Benke / Cushing Field Guide to Rivers of North America

1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-0-12-378577-0
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 472 Seiten

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

Autoren/Hrsg.

Benke, Arthur C.

Cushing, Colbert E.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Front Cover;1
2;Field Guide to Rivers of North America;4
3;Copyright Page;5
4;Contents;6
5;Preface;10
6;Acknowledgments;12
7;Chapter 1 Introduction;15
7.1;INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK;18
7.2;CONCLUDING COMMENTS;23
7.3;LITERATURE CITED;23
8;Chapter 2 Atlantic Coast Rivers of the Northeastern United States;25
8.1;Penobscot River;27
8.2;Connecticut River;29
8.3;Hudson River;31
8.4;Delaware River;33
8.5;Susquehanna River;35
8.6;Kennebec River;37
8.7;Androscoggin River;39
8.8;Merrimack River;41
8.9;Potomac River;43
9;Chapter 3 Atlantic Coast Rivers of the Southeastern United States;45
9.1;James River;47
9.2;Cape Fear River;49
9.3;Savannah River;51
9.4;Ogeechee River;53
9.5;St. Johns River;55
9.6;York River;57
9.7;Roanoke River;59
9.8;Great Pee Dee River;61
9.9;Santee River;63
9.10;Altamaha River;65
9.11;Satilla River;67
10;Chapter 4 Gulf Coast Rivers of the Southeastern United States;69
10.1;Mobile River;71
10.2;Cahaba River;73
10.3;Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River;75
10.4;Pearl River;77
10.5;Suwannee River;79
10.6;Choctawhatchee River;81
10.7;Escambia–Conecuh River;83
10.8;Flint River;85
10.9;Pascagoula River–Black Creek;87
10.10;Sipsey River;89
11;Chapter 5 Gulf Coast Rivers of the Southwestern United States;91
11.1;Rio Grande;93
11.2;San Antonio and Guadalupe Rivers;95
11.3;Colorado River;97
11.4;Brazos River;99
11.5;Sabine River;101
11.6;Pecos River;103
11.7;Nueces River;105
11.8;Trinity River;107
11.9;Neches River;109
12;Chapter 6 Lower Mississippi River and Its Tributaries;111
12.1;Lower Mississippi River;113
12.2;White River;115
12.3;Buffalo National River;117
12.4;Big Black River;119
12.5;Yazoo River;121
12.6;Atchafalaya River;123
12.7;Ouachita River;125
12.8;Saline River;127
12.9;Current River;129
13;Chapter 7 Southern Plains Rivers;131
13.1;Arkansas River;133
13.2;Canadian River;135
13.3;Red River;137
13.4;Little River;139
13.5;Cimarron River;141
13.6;Neosho (Grand) River;143
13.7;Washita River;145
13.8;Kiamichi River;147
14;Chapter 8 Upper Mississippi River Basin;149
14.1;Upper Mississippi River;151
14.2;Minnesota River;153
14.3;St. Croix River;155
14.4;Wisconsin River;157
14.5;Illinois River;159
14.6;Chippewa River;161
14.7;Wapsipinicon River;163
14.8;Rock River;165
14.9;Des Moines River;167
14.10;Kaskaskia River;169
15;Chapter 9 Ohio River Basin;171
15.1;Ohio River;173
15.2;Tennessee River;175
15.3;Cumberland River;177
15.4;Wabash River;179
15.5;Kanawha River;181
15.6;Green River;183
15.7;Kentucky River;185
15.8;Great Miami River;187
15.9;Licking River;189
15.10;Scioto River;191
15.11;Allegheny River;193
15.12;Monongahela River;195
16;Chapter 10 Missouri River Basin;197
16.1;Missouri River;199
16.2;Yellowstone River;201
16.3;White River;203
16.4;Platte River;205
16.5;Gasconade River;207
16.6;Madison River;209
16.7;Milk River;211
16.8;Cheyenne River;213
16.9;Big Sioux River;215
16.10;Niobrara River;217
16.11;Kansas River;219
16.12;Grand River;221
17;Chapter 11 Colorado River Basin;223
17.1;Colorado River;225
17.2;Green River;227
17.3;Yampa River;229
17.4;Little Colorado River;231
17.5;Gila River;233
17.6;Gunnison River;235
17.7;San Juan River;237
17.8;Virgin River;239
17.9;Bill Williams River;241
17.10;Black River;243
17.11;Verde River;245
17.12;Salt River;247
18;Chapter 12 Pacific Coast Rivers of the Coterminous United States;249
18.1;Sacramento River;251
18.2;San Joaquin River;253
18.3;Salinas River;255
18.4;Klamath River;257
18.5;Rogue River;259
18.6;Umpqua River;261
18.7;Eel River;263
18.8;Russian River;265
18.9;Santa Ana River;267
18.10;Santa Margarita River;269
19;Chapter 13 Columbia River Basin;271
19.1;Columbia River;273
19.2;Flathead River;275
19.3;Snake/Salmon River;277
19.4;Yakima River;279
19.5;Willamette River;281
19.6;Owyhee River;283
19.7;Grande Ronde River;285
19.8;Clearwater River;287
19.9;Spokane River;289
19.10;Methow River;291
19.11;John Day River;293
19.12;Cowlitz River;295
20;Chapter 14 Great Basin Rivers;297
20.1;Bear River;299
20.2;Sevier River;301
20.3;Humboldt River;303
20.4;Truckee River;305
20.5;Provo River;307
20.6;Weber River;309
20.7;Walker River;311
21;Chapter 15 Fraser River Basin;313
21.1;Fraser River;315
21.2;Thompson River;317
21.3;Nechako River;319
21.4;Stuart River;321
21.5;West Road River;323
21.6;Quesnel River;325
21.7;Chilcotin River;327
21.8;Clearwater River;329
21.9;Lillooet and Harrison Rivers;331
22;Chapter 16 Pacific Coast Rivers of Canada and Alaska;333
22.1;Kuskokwim River;335
22.2;Susitna River;337
22.3;Kenai River;339
22.4;Stikine River;341
22.5;Skeena River;343
22.6;Nushagak River;345
22.7;Copper River;347
22.8;Alsek River;349
22.9;Taku River;351
22.10;Nass River;353
23;Chapter 17 Yukon River Basin;355
23.1;Yukon River;357
23.2;Tanana River;359
23.3;Koyukuk River;361
23.4;White River;363
23.5;Stewart River;365
23.6;Porcupine River;367
24;Chapter 18 Mackenzie River Basin;369
24.1;Mackenzie River;371
24.2;Liard River;373
24.3;Slave River;375
24.4;Peace River;377
24.5;Athabasca River;379
24.6;South Nahanni River;381
24.7;Smoky River;383
24.8;Hay River;385
24.9;Yellowknife River;387
25;Chapter 19 Nelson and Churchill River Basins;389
25.1;Nelson River;391
25.2;Saskatchewan River;393
25.3;Red River of the North;395
25.4;Assiniboine River;397
25.5;Winnipeg River;399
25.6;Bow River;401
26;Chapter 20 Rivers of Arctic North America;403
26.1;Noatak River;405
26.2;Kuparuk River;407
26.3;Sagavanirktok River;409
26.4;Moose River;411
26.5;Thelon/Kazan River;413
27;Chapter 21 Atlantic Coast Rivers of Canada;415
27.1;Exploits River;417
27.2;Miramichi River;419
27.3;St. John River;421
27.4;Moisie River;423
27.5;Big Salmon River;425
27.6;Humber River;427
27.7;Churchill River;429
28;Chapter 22 St. Lawrence River Basin;431
28.1;St. Lawrence River Main Stem;433
28.2;Ottawa River;435
28.3;Saguenay River;437
28.4;St. Joseph River;439
28.5;Ausable River;441
28.6;Maumee River;443
28.7;Rivière Richelieu;445
28.8;Rivière Saint-Maurice;447
29;Chapter 23 Rivers of Mexico;449
29.1;Río Pánuco;451
29.2;Ríos Usumacinta–Grijalva;453
29.3;Río Candelaria (Yucatán);455
29.4;Río Yaqui;457
29.5;Río Conchos;459
29.6;Río Fuerte;461
29.7;Río Tamesí;463
29.8;Río Salado;465
29.9;Río Lacanjá;467
30;Index of Rivers;470
30.1;A;470
30.2;B;470
30.3;C;470
30.4;D;470
30.5;E;470
30.6;F;470
30.7;G;470
30.8;H;471
30.9;I;471
30.10;J;471
30.11;K;471
30.12;L;471
30.13;M;471
30.14;N;471
30.15;O;471
30.16;P;471
30.17;Q;471
30.18;R;471
30.19;S;471
30.20;T;472
30.21;U;472
30.22;V;472
30.23;W;472
30.24;Y;472

Leseproben

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...