Lateral instability exerts considerable influence on the sedimentology, planform, and hydraulic characteristics of gravel-bed rivers. Because Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) tolerate a narrow range of depths, velocities and substrate sizes, the quality and quantity of habitat available to salmon should vary with level of river instability. In the Riviere Nouvelle, a Gaspe river destabilized by deforestation and past channelization projects, the effect of lateral instability on habitat was variable. Fines content in riffle substrates did not show a significant relationship to local bank erosion rates, even where the rate was as high as 10 myr$ sp{-1}$ and the proportion of fines entering the channel was much higher than that found in riffles substrates (an excess of fines in potential spawning riffles reduces spawning success among salmonids). For juveniles, availability of hydraulically suitable habitat was largest where lateral instability resulted in aggradation of the river bed and development of a braided pattern. Hydraulic habitat availability was lowest where erosion patterns led to high planform curvature levels and to scouring of bed materials. In general, because of the relatively high power of the Riviere Nouvelle, structures or processes leading to diminishment of depths or velocities (e.g. aggradation) resulted in an increase in the amount of juvenile habitat available.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.23930 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Payne, Brigid |
| Contributors | Lapointe, Michel (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Geography.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001499554, proquestno: MM12256, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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