Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
16
Stre
ams and Their Va
lleys
Judy L. Meyer
River Basin Center, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens
A Canadian limnologist, H.B.N. Hynes, delivered a lecture entitled “The Stream and Its
Valley” (
Hynes 1975
) at the first scientific meeting I attended as a graduate student. Using
research from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (
Fisher and Likens 1973
) and
elsewhere, Hynes argued in this classic paper that the organisms and ecological processes
in a stream reflect the conditions in its catchment: “We may conclude then that in every
way the valley rules the stream” (
Hynes 1975
). I was just beginning my doctoral research
on phosphorus dynamics in one of the tributaries of Hubbard Brook (
Meyer and Likens
1979
), so the talk was relevant to my work, and I listened intently. What I did not realize
at the time was that the concepts in that lecture would guide stream ecosystem and my
own research for the next three decades. If the concepts had been used to guide manage-
ment of our water resources, they would be in a better condition today.
within the last few years, there has emerged a growing band of workers who are endeavouring to look at
watercourses in a holistic way, rather than as conglomerations of processes, phenomena and taxa.
...
(
Hynes 1975
)
I came to the field of stream ecology from oceanography. The change was inspired not
only by my aversion to seasickness, but also because studying streams didn't require large
research vessels. My work in oceanography had been on nutrient-limited growth of phyto-
plankton (e.g.,
Caperon and Meyer 1972
), and oceanography students are required to take
classes covering physical, chemical, and biological processes in oceans, so thinking about
nutrient dynamics in a stream ecosystem from a more holistic perspective seemed natural.
That perspective made me somewhat different from many stream ecologists, who chose
to study streams because they enjoy fishing and are fascinated by the organisms found
in flowing waters.
Much of the research in freshwater science at that time was concerned with cultural
eutrophication, the excess enrichment of water bodies by anthropogenic inputs (e.g., from
