Upland and lowland are portions of plain that are conditionally categorized by their elevation above the sea level. Lowlands are usually no higher than 200 m (660 ft), while uplands are somewhere around 200 m (660 ft) to 500 m (1,600 ft). On unusual occasions, certain lowlands such as the Caspian Depression lie below sea level.
Upland habitats are cold, clear and rocky whose rivers are fast-flowing in mountainous areas; lowland habitats are warm with slow-flowing rivers found in relatively flat lowland areas, with water that is frequently colored by sediment and organic matter.
These classifications overlap with the geological definitions of "upland" and "lowland". In geology an "upland" is generally considered to be land that is at a higher elevation than the alluvial plain or stream terrace, which are considered to be "lowlands". The term "bottomland" refers to low-lying alluvial land near a river.
Much freshwater fish and invertebrate communities around the world show a pattern of specialization into upland or lowland river habitats. Classifying rivers and streams as upland or lowland is important in freshwater ecology, as the two types of river habitat are very different, and usually support very different populations of fish and invertebrate species.
Uplandsedit
In freshwater ecology, upland rivers and streams are the fast-flowing rivers and streams that drain elevated or mountainous country, often onto broad alluvial plains (where they become lowland rivers). However, elevation is not the sole determinant of whether a river is upland or lowland. Arguably the most important determinants are those of stream power and stream gradient. Rivers with a course that drops rapidly in elevation will have faster water flow and higher stream power or "force of water". This in turn produces the other characteristics of an upland river—an incised course, a river bed dominated by bedrock and coarse sediments, a riffle and pool structure and cooler water temperatures. Rivers with a course that drops in elevation very slowly will have slower water flow and lower force. This in turn produces the other characteristics of a lowland river—a meandering course lacking rapids, a river bed dominated by fine sediments and higher water temperatures. Lowland rivers tend to carry more suspended sediment and organic matter as well, but some lowland rivers have periods of high water clarity in seasonal low-flow periods.
The generally clear, cool, fast-flowing waters and bedrock and coarse sediment beds of upland rivers encourage fish species with limited temperature tolerances, high oxygen needs, strong swimming ability and specialised reproductive strategies to prevent eggs or larvae being swept away. These characteristics also encourage invertebrate species with limited temperature tolerances, high oxygen needs and ecologies revolving around coarse sediments and interstices or "gaps" between those coarse sediments.
The term "upland" is also used in wetland ecology, where "upland" plants indicate an area that is not a wetland.[1]
The generally more turbid, warm, slow-flowing waters and fine sediment beds of lowland rivers encourage fish species with broad temperature tolerances and greater tolerances to low oxygen levels, and life history and breeding strategies adapted to these and other traits of lowland rivers. These characteristics also encourage invertebrate species with broad temperature tolerances and greater tolerances to low oxygen levels and ecologies revolving around fine sediments or alternative habitats such as submerged woody debris ("snags") or submergent macrophytes ("water weed").[2]
Lowland alluvial plainsedit
American Bottom—flood plain of the Mississippi River in Southern Illinois
^Lichvar, Robert W.; Melvin, Norman C.; Butterwick, Mary L.; Kirchner, William N. (July 2012). National Wetland Plant List Indicator Definitions(PDF). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (PDF) from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
^Staniszewski, Ryszard; Jusik, Szymon; Kupiec, Jerzy (January 1, 2012). "Variability of Taxonomic Structure of Macrophytes According to Major Morphological Modifications of Lowland and Upland Rivers With Different Water Trophy". Nauka Przyroda Technologie. 6.
February 15, 2024
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For the province of Uppland in Sweden see Uppland Lowlands redirects here For the Low Countries also known as the Low Lands see Low Countries For other uses see Lowland disambiguation and Upland This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Upland and lowland news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s general notability guideline Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Upland and lowland news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers habitats are classified as upland or lowland Cascadilla Creek near Ithaca New York in the United States an example of an upland river habitat Contents 1 Definitions 2 Uplands 3 Lowlands 4 Lowland alluvial plains 5 See also 6 ReferencesDefinitions editUpland and lowland are portions of plain that are conditionally categorized by their elevation above the sea level Lowlands are usually no higher than 200 m 660 ft while uplands are somewhere around 200 m 660 ft to 500 m 1 600 ft On unusual occasions certain lowlands such as the Caspian Depression lie below sea level Upland habitats are cold clear and rocky whose rivers are fast flowing in mountainous areas lowland habitats are warm with slow flowing rivers found in relatively flat lowland areas with water that is frequently colored by sediment and organic matter These classifications overlap with the geological definitions of upland and lowland In geology an upland is generally considered to be land that is at a higher elevation than the alluvial plain or stream terrace which are considered to be lowlands The term bottomland refers to low lying alluvial land near a river Much freshwater fish and invertebrate communities around the world show a pattern of specialization into upland or lowland river habitats Classifying rivers and streams as upland or lowland is important in freshwater ecology as the two types of river habitat are very different and usually support very different populations of fish and invertebrate species Uplands editIn freshwater ecology upland rivers and streams are the fast flowing rivers and streams that drain elevated or mountainous country often onto broad alluvial plains where they become lowland rivers However elevation is not the sole determinant of whether a river is upland or lowland Arguably the most important determinants are those of stream power and stream gradient Rivers with a course that drops rapidly in elevation will have faster water flow and higher stream power or force of water This in turn produces the other characteristics of an upland river an incised course a river bed dominated by bedrock and coarse sediments a riffle and pool structure and cooler water temperatures Rivers with a course that drops in elevation very slowly will have slower water flow and lower force This in turn produces the other characteristics of a lowland river a meandering course lacking rapids a river bed dominated by fine sediments and higher water temperatures Lowland rivers tend to carry more suspended sediment and organic matter as well but some lowland rivers have periods of high water clarity in seasonal low flow periods The generally clear cool fast flowing waters and bedrock and coarse sediment beds of upland rivers encourage fish species with limited temperature tolerances high oxygen needs strong swimming ability and specialised reproductive strategies to prevent eggs or larvae being swept away These characteristics also encourage invertebrate species with limited temperature tolerances high oxygen needs and ecologies revolving around coarse sediments and interstices or gaps between those coarse sediments The term upland is also used in wetland ecology where upland plants indicate an area that is not a wetland 1 Lowlands edit nbsp Amazon River near Manaus Brazil an example of a lowland river habitatThe generally more turbid warm slow flowing waters and fine sediment beds of lowland rivers encourage fish species with broad temperature tolerances and greater tolerances to low oxygen levels and life history and breeding strategies adapted to these and other traits of lowland rivers These characteristics also encourage invertebrate species with broad temperature tolerances and greater tolerances to low oxygen levels and ecologies revolving around fine sediments or alternative habitats such as submerged woody debris snags or submergent macrophytes water weed 2 Lowland alluvial plains editAmerican Bottom flood plain of the Mississippi River in Southern Illinois Bois Brule Bottom Bottomland hardwood forest deciduous hardwood forest found in broad lowland floodplains of the United StatesSee also editFreshwater biology Highland Mountain river River reclamation Riparian zoneReferences edit Lichvar Robert W Melvin Norman C Butterwick Mary L Kirchner William N July 2012 National Wetland Plant List Indicator Definitions PDF U S Army Corps of Engineers Archived PDF from the original on October 12 2022 Retrieved October 11 2022 Staniszewski Ryszard Jusik Szymon Kupiec Jerzy January 1 2012 Variability of Taxonomic Structure of Macrophytes According to Major Morphological Modifications of Lowland and Upland Rivers With Different Water Trophy Nauka Przyroda Technologie 6 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Upland and lowland amp oldid 1182135473 Lowland, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
