Flow variability plays an important role in structuring lotic communities, yet comparatively little is known about processes governing assemblage dynamics in stream ecosystems with stable environmental conditions, such as spring-fed rivers. Volcanic spring-fed rivers (hereafter spring-fed rivers) occur in geologically active landscapes of the western USA and around the globe. We sampled inverte...

When they reach a flat plain, rivers often deposit their sediment load into a cone-shaped structure called alluvial fan. We present a simplified experimental setup that reproduces, in one dimension, basic features of alluvial fans. A mixture of water and glycerol transports and deposits glass beads between two transparent panels separated by a narrow gap. As the beads, which mimic natural sedim...

Saltwater intrusion has become a crucial issue for water resources management across the globe. Consequently, this leads to problems such as encroachment on intake zone, loss of freshwater vegetation and also disturbance aquatic life habitat. Undeniably climate change increases saline flow into river system. The meandering rivers are common, hydraulics is more complex than straight rivers. An e...

Methane (CH4 ) fluxes from world rivers are still poorly constrained, with measurements restricted mainly to temperate climates. Additional river flux measurements, including spatio-temporal studies, are important to refine extrapolations. Here we assess the spatio-temporal variability of CH4 fluxes from the Amazon and its main tributaries, the Negro, Solimões, Madeira, Tapajós, Xingu, and Pará...

The windings of rivers have long fascinated their human observers. For example, Aboriginal legend explains the sinuous pattern of the modern Finke River (Fig. 1) as the creation of the immense and powerful Rainbow Serpent as he emerged during the Dreamtime from deep waterholes. Recently in PNAS (1), a new theory for the general origin of such sinuous flow patterns was published, which follows f...

Gregory Bateson was one of the last and most distinguished products of the school of anthropology that Haddon and Rivers created in Cambridge after the Torres Strait Expedition. Beginning his career shortly after Rivers' death, Bateson used the interwar years to create a theoretical approach that continued and deflected that of Haddon and Rivers. His major ethnography from this period, Naven, e...

1. Comparative research and generalisations in lotic ecology are challenged by the dynamic hydrology of fluvial systems. The aim of this study was to understand more fully how factors such as light, nutrients and flow can predict variation in autochthonous production and algal biomass. 2. We measured seasonal changes in percent bankfull discharge, inorganic nutrient concentrations, turbidity, i...

Atmospheric rivers, or long but narrow regions of enhanced water vapor transport, are an important component the hydrologic cycle as they responsible for much poleward transport and result in precipitation, sometimes extreme intensity. Despite their importance, uncertainty remains detection atmospheric rivers large datasets such reanalyses century scale climate simulations. To understand this u...

Historically, rivers have served as sources of drinking water, fisheries resources, transportation routes, irrigation supplies, and waste removal systems. Human civilization has had many major effects on rivers, dating back more than 5000 years when Egyptians built dams on the Nile to supply water for crops and human consumption. Today, management of large rivers requires a balance between huma...