Characterizing Hydrologic Regimes in Ecologically Meaningful Terms

However, hydrologists and ecologists are still woefully incapable of answering the question, “How much hydrologic alteration is too much for an aquatic or riparian ecosystem?” This is not to say that we haven’t learned a great deal about the influence of hydrologic variation and extreme events on species and natural communities or key ecosystem processes such as nutrient transport and cycling. In recent years, many river scientists have suggested that considerable ecological research supports the premise that healthy aquatic and riparian ecosystems depend upon maintaining some semblance of natural hydrologic regimes (Richter et al. 1997; Poff et al. 1997). But a Characterizing Hydrologic Regimes in Ecologically Meaningful Terms by Brian Richter