Ecology of a Glacial Flood Plain

The book comprehensively evaluates the characteristics and floodplain evolution of Val Roseg on an annual basis for several years. Channel typology, groundwater-surface water hydrology, thermal and chemical regimes are examined. Biotic dynamics of vegetation, aquatic flora, fungi, and surface and interstitial fauna are evaluated in detail. Analyses are presented of the spatial and seasonal dynamics of the functional processes of organic matter, litter decomposition, nutrient limitations, and drift and colonization. Emerging from these analyses is an important synthesis of these dynamic and rapidly changing river ecosystems.