Disconnected Rivers Linking Rivers to Landscapes [Paperback]

This important and accessible book surveys the history and present condition of river systems across the United States, showing how human activities have impoverished our rivers and impaired the connections between river worlds and other ecosystems.
Ellen Wohl begins by introducing the basic physical, chemical, and biological processes operating in rivers. She then addresses changes in rivers resulting from settlement and expansion, describes the growth of federal involvement in managing rivers, and examines the recent efforts to rehabilitate and conserve river ecosystems. In each chapter she focuses on a specific regional case study and describes what happens to a particular river organisma bird, North Americas largest salamander, the paddlefish, and the American alligatorwhen people interfere with natural processes.

Ellen Wohl, professor of geology at Colorado State University, is also the author ofVirtual Rivers: Lessons from the Mountain Rivers of the Colorado Front Range, published by Yale University Press.

This richly illustrated, thoughtful book summarizes the history and present condition of river systems and their watersheds across the United States. It shows how human activities have impoverished our rivers, what we can do to reverse this trend, and teaches us to view the connections between rivers and their landscapes more holistically.