Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 6.29.16

NEWS
Study: Gravel-Bed Rivers Provide Critical Habitat From Yellowstone to the Yukon, riverbeds are the lifeblood of a complex ecology
BY TRISTAN SCOTT OF THE BEACON
Gravel-bed river oodplains are some of the most ecologically important habi- tats in North America, according to a pio- neering new study, which nds the chan- nels carry far more than merely their weight in water.
The research shows how broad val- leys emerging from glaciated mountains provide highly productive and important habitat for a large diversity of aquatic, avian and terrestrial species.
Ric Hauer, professor and director of the Center for Integrated Research on the Environment at the University of Montana, led a group of authors who examined the full continuum of species and processes supported by gravel-bed rivers, from microbes to bull trout, and elk to grizzly bears.
“If we think about the Flathead River for example, owing from British Colum- bia into the U.S. and along the western edge of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, we might wrongly imagine that the river is only water owing in the channel,” Hauer said. “But these grav- el-bed systems are so much more than that. The river ows over and through the entire oodplain system, from valley wall to valley wall, and supports an extraordi- nary diversity of life. The river is so much bigger than it appears to be at rst glance.”
Titled “Gravel-Bed River Floodplains are the Ecological Nexus of Glaciated Mountain Landscapes,” the study was published June 24 in “Science Advances,” and o ers the rst interdisciplinary research at the regional scale to demon- strate the importance of gravel-bed riv- ers to the entire ecosystem.
Harvey Locke, co-founder of the Yel- lowstone to Yukon Conservation Ini- tiative (Y2Y) and University of Mon- tana professor Mark Hebblewhite are co-authors.
The team of scientists on the study also includes UM professors Vicky
South Fork Flathead River. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON Dreitz, Winsor Lowe, and Cara Nelson;
Clint Muhlfeld, research aquatic ecolo- gist from the U.S. Geological Survey; Pro- fessor Stewart Rood from University of Lethbridge; and biologist Michael Proc- tor of Birchdale Ecological.
Gravel-bed rivers are found through- out the world in mountainous regions, but the complexity of how they bene t a wide range of species that use the whole landscape has not been extensively stud- ied before now, according to the authors.
The research underlying the study was conducted through years of eldwork in the Yellowstone to Yukon region, which stretches from Yellowstone National Park north into Canada’s northern Yukon Territory.
Gravel-bed river plains support more than half the region’s plant life. More than 70 percent of the region’s bird species use the river oodplains, while deer, elk, car- ibou, wolves, and grizzly bears use the
oodplains for food, habitat and import- ant migration corridors, the study nds.
Gravel-bed river systems provide com- plex habitats for species because of the system’s ever-changing features: gravel and cobbles that move with ooding, scoured and changing river channels, and a constant ow of water into and out from the gravels of the river. This water extends across the U-shaped valley bot- tom often hundreds of meters or more from the river channel, and supports a complex food web that includes aquatic species as well as a vast diversity of avian and terrestrial species. These processes are driven by the river’s changes in vol- ume throughout the year.
The gravel-bed rivers also provide essential connectivity across the land- scape for both terrestrial and aquatic organisms, which is critical in a time of climate change, the study states.
“These oodplains also are some of the
most endangered landforms worldwide. Human settlement, agriculture, indus- try, and transportation often occur in at, productive river valleys. While there are many protected areas in the Y2Y region such as Yellowstone and Ban national parks, humans have altered the struc- ture and function of the gravel-bed river oodplains outside, as well as inside these protected areas,” according to the report.
“The single best thing we can do for nature across the entire Y2Y region is to keep gravel-bed rivers in a natural con- dition, including allowing the essential natural process of ooding,” Locke said.
“The increasing pressures of climate change mean that species need contin- ued access to intact gravel-bed river eco- systems in order to survive,” Hauer said. “These systems must be protected and those that are already degraded must be restored.”
tscott@ atheadbeacon.com
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JUNE 29, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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