MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF SMALL STREAMS: SIGNIFICANCE AND FUNCTION1

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Throughout the United States, land managers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of small streams for a wide range of resource benefits. Where channel morphology is modified or structural features are added, stream dynamics and energy dissipation need to be considered. Unit stream power, defined here as the time‐rate loss of potential energy per unit mass of water, can be reduced by adding stream obstructions, increasing channel sinuosity, or increasing flow resistance with large roughness elements such as woody root systems, logs, boulders, or bedrock. Notable morphological features of small streams are pools, riffles, bed material, and channel banks. Pools, which vary in size, shape, and causative factors, are important rearing habitat for fish. Riffles represent storage locations for bed material and are generally utilized for spawning. The particle sizes and distributions of bed material influence channel characteristics, bedload transport, food supplies for fish, spawning conditions, cover, and rearing habitat. Riparian vegetation helps stabilize channel banks and contributes in various ways to fish productivity. Understanding each stream feature individually and in relation to all others is essential for proper stream management. Although engineered structures for modifying habitat may alter stream characteristics, channel morphology must ultimately be matched to the hydraulic, geologic, and (especially) vegetative constraints of a particular location.