Ecological Responses to Hydrogeomorphic Fluctuations in a Sand Bed Prairie River: River Complexity, Habitat Availability, and Benthic Invertebrates

摘要: Rivers with stochastic precipitation have fauna that overcome unique challenges. Organisms surmount these challenges by using refugia. Research was conducted on the sand bed Kansas River (Kaw). I (a) quantified how hydrology affects Kaw’s shallow habitat complexity, (b) compared amounts of hard vs. substrates, and (c) related abiotic variables to community composition benthic macroinvertebrates. developed riverscape complexity ratio, a metric measures all types river structures, found there little substrate for zoobenthos colonize, had different communities at levels. Zoobenthos in Kaw use structures as refuges from flow spikes eliminate species main channel. Unfortunately, flood control eliminated much Kaw. These habitats must be preserved since food web uses vital nursery feeding habitats.