

Anglers and recreational boating enthusiasts will find a wealth of information on river topography, native and nonnative fish species, as well as average temperatures that will help them plan their next adventure.

The only field guide to cover this broad geographic area. Each river features:

• Color topographic river basin map
• Color photograph
• Precipitation graph
• Vital physical and biological statistics

Inhalt

Front Cover 1
Field Guide to Rivers of North America 4
Copyright Page 5
Contents 6
Preface 10
Acknowledgments 12
Chapter 1 Introduction 15
INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK 18
CONCLUDING COMMENTS 23
LITERATURE CITED 23
Chapter 2 Atlantic Coast Rivers of the Northeastern United States 25
Penobscot River 27
Connecticut River 29
Hudson River 31
Delaware River 33
Susquehanna River 35
Kennebec River 37
Androscoggin River 39
Merrimack River 41
Potomac River 43
Chapter 3 Atlantic Coast Rivers of the Southeastern United States 45
James River 47
Cape Fear River 49
Savannah River 51
Ogeechee River 53
St. Johns River 55
York River 57
Roanoke River 59
Great Pee Dee River 61
Santee River 63
Altamaha River 65
Satilla River 67
Chapter 4 Gulf Coast Rivers of the Southeastern United States 69
Mobile River 71
Cahaba River 73
Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River 75
Pearl River 77
Suwannee River 79
Choctawhatchee River 81
Escambia–Conecuh River 83
Flint River 85
Pascagoula River–Black Creek 87
Sipsey River 89
Chapter 5 Gulf Coast Rivers of the Southwestern United States 91
Rio Grande 93
San Antonio and Guadalupe Rivers 95
Colorado River 97
Brazos River 99
Sabine River 101
Pecos River 103
Nueces River 105
Trinity River 107
Neches River 109
Chapter 6 Lower Mississippi River and Its Tributaries 111
Lower Mississippi River 113
White River 115
Buffalo National River 117
Big Black River 119
Yazoo River 121
Atchafalaya River 123
Ouachita River 125
Saline River 127
Current River 129
Chapter 7 Southern Plains Rivers 131
Arkansas River 133
Canadian River 135
Red River 137
Little River 139
Cimarron River 141
Neosho (Grand) River 143
Washita River 145
Kiamichi River 147
Chapter 8 Upper Mississippi River Basin 149
Upper Mississippi River 151
Minnesota River 153
St. Croix River 155
Wisconsin River 157
Illinois River 159
Chippewa River 161
Wapsipinicon River 163
Rock River 165
Des Moines River 167
Kaskaskia River 169
Chapter 9 Ohio River Basin 171
Ohio River 173
Tennessee River 175
Cumberland River 177
Wabash River 179
Kanawha River 181
Green River 183
Kentucky River 185
Great Miami River 187
Licking River 189
Scioto River 191
Allegheny River 193
Monongahela River 195
Chapter 10 Missouri River Basin 197
Missouri River 199
Yellowstone River 201
White River 203
Platte River 205
Gasconade River 207
Madison River 209
Milk River 211
Cheyenne River 213
Big Sioux River 215
Niobrara River 217
Kansas River 219
Grand River 221
Chapter 11 Colorado River Basin 223
Colorado River 225
Green River 227
Yampa River 229
Little Colorado River 231
Gila River 233
Gunnison River 235
San Juan River 237
Virgin River 239
Bill Williams River 241
Black River 243
Verde River 245
Salt River 247
Chapter 12 Pacific Coast Rivers of the Coterminous United States 249
Sacramento River 251
San Joaquin River 253
Salinas River 255
Klamath River 257
Rogue River 259
Umpqua River 261
Eel River 263
Russian River 265
Santa Ana River 267
Santa Margarita River 269
Chapter 13 Columbia River Basin 271
Columbia River 273
Flathead River 275
Snake/Salmon River 277
Yakima River 279
Willamette River 281
Owyhee River 283
Grande Ronde River 285
Clearwater River 287
Spokane River 289
Methow River 291
John Day River 293
Cowlitz River 295
Chapter 14 Great Basin Rivers 297
Bear River 299
Sevier River 301
Humboldt River 303
Truckee River 305
Provo River 307
Weber River 309
Walker River 311
Chapter 15 Fraser River Basin 313
Fraser River 315
Thompson River 317
Nechako River 319
Stuart River 321
West Road River 323
Quesnel River 325
Chilcotin River 327
Clearwater River 329
Lillooet and Harrison Rivers 331
Chapter 16 Pacific Coast Rivers of Canada and Alaska 333
Kuskokwim River 335
Susitna River 337
Kenai River 339
Stikine River 341
Skeena River 343
Nushagak River 345
Copper River 347
Alsek River 349
Taku River 351
Nass River 353
Chapter 17 Yukon River Basin 355
Yukon River 357
Tanana River 359
Koyukuk River 361
White River 363
Stewart River 365
Porcupine River 367
Chapter 18 Mackenzie River Basin 369
Mackenzie River 371
Liard River 373
Slave River 375
Peace River 377
Athabasca River 379
South Nahanni River 381
Smoky River 383
Hay River 385
Yellowknife River 387
Chapter 19 Nelson and Churchill River Basins 389
Nelson River 391
Saskatchewan River 393
Red River of the North 395
Assiniboine River 397
Winnipeg River 399
Bow River 401
Chapter 20 Rivers of Arctic North America 403
Noatak River 405
Kuparuk River 407
Sagavanirktok River 409
Moose River 411
Thelon/Kazan River 413
Chapter 21 Atlantic Coast Rivers of Canada 415
Exploits River 417
Miramichi River 419
St. John River 421
Moisie River 423
Big Salmon River 425
Humber River 427
Churchill River 429
Chapter 22 St. Lawrence River Basin 431
St. Lawrence River Main Stem 433
Ottawa River 435
Saguenay River 437
St. Joseph River 439
Ausable River 441
Maumee River 443
Rivière Richelieu 445
Rivière Saint-Maurice 447
Chapter 23 Rivers of Mexico 449
Río Pánuco 451
Ríos Usumacinta–Grijalva 453
Río Candelaria (Yucatán) 455
Río Yaqui 457
Río Conchos 459
Río Fuerte 461
Río Tamesí 463
Río Salado 465
Río Lacanjá 467
Index of Rivers 470
A 470
B 470
C 470
D 470
E 470
F 470
G 470
H 471
I 471
J 471
K 471
L 471
M 471
N 471
O 471
P 471
Q 471
R 471
S 471
T 472
U 472
V 472
W 472
Y 472

Textauszug

Chapter 1

Introduction

Arthur C. Benke; Colbert E. Cushing

Freshwaters and the rivers that carry them are the continent’s most important natural resource in terms of natural biodiversity, a source of water for domestic consumption and irrigation, and various industrial uses. Rivers also happen to be one of the most dramatic features of a continent, are appreciated for their beauty, and often are used for fishing and recreation. They are the inevitable result of precipitation falling across the land, coalescing into streams, and uniting into ever larger streams and rivers. Over millions of years, these networks of flowing waters have delivered sediments and nutrients to downstream areas, sometimes eroding valleys and at other times depositing sediments, before eventually reaching the sea or an inland lake. This movement of water and material has helped shape the terrain, created a diversity of freshwater environments along its path, and allowed the evolution of thousand of species of plants, animals, and microbes. Together, these flowing water environments, with their uniquely adapted species, form the river ecosystems that we see today.

Given the enormous importance of rivers, the basic intention of this book is to present a compact guide to many of the major rivers of North America. This book is based on our Rivers of North America (Benke and Cushing 2005), which is a large reference volume of more than 1100 pages. The purpose of our 2005 book was to provide a better understanding of North American rivers and help lead to wiser management, sustainability, and restoration of these essential resources. The purpose of the present book is also to provide a better understanding of rivers, but intended to reach a wider audience. This Guide is essentially a distillation of the single-river summaries found in the 2005 book, arranged in the same regional chapters in an easily accessible format.

The North American continent contains a tremendous diversity of river sizes and types. Rivers range from the frigid and often frozen Arctic rivers of northern Canada and Alaska to the warm tropical rivers of southern Mexico. They range from the high-gradient turbulent rivers draining the western mountains to the low-gradient, placid rivers flowing across the southeastern Coastal Plain. River size ranges from what are essentially small streams to the enormous Mississippi, the 2nd longest river in the world, and the 9th largest by discharge (Leopold 1994). Such variations in latitude, topography, and size contribute to the great variation in biodiversity and ecological characteristics that we see among the continent’s rivers.

Total annual discharge from North American rivers is approximately 8,200 km3/yr or about 17% of the world total (Shiklomanov 1993). The Mississippi is by far the largest river, yet its mean discharge is only 7% of total continental discharge (580 km3/yr or 18,400 m3/s) (Shiklomanov 1993, Karr et al. 2000). Among the other top 25 rivers by discharge, more than a dozen have annual discharges greater than 2000 m3/s, with the largest being the St. Lawrence, Mackenzie, Ohio, Columbia, and Yukon (Table 1). All are rivers that flow to the sea, except the Ohio, which contributes almost half the flow of the Mississippi River. The Nelson and Missouri rivers are among the top five in drainage area, but only rank 11 and 15, respectively, in discharge because their basins receive only moderate precipitation. Three rivers with exceptionally large drainage basins, but not among the top 25 by discharge, are the Colorado, Rio Grande, and Arkansas (see bottom of Table 1). The Colorado and Rio Grande rivers each drain >600,000 km2 (among the top ten by basin area), but are located in arid regions, and have substantially lower discharge than many rivers draining much smaller basins. In addition to these extremely large rivers and river basins, there are many rivers of moderate-to-large size (100 to >1000 m3/s) that each flow for several hundred kilometers to the sea or are tributaries of larger rivers.

Table 1

Largest rivers of North America ranked by virgin discharge. All rivers may be found in this book except the Koksoak and La Grande.

1

Mississippi

18,400

3,270,000

2

St. Lawrence

12,600

1,600,000

3

Mackenzie

9,020

1,743,058

4

Ohio

8,733

529,000

5

Columbia

7,730

724,025

6

Yukon

6,340

839,200

7

Fraser

3,972

234,000

8

Upper Mississippi

3,576

489,510

9

Slave (Mackenzie basin)

3,437

606,000

10

Usumacinta

2,687

112,550

11

Nelson

2,480

1,072,300

12

Liard (Mackenzie basin)

2,446

277,000

13

Koksoak (Quebec)

2,4201

133,4002

14

Tennessee (Ohio basin)

2,000

105,870

15

Missouri

1,956

1,371,017

16

Ottawa (St. Lawrence basin)

1,948

146,334

17

Mobile

1,914

111,369

18

Kuskokwim

1,900

124,319

19

Churchill (Labrador)

1,861

93,415

20

Copper

1,785

63,196

21

Skeena

1,760

54,400

22

La Grande (Quebec)

1,7201

96,8662

22

Stikine

1,587

51,592

24

Saguenay (St. Lawrence basin)

1,535

85,500

25

Susitna

1,427

51,800

Additional large basins

Rio Grande

∼100

870,000

Colorado

550

642,000

Arkansas

1,004

414,910

1 Dynesius and Nilsson (1994).

2 Leopold (1994).

Although humans have been attracted to rivers throughout North America for more than 12,000 years, it has not been until the past 100 years that industrialization has caused a radical transformation of most rivers. They have been dammed for flood control, hydropower, and navigation; dewatered for human and agricultural consumption; contaminated with waste products; and invaded by many nonnative species. Such activities have seriously degraded water quality, habitat diversity, biological diversity, and ecosystem integrity of rivers throughout most of the continent. In spite of such extensive alterations, rivers have displayed a remarkable degree of resilience, capable of returning to at least semi-natural conditions when human impacts are reduced. Fortunately, there are still some rivers that have escaped major human alterations, particularly those in the Arctic and Northern Pacific (Chapters 16, 17, and 20). Such pristine or lightly altered rivers retain much of the natural physical and biological properties they have had for millennia, and can serve as benchmarks by which to evaluate impacts and restoration success of altered rivers.

We recognize that modern societies inevitably must exploit rivers for necessary human needs and not all rivers can retain pristine features. However, any objective evaluation of North American rivers would reveal that we have gone well past a balance between human needs and the need for natural riverine ecosystems. Fortunately, the past 40 years have seen a major shift in society’s attitudes towards rivers and the need to conserve these valuable natural resources. In spite of progress in our treatment of rivers, however, there have been no efforts in North America to comprehensively evaluate the state of its rivers that is comparable to wetlands evaluations (e.g., see the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website for the National Wetlands Inventory). Hopefully, better understanding of North American rivers revealed in this book will help lead to greater appreciation, wiser management, future restoration, and more prolonged sustainability of these essential resources.

Information in This Book

We have selected a total of 200 rivers throughout the continent for this guide, all of which are described in more detail in Rivers of North America. Rivers are organized into 22 chapters, some of which are represented by a single major river and its tributaries, such as the Missouri River, and others by region, such as the Atlantic Coast rivers of the Northeastern United States (Fig 1). Material for each chapter was written by regional river experts, and a very condensed version of their text and summary data were retained for this Guide. Most of the major rivers and much of the diversity of...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 25.11.2009
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik ► Natur / Ökologie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Ökologie / Naturschutz
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geologie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Hydrologie / Ozeanografie
• Themenwelt: Technik
• ISBN-10: 0-12-378577-4 / 0123785774
• ISBN-13: 978-0-12-378577-0 / 9780123785770