Gregory, Stanley V.; Lamberti, Gary A.; Moore, Kelly M. S. 1989. Influence of valley landforms on stream ecosystems. In: Abell, Dana L., tech. coord. Proceedings of the California riparian systems conference: protection, management and restoration for the 1990s; 1988 September 22-24; Davis, CA. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-110. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture: 3-8. p.
A hierarchical perspective of relationships be-tween valley floor land forms, riparian plant communi-ties, and aquatic ecosystems has been developed, basedon studies of two fifth-order basins in the Cascade Moun-tains of Oregon. Retention of dissolved nitrogen andleaves were approximately 2-3 times greater in uncon-strained reaches than in constrained reaches. Both val-ley floor landforms and riparian plant communities in-fluenced the abundance of primary producers. Abun-dances of cutthroat and rainbow trout in unconstrainedreaches were approximately twice those observed in con-strained valley floors. Valley floors are one of the mostphysically dynamic components of the landscape, incor-porating major agents of terrestrial disturbance and flu-vial disturbance. These corridors are major routes forthe flux of water, sediments, nutrients, and species. Be--cause of their unique properties, valley floors play animportant role in landscape ecology.