WETLANDS, Vol. 26, No. 1, March 2006, pp. 283–286  2006, The Society of Wetland Scientists

REVIEWS

RIVERS AND FLOODPLAINS

upon many literature sources, the author includes equations governing drag and lift forces on grains, settling in fluids, bed shear stress, and transport threshold for differing grain types. Bed-load and suspended-load transport mechanics and rates, saltation, grain sorting and abrasion during transport, erosion and deposition mechanics, and sediment routing models are addressed. The chapter closes with a brief description of dissolved loads and gravity flows. Bed forms and sedimentary structures comprise the content of Chapter 4. Opening with terminology definitions such as bed form, bed configuration, and bed state, the author moves into the origin, geometry, and migration of ripples. In a logical fashion congruent with an increase in flow regime, the author proceeds to describe lower-stage plane beds, dune origin and geometry, and upper-stage plane beds, with attention to sediment transport. The author considers cross-stratification formed by ripples and dunes, as well as antidunes and chutes-and-pools. In this chapter, the author makes excellent use of diagrams and photos of sedimentary structures to illustrate concepts. Chapter 5 thoroughly addresses alluvial bar and channel patterns and subsurface data interpretation. The first half of the chapter is process-based and opens with the initial evolution of alluvial channels and associated bar and riffle terminology. The author proceeds to describe channel pattern by first addressing the relevance of flow stage. He reviews and acknowledges discrepancies in the literature related to the degree of braiding or anastamosing and makes recommendations to clarify. Discharge, slope, bed-material size, vegetation, and bank stability are cited as factors controlling channel pattern. After summarizing processes at the channel segment scale, he proceeds to describe bar-bend scale geometry, flow, and sediment transport. The author gives a particularly good explanation of confluence zones, briefly describes river and floodplain engineering and restoration, and presents depositional models for channel and bar deposits with valuable diagrams. The second half of Chapter 5 describes subsurface data interpretation and brings in the use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) and gamma-ray logs. This second half is devoted to how sedimentary structures represent processes of deposition and evidence for former flow regimes. Many practical figures and photos are included, as well as some examples of ancient channel deposit interpretation. Chapter 6 is devoted to floodplains. It describes ge-

Bridge, J. S. 2003. Rivers and Floodplains: Forms, Processes, and Sedimentary Record. Blackwell Science Ltd, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK. 491 pp., US$99.95 (paperback), ISBN 0632064897. River and floodplain processes and resulting deposits are of interest to a wide variety of people: riverine wetland ecologists, physical geographers, sedimentary geologists, hydrogeologists, environmental geologists, and petroleum geologists, as well as civil and environmental engineers. This book extracts the aspects of geomorphology and sedimentology relevant to rivers and floodplains ‘‘to foster understanding of the nature of modern rivers and floodplains, and to illustrate that this understanding is required before any problems concerning rivers and floodplains, past or present, can be addressed rationally’’ (pp. ix-x). This book is quite technical, although the author emphasizes basic principles and attempts to draw common themes through its entirety. Written for students, teachers, and practicing professionals in the fields of geology, geography, and engineering, this book assumes a certain level of proficiency in sedimentary geology. It is by no means a basic text. Chapter 1 includes an overview of river systems and begins by describing river-system geometry, including stream order, drainage density and patterns, and long profiles and the development of river systems. The author explains the use of hydrographs, flood frequency, and flow-duration curves for interpreting water supply and addresses sediment yield as a function of precipitation. Chapter 1 ends with a good analysis of the controls of geometry, flow, and sedimentary processes and a discussion of equilibrium and disequilibrium. By presenting equations, the author covers the fundamentals of water flow in Chapter 2. This chapter should be viewed as a reference and not as a tool, as it provides the equations but does not address application methods. The first half of the chapter includes the physics of fluid motion, hydrostatic and dynamic pressures, fluid pressure and velocity, viscous shear stress, laminar and turbulent flow, and properties of turbulent boundary layers. The second half of the chapter includes fluid-mechanics equations, such as those governing gradually varied, rapidly varied, subritical, supercritical, and unsteady flow. In a similar presentation style, the author describes the basics of sediment transport in Chapter 3. Drawing 283

284 ometry, flow, and sediment transport, and it includes a particularly good analysis of floodplain flow and sediment transport modeling. Photos and diagrams nicely augment the text in this chapter. Floodplain deposition in levees, crevasse splays, channels, and floodplain basins and lakes is described. Floodplain soil characteristics and development are also included. Chapter 7 describes along-valley variations in river channels and floodplains and opens with a description of long profile characteristics. The author addresses the effects of tectonism on cross- and along-valley structures before turning to alluvial fan and delta geometry, flow, and deposition. The author draws on other sources here to provide explanatory and worthwhile photos and diagrams. Chapter 8 on channel-belt movement across floodplains is devoted primarily to avulsion, ‘‘the process whereby a channel belt shifts relatively abruptly from one location to another on the floodplain surface in favor of a new gradient’’ (p. 310). The author clearly describes the effects of sedimentation rate, base-level change, climate change, and tectonism on avulsion. He includes theoretical models of avulsion processes and describes its effects on erosion and deposition. Up to this point in the book, small-scale geometries and processes have been characterized. Chapter 9 addresses the long-term, large-scale evolution of fluvial systems. The author describes process-based and stochastic models of alluvial stratigraphy. He provides a thorough description of knickpoint and terrace development with useful figures and presents the effects of tectonics, climate change, and base-level change on these long-term, large-scale processes. This chapter closes with relevant case studies of the Holocene lower Mississippi Valley and Delta Plain and the Tertiary Siwaliks of northern Pakistan. Chapter 10 provides a description of fossil preservation in fluvial sediments. It contains a thorough description of the organisms involved and provides some spectacular photos of fossils. The author outlines the fluvial sub-environments in which particular fossils assemblages are found and closes with changes in fluvial fossil preservation over time due to plant and animal evolution, tectonism, and climate change. Methods for measuring various parameters are presented in Appendix 1, a useful reference. This appendix briefly outlines ways to obtain flow measurements (flow velocity, flow depth, water surface topography, and bed topography) and to perform sediment sampling (bed-load transport sampling, suspended-sediment sampling, photographic and topographic methods). The author describes difficult-to-measure parameters such as flow and sediment transport over bed forms, as well as bed-form geometry and kinematics. Bed-surface sediment sampling (bulk, freeze, grid, and

WETLANDS, Volume 26, No. 1, 2006 areal sampling) and ways to quantify erosion and deposition are addressed. Finally, the author describes quantification of river processes using experimental channels and floodplains in the laboratory. In Appendix 2, the author presents tools used to describe and interpret sedimentary strata. Here, the author describes what the methods are and benefits and drawbacks of use. However, this appendix does not describe how to use the methods. Thus, this appendix should be used as a source of possibilities rather than as a tool for use. He presents outcrops, cores, petrophysical logs, seismic profiles, and GPR as possible data sources and describes facies definition, age determination, and stratigraphic correlation as interpretation tools. The author argues that although each method taken individually likely will not give an overall picture, a combination of methods can yield a complete interpretation of channel depth, width, and pattern. Overall, I find this to be a useful text. The fundamentals of water flow and sediment transport (Chapters 2 and 3) are very literature-review oriented and, thus, are difficult to follow, as they do not provide methods for application. In reviewing the literature, the author points out areas where more research is necessary by indicating flaws in previous research. Subsequent chapters that are explanation-oriented are very clear, although a glossary of terms would be a useful addition. The diagrammatic figures and photos successfully provide clarification and demonstration of textual concepts. I recommend this book as an upperlevel college text or as a resource for professionals in the field of geology. Although much of this book is highly technical, sedimentologically, portions of it are very appropriate for riverine wetland ecologists, as an understanding river and floodplain processes is integral to understanding riverine wetlands. Martha L. Carlson U.S. Geological Survey—Great Lakes Science Center 1451 Green Road Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 48105 E-mail: martha[email protected] WETLANDS IN A DRY LANDSCAPE McKinstry, M. C., W. A. Hubert, and S. H. Anderson (eds.). 2004. Wetland and Riparian Areas in the Intermountain West: Ecology and Management. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, USA. 335 pp., US$39.95 (hardback), ISBN 0-292-70248-5. Wetland and riparian systems in the arid and semiarid intermountain region of the U.S. are a small, but highly utilized and valued, fraction of the landscape. For example, an estimated 80% of wildlife species in Wyoming, Nevada, and Montana are at least partially

REVIEWS dependent on wetland and riparian areas that constitute less than 2% of the surface area. Hydrology is often considered the master variable for wetland ecosystems. Water is also the master variable for this region—in fact, it is difficult to identify management decisions or changes in human activities in the Intermountain West that are not in some sense water-dependent. The compilation of twelve review chapters in this volume provides an overview of these habitats; the factors that influence their location, character, and dynamics; and the challenges involved in their management. The chapters span the diverse institutional perspectives and disciplines involved in understanding and managing these systems. Ryan and Squillace review laws and regulations, and Laubhan describes geographic variation across the four geologic provinces in the region (Columbia Plateau, Basin and Range, Colorado Plateau, and Rocky Mountains). Parallel sets of three chapters are devoted to each of three classes of wetland and riparian systems: riparian or riverine wetlands, natural palustrine wetlands, and created palustrine wetlands. Riparian sections include ecological processes (Hubert), wildlife use (Lohman), and management (Ehrhart and Hansen). Natural palustrine wetlands are covered by Lovvorn and Hart’s analysis of landscape patterns, salinity, and irrigation in the Laramie Basin; Gammonley’s review of wildlife use; and a discussion of management by Niemuth, Bozek, and Payne. Chapters on created palustrine wetlands are focused on components, processes, and design (Olson); wildlife (Rumble, Willis, and Smith); and management (Tessman). A concluding chapter by Adamus presents regionally important classification, assessment, monitoring, and evaluation procedures. The book’s greatest strength is the breadth of coverage. Not only are the systems themselves diverse, but both the management and the scientific literature concerning them are distributed across diverse institutional frameworks and disciplines. The domain of management decisions affecting wet areas in this region extends well beyond the Clean Water Act—in management plans and permitting of activities on Federally owned land; in licensing, funding, and operating water-development projects; as critical habitat for endangered species (e.g., willow flycatcher and Colorado pikeminnow); and under State water law. Whereas a substantial amount of the current research on these systems might be aimed at publication in Wetlands, much of the work is done and published in relatively distinct disciplines of range management, fluvial geomorphology, hydrologic engineering, and wildlife management. Thus, the editors made a real contribution by juxtaposing explanations of such diverse, but relevant, elements as Lane’s sediment balance diagram, the SWANCC Supreme Court decision, the

285 hemi-marsh of waterfowl habitat management, BLM’s Proper Functioning Condition assessment, Keddy’s assembly rules, the Pleistocene condition of the Great Basin, the flood-pulse concept, and salinity dynamics in terminal lakes. The editors describe the volume as providing ‘‘a good starting point for managers and researchers working with wetland and riparian areas in the Intermountain West.’’ This is an accurate summary. The book succeeds as a review of foundations—useful for those working in this region and perhaps as an introduction to wetlands in a different landscape and management context for students, managers, or researchers working in more mesic regions. For me, the book’s weaknesses were a somewhat dry presentation of relatively traditional material. The vast majority of work summarized was from the late 1970s through early 1990s. There are some glimpses of what the next generation of analysis and management tools might look like, most notably the section by Lovvorn and Hart on palustrine wetlands of the Laramie Basin. They synthesize some recent field results on the multiple direct and indirect pathways through which salinity determines the food webs, community structure, and habitat values of these systems and go on to suggest how the relations between hydrology and salinity might be incorporated into larger irrigation design and operation models to consider wetland values as part of basin water management decisions. The outline-like, literature review format properly covers almost everything I could identify that should have been covered. What it misses is a sense of excitement and challenge—in both the scientific, process-based explanation of striking patterns and the importance and urgency of the management decisions being informed by that science. Issues range from the response of riparian zones downstream from dams designed to retain all the annual discharge to the management of complex interactions among floodplain hydrology, beaver, elk, hunting, wolves, and vegetation in montane willow communities. Wetlands in the Intermountain West are delicately poised in a landscape of dramatic spatial and temporal variation—intermittently flooded depressions in lands that can receive 75% of their annual precipitation in 24 hours, floodplains of channels that can move 2–5 m vertically and 100s of meters laterally in decades, and geologically transient terminal lakes with steadily increasing salinity. Many of the management tradeoffs are difficult. How do we recover natural flow variability in streams that were fully appropriated before 1900? What are the costs, benefits, and feasibility of altering composition of riparian forests now dominated by non-native Tamarix and Russian-olive? Do we meet increasing urban water demands by further de-

286 watering streams and aquifers or by implementing water conservation where a substantial fraction of the wetland area is dependent on leaking delivery canals and return flows from inefficient use? What should be done with produced water from thousands of dispersed coal-bed methane wells? The editors provide a solid starting point, but the challenges of the material beyond the level of this volume are both fascinating and immediate. Gregor T. Auble, Ph.D, PWS U.S. Geological Survey—Fort Collins Science Center 2150 Centre Avenue, Bldg. C Fort Collins, Colorado, USA 80526 E-mail: greg[email protected] WETLANDS FOR POLLUTION ABATEMENT Vymazal, J. (ed.). 2005. Natural and Constructed Wetlands: Nutrients, Metals and Management. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands. 417 pp., EUR 128 (hardcover), ISBN 90-5782-153-2. Every couple of years, a workshop is held in the Czech Republic that brings together scientists who conduct research on constructed wetlands. Some of the leading minds in the field attend to share information and discuss problems, solutions, and advances in the use of constructed wetlands for pollution abatement. Natural and Constructed Wetlands: Nutrients, Metals and Management is the most recent text to be published from this series of workshops. Held in the Sumava Mountains in September 2003, the 4th workshop brought together 42 participants from 16 countries and six continents. The book contains 29 peer-reviewed papers, and most of them (15) focus on constructed wetlands. They include papers that present new designs (e.g., hydroponic systems for metals removal, ‘‘tidal’’ fill-drain systems) or treatment of novel wastewater streams (milk serum). Performance of systems designed to treat wastewater streams such as landfill and goldmine leachate also is presented. In addition, the role of vegetation in wastewater treatment performance is evaluated in three papers that discuss nutrient uptake and removal, oxygen transport and oxygenation of the substrate, and seasonal effects of vegetation on treatment performance. Seven chapters concentrate on natural wetlands. These papers include studies of remediation of agri-

WETLANDS, Volume 26, No. 1, 2006 cultural drainage and industrial drainage, management for desirable vegetation, and restoration of natural wetlands and streams. Two papers evaluate the importance of vegetation to wetland water budgets, including one that quantifies evapotranspiration (ET) in zero-effluent constructed wetlands and one that assesses ET for flood-water storage in wet woodlands. Papers at the end of the book concentrate on sustainability of wetlands for ecosystem services associated with food production and aesthetics. Two papers discuss the utility of tropical fingerpond wetlands for fish production. Another paper is about constructing wetlands for green space, biodiversity, and water quality maintenance in the rapidly urbanizing perimeter around Hong Kong. Many papers are data-rich. Chapters evaluating metals removal using hydroponic systems and stormwater wetlands, N removal by wetlands receiving goldmine leachate and nutrient (N & P) removal by riparian forests under low and high nutrient loadings are especially thorough. A few chapters present no data, but overall, the quality of the chapters is good or better. This book contains some excellent papers describing major advances and new applications of constructed and natural wetlands for water quality remediation. One of the strengths of the book is its international representation, especially from Europe. This likely is due to the fact that the workshop was held in the Czech Republic, but also because constructed wetlands are widely accepted and widely used in Europe. Even so, contributors to the book come from a variety of countries, from the tropics to the Arctic Circle, and intellectual backgrounds, from civil engineering to plant physiology to ecosystem science. The book is well-edited, with clear layout, figures, and tables. My only suggestion for improvement is that, in forthcoming publications, which surely will come out future workshops, I would consider organizing the papers into discrete sections with headings. I recommend Natural and Constructed Wetlands: Nutrients, Metals and Management to readers who are interested in following the continuing development of constructed wetland technology for water quality remediation. Christopher B. Craft Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs 1315 East 10th Street Bloomington, Indiana, USA 47401 E-mail: [email protected]