Flood pulse concept

Ganges River Delta
The Ganges River Delta, the largest intertidal delta in the world, is an example of river system exhibiting lentic and lotic characteristics that can be described by the flood pulse concept. As seen in this photograph, the tributaries and distributaries of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers deposit huge amounts of silt and clay that create a shifting maze of waterways and islands in the Bay of Bengal.

The flood pulse concept explains how the periodic inundation and drought (flood pulse) control the lateral exchange of water, nutrients and organisms between the main river channel (or lake) and the connected floodplain.[1] The annual flood pulse is the most important aspect and the most biologically productive feature of a river's ecosystem.[2][3] describing the movement, distribution and quality of water in river ecosystems and the dynamic interaction in the transition zone between water and land (aquatic/terrestrial transition zones - ATTZ). It contrasts with previous ecological theories which considered floods to be catastrophic events.

  1. ^ https://www.nrem.iastate.edu/class/assets/aecl518/Discussion%20Readings/Junk_et_al._1989.pdf Archived 2015-08-24 at the Wayback Machine (Junk et al., 1989)
  2. ^ Thorp, J. H., & Delong, M. D. (1994). The Riverine Productivity Model: An Heuristic View of Carbon Sources and Organic Processing in Large River Ecosystems. Oikos, 305-308
  3. ^ Benke, A. C., Chaubey, I., Ward, G. M., & Dunn, E. L. (2000). Flood Pulse Dynamics of an Unregulated River Floodplain in the Southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain. Ecology, 2730-2741.