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Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States

Streambed


Definition. The Class Streambed includes all wetland contained within the Intermittent Subsystem of the Riverine System and all channels of the Estuarine System or of the Tidal Subsystem of the Riverine System that are completely dewatered at low tide. Water regimes are restricted to irregularly exposed, regularly flooded, irregularly flooded, seasonally flooded, temporarily flooded, and intermittently flooded.

Description. Streambeds vary greatly in substrate and form depending on the gradient of the channel, the velocity of the water, and the sediment load. The substrate material frequently changes abruptly between riffles and pools, and complex patterns of bars may form on the convex side of single channels or be included as islands within the bed of braided streams (Crickmay 1974). In mountainous areas the entire channel may be cut through bedrock. In most cases streambeds are not vegetated because of the scouring effect of moving water, but, like Unconsolidated Shores, they may be colonized by "pioneering" annuals or perennials during periods of low flow or they may have perennial emergents and shrubs that are too scattered to qualify the area for classification as Emergent Wetland or Scrub-Shrub Wetland.

Subclasses and Dominance Types.

Dominance Types for Streambeds in the Estuarine System were taken primarily from Smith (1964), Abbott (1968), and Ricketts and Calvin (1968) and those for streambeds in the Riverine System from Krecker and Lancaster (1933), Stehr and Branson (1938), van der Schalie (1948), Kenk (1949), Cummins et al. (1964), Clarke (1973), and Ward (1975).
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