7746

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7746
• Author: Stanford, J. A. and J. V. Ward.
• Title: Management of Aquatic Resources in Large Catchments
• USFW Year: 1991.
• USFW - Doc Type: Recognizing Interactions Between Ecosystem Connectivity and Environmental Disturbance.
• Copyright Material: NO

Abstract
We argue that management within catchment basins must be approached with
an empirically-based understanding of the natural connectivity and variability of
structural and functional properties of riverine ecosystems. Rivers are four dimensional
environments involving processes that connect upstream-downstream, channel-
hyporheic (groundwater) and channel-floodplain (riparian) zones or patches and these
differ temporally. Natural and human disturbances, including biotic feedbacks (such as
predation, parasitism and other food web dynamics), interact to determine the most
probable biophysical state of the catchment ecosystem. Human disturbances can be
quantitatively determined by deviations from an observed biophysical state (baseline),
but usually this requires long-term ecological data sets. A case history of the Flathead
River-Lake system in Montana (USA) and British Columbia (Canada) is summarized to
illustrate how disturbances interact at the catchment level of organization. Owing to the
natural complexities of catchment ecosystems and the cumulative effects of human
disturbances, rationale and logistics of obtaining long term data often seem intractable
and excessively expensive. The naive alternative is to derive and implement cook
book procedures that are agency specific and often result in management actions that
interfere with each other. We argue that integrated management at the catchment level
is needed and propose some simple principles that begin with broader based
collegiate training for prospective managers.
Key words: ecosystem, river, catchment, drainage basin, management, disturbance,
natural resources, watershed, Flathead River, Montana
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