Aquatic Ecomap Team to Develop the Framework, Process Comments, and Develop a Plan Forrevision.These Scientistsare
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_i__¸_._. V_!_i Depa_"tment of e_a IC_ .-,4_:..._.A_..:,_,,_gricu 1t u_'e ServiceFo os Framewerku of Aquatim c North Centrai EC@J@g_CaJ U_itS _ N@_th Forest Experiment s [] Station A_er_ca {Nearct_c Z@_e_ General Technical Report NC-17'6 James R. Maxwell, Clayton J. Edwards, Mark E. Jensen, Steven J. Paustian, Harry Parrott, and Donley M. Hitl 8 • _ ...... "'::'":' i:. "S" " : ":','1 _ . / REG I0 NS':_; '"::;:s_:::."_--. .---..:-:!.!:::!:.::_:. ..... •. :.,.:,: .,. -,::.:, .......,.-,.-4S:ifi -.- i::ti/;:.:_: """.::""-:.: .... "':::.:.';.i" . :':" "':":": -. -._ . •....:...{: • . ...:" ZON • .- "." . .. • " . "'...:.:. • .....:....:....:_..-:..:):. -.-. ..... ,:.':::'.':: . .., .... '"_::.--..:.:i i ''_{:;ti}{i_:/.... sub " ,Lri_;gi, • Riverine GroundWater II II _ II I III II I II ],.r ', _ _r',_-- ACFA_OV_rLEDGI_NTS The authors wish to thank the many scientistswho commented on the draftsof thispaper during itspreparation. Their comments dramatically improved the qualiW of the product. These scientistsare listedin Appen- dix F. Specialthanks are offeredto 10 of these scientists,who met with the Aquatic Ecomap team to develop the framework, process comments, and develop a plan forrevision.These scientistsare: Patrick Bourgeron, The Nature Conservancy, Boulder, CO (geoclimatic) James Deacon, Universityof Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (zoogeography) Iris Goodman, Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, NV (ground water) Gordon Grant, Forest Service, Corvallis, OR [riverine) Richard Lillie, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Winona, WI (lacustrine) W.L. Minckley, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (zoogeography) Kerry Overton, Forest Service, Boise, [D (riverine) Nick Schmal, Forest Service, Laramie, WY (riverine, lacustrine) Steven Walsh, Fish and Wildlife Service, Gainesville, FL (zoogeography) Mike Wireman, Environmental Protection Agency, Denver, CO (ground water) We wish to especially acknowledge the contributions of Mike Wireman and Iris Goodman of the Environmental Protection Agency. These two hydrogeologists played a major role in rewriting the ground-water section, which would not have been completed without their excellent and con- structive work. We also wish to recognize W.L. Minckley and Mel Warren for their significant contributions to the aquatic zoogeography section. We wish to thank Vicky Leonard and Leslie Horsch of the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming. They wrote most of the watershed delinea- tion guidelines in Appendix A. They performed exhaustive literature reviews and map trials and consulted with geomorphologists and other agencies in the process. Tim Clark of the Rocky Mountain Region pro- duced the zoogeography maps. Finally, we wish to thank the hydrologists and fisheries biologists in the Forest Service Regions and Research Stations who commented on the second draft. Their thoughtful comments amid heavy work demands are deeply appreciated. In addition, Cindy Deacon-Williams of the Forest Service's Washington Office, Karl Stein of the Pacific NOrthwest Region, and Lynn Decker of the Pacific Southwest Region deserve special recogni- tion for their contribution as early team members. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 Framework Summary ............................................................................................... 2 Ecological Classification Principles .. .......................................................................... 4 Driving Variables ...................................................................................................... 5 GEOCLIMATIC SETTINGS ............................................................................................ 7 Geoclimatic Settings and Watersheds ........................................................................ 7 Geoclimatic Settings and Aquatic Systems ............................................................... 10 ZOOGEOGRAPHIC SETTINGS ..................................................................................... 10 Subzones .................................................................................................................. 11 Regions .................................................................................................................... 12 Subregions ................................................................................................................ 12 River Basins ............................................................................................................. 15 Aquatic Zoogeography Within River Basins ............................................................... 15 Watershed Characterization ..................................................................................... 16 THE RIVERINE SYSTEM ............................................................................................ 18 Valley Segments ....................................................................................................... 18 Stream Reaches ....................................................................................................... 19 Channel Units .......................................................................................................... 22 THE LACUSTRINE SYSTEM .23 Lake Types ............................................................................................................... 25 Lake Zones .............................................................................................................. 28 iLake Sites ................................................................................................................ 29 THE GROUND-WATER SYSTEM ................................................................................ 29 Ground-Water Regions ............................................................................................. 29 Hydrogeologic Settings ............................................................................................. 31 Aquifers ................................................................................................................... 32 Aquifer Zones ........................................................................................................... 33 Aquifer Sites Springs and Sinks ............................................................................... 33 HYDROGEOMORPHIC CRITERIA FOR CLASSIFYING WETLANDS ........................... 34 Fundamental Hydrogeomorphic Criteria ................................................................... 35 Modifiers ................................................................................................................... 39 USES OF AQUATIC ECOLOGICAL UNITS .................................................................. 39 Biodiversity Conservation ......................................................................................... 40 Watershed Analysis ......... ......................................................................................... 40 Management Prescriptions ....................................................................................... 41 Inventory and Monitoring ......................................................................................... 41 A Final Observation .................................................................................................. 41 APPENDIX A: WATERSHED AND STREAM NETWORK DELINEATION ............. :....... 42 APPENDIX B: LARGE _ IN NORTH AMERICA .................................................. 51 APPENDIX C: GROUND-WATER HYDROGEOLOGIC SETTINGS ................................ 54 APPENDIX D: GLOSSARY ........................................................ .................................. 56 APPENDIX E: LITERATURE CITED ............................................................................ 61 APPENDIX F: SCIENTISTS WHO REVIEWED PRIOR DRAFTS .................................. 71 l_Bmlework Simuna._y historic status of an ecological unit with similar, reference ecological units, qlae natural variabil- Ecosystem management requires an under- i W in ecosystem form and function among sites standing of Interactions between biotic and is thus accounted for, so observed differences in ablolie components of ecosystems at malt/pie resource status may be better correlated to the spatio-temporal scales (USDA 1993), "l_u_e treatments imposed. types of map information combine to describe these Interactions and to analyz_e ecosystems: This report presents a hierzu'chical framework analysis areas, ecological units, and resouree for classifying and mapping aquatic ecological status, units based on biophysical factors that (1) display low temporal variability at a given map /tn**lysls areas define the ecosystems of inter- scale, and {2} strongly affect the types ofecosys- est (ecoregions, watersheds, forest stands, etc.) tom patterns and processes that occur in for a given purpose. They may be delineated at aquatic systems. It expands on tile work of various scales to meet multilevel plarming and Cowardin etal. (1992) and addresses the three project needs, arid commonly include socioeco- major aquatic systems that occur widely on nomic, biological, and physical criteria (USDA National Forest System (NFS) lands: the river- 1993), Ecoregion nlaps (Bailey 1983, Omernik ine system of streams and rivers; the lacustrine 1987] are an example of coarse-scale ecosystem system of lakes and open-water wetlands; and analysis areas that have