Railroads, roads and lateral disconnection in the river landscapes of the continental United States

a r t i c l e i n f o Railroads and roads are ubiquitous features in the river corridors of the United States. However, their impact on hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecological processes in fluvial and riparian landscapes has not been systematically explored at regional or continental extents. This study documents the geographic distribution of roads and railroads in the alluvial floodplains of the continental United States and the regional variability of their potential impacts on lateral connectivity and resultant channel and floodplain structure and function. We use national scale data sets and GIS analysis to derive data on stream–transportation network interactions in two broad categories: (1) crossing impacts, such as bridges and culverts, and (2) impacts where transportation infrastructure acts as a longitudinal dam along the stream channel, causing lateral floodplain disconnection. Potential stream crossing impacts are greatest in regions with long histories of road and railroad development and relatively low relief, such as the Mid-Atlantic, New England, and the Lower Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. Potential lateral disconnections are more prevalent in rugged regions such as the Western U.S. and Appalachians where transportation routes follow river corridors along valley bottoms. Based on these results, we develop a conceptual model that suggests that the area of lateral disconnection due to transportation infrastructure should be most extensive in mid-sized alluvial valleys in relatively rugged settings. The result of this disconnection is the disruption of the long-term, cut-and-fill alluviation and of the shorter-term flood and flow pulse processes that create and maintain ecosystem function in river landscapes. The tremendous extent of transportation infrastructure in alluvial valleys documented in this study suggests a revision to H.B.N. Hynes' statement that the valley rules the stream. Instead, it appears that in modern landscapes of the U.S. the valley rules the transportation network — and the transportation network rules the stream. Humans profoundly transform river landscapes by altering watersheds , climate, and channels, which in turn modify the hydrologic, biotic, and sediment fluxes through river systems (James and Marcus, 2006). Human impacts to rivers result from a vast array of activities ranging from local bank stabilization to watershed-wide effects of large dams to global alterations of rainfall by greenhouse gas emissions. Regardless of the specific driver or the scale of focus, impacts often alter connectivity within the fluvial system, where connectivity is the exchange of water, sediment, and biota between components of the river landscape. …