Making Riverscapes Real

The structure and function of rivers have long been characterized either by: (1) qualitative models such as the River Continuum Concept or Serial Discontinuity Concept which paint broad descriptive portraits of how river habitats and communities vary, or (2) quantitative models, such as downstream hydraulic geometry, which rely on a limited number of measurements spread widely throughout a river basin.  In contrast, authors such as Fausch et al. (2002) and Wiens (2002) proposed applying existing quantitative, spatially comprehensive ecology and landscape ecology methods to rivers.  This new framework for river sciences which preserves variability and spatial relationships is called a riverine landscape or a ‘riverscape’.  Application of this riverscape concept requires information on the spatial distribution of organism-scale habitats throughout entire river systems. 

This article examines the ways in which recent technical and methodological developments can allow us to quantitatively implement and realize the riverscape concept.  Using 3-cm true color aerial photos and 5-m resolution elevation data from the River Tromie, Scotland, we apply the newly developed Fluvial Information System which integrates a suite of cutting edge, high resolution, remote sensing methods in a spatially explicit framework.  This new integrated approach allows for the extraction of primary fluvial variables such as width, depth, particle size, and elevation.  From these first-order variables, we derive second-order geomorphic and hydraulic variables including velocity, stream power, Froude number, shear stress.  Channel slope can be approximated from available topographic data.  Based on these first and second-order variables, we produce riverscape metrics that begin to explore how geomorphic structures may influence river habitats, including connectivity, patchiness of habitat, and habitat distributions.  The results show a complex interplay of geomorphic variable and habitat patchiness that is not predicted by existing fluvial theory.  Riverscapes, thus, challenge the existing understanding of how rivers structure themselves and will force development of new paradigms.