The ecology of stream and riparian habitats of the Great Basin region: A community profile

Technical Report · Fri Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989

OSTI ID:7019414

Minshall, G W ^[1]; Jensen, S E ^[2]; Platts, W S ^[3]

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1. Idaho State Univ., Pocatello, ID (USA). Dept. of Biological Sciences
2. White Horse Associates, Smithfield, UT (USA)
3. Forest Service, Boise, ID (USA). Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station

Surface waters of the Great Basin include perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral streams; freshwater and saline lakes; playa lakes; freshwater and saline wetlands and thermal springs associated with faulting and volcanic activity. All of these aquatic habitats generally have associated riparian habitats. However, riparian habitats of the Great Basin may be more mesic than the riparian habitats of the eastern United States. The Great Basin comprises the northern half of the Basin and Range Physiographic Province and covers most of Nevada and western Utah and portions of California, Oregon, and Idaho. The entire basin actually consists of numerous subbasins and mountain ranges which present an extremely diverse physical setting. Typical mountains range from about 2100--3000 m in elevation while subbasin floors are typically 1500--1800 m in elevation. The entire Great Basin lies in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the regions is semi-arid to arid. Riparian and stream habitats within the Great Basin have received less attention from ecologists than similar habitats elsewhere in the United States. As a consequence, little is known about biotic communities or about certain aspects of structure and functioning of these ecosystems.

• Research Organization: National Wetlands Research Center, Slidell, LA (USA); Idaho State Univ., Pocatello, ID (USA). Dept. of Biological Sciences; White Horse Associates, Smithfield, UT (USA); Forest Service, Boise, ID (USA). Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station
• Sponsoring Organization: DOI
• OSTI ID: 7019414
• Report Number(s): BR-85(7.24); ON: TI90007183
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540210 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Basic Studies-- (1990-)
540310* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Basic Studies-- (1990-)
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
BASELINE ECOLOGY
DOCUMENT TYPES
ECOLOGY
ECOSYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FISHES
GREAT BASIN
LAKES
MANUALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
PLANTS
PRODUCTIVITY
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
VERTEBRATES
WATER QUALITY
WETLANDS