FLOOD04610

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Overview of River-Floodplain Ecology in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
• Date: 12/9/1996
• Prepared By: USGS
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

4

OVERVIEW OF RIVER-FLOODPLAIN ECOLOGY IN THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN

Figure 2-1. The upper Missis-
sippi River navigation system
(UMRBC. 198 J), Loca,ions of
locks and dams on the Missis-
sippi and Illinois Rivers are
shown.

..... LOCK AND DAM

Wisconsin

Mississlppl__ 9
River 1

I lnois River

Missouri

I
500km

t North

trois within their basins. The ecosystems contained within
these floodplains are dynamic environmental mosaics. They
consist of many microhabitats distributed in relation to geo-
morphological and hydrologic attributes. Because the UMR
spans a latitudinal distance of over 800 miles, there are vari-
ations in plant species composition. but similarly adapted
species fill specific ecological niches, Food webs remain

similar in structure throughout the system. though timing of
important abiotic factors may be offset along the length of
the river. Some species use the entire UMRS on migrations
(i.e.. birds using the Mississippi flyway and American eel
migrations in the river). others are only partially dependent
on the river floodplain, and some exist only within the river-
floodplain ecosystem,