InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Water Science and Society > Student Materials > River flow changes over time > Temporary vs. Perennial Streams > Ecological Processes
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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These student materials complement the Water Science and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.
Initial Publication Date: March 31, 2017

Ecological Processes

Ecological Definition

A stream channel supports populations of aquatic organisms such as fish and insects. In contrast, upland systems do not provide even temporary habitat for aquatic organisms. Even when stream channels go dry on the surface, fish and other organisms can survive in isolated pools of water or in isolated areas of flow such as springs and perched aquifers.

Many organisms can survive in the bed of a stream channel even if the surface is dry, due to hyporheic flow, which is water that flows in the sediments of a stream channel beneath the surface.

Even if aquatic organisms do not persist in stream channels year-round, temporary flooding can provide productive systems and isolation from predators, favorable for reproduction and development of young organisms, which can then migrate to perennial rivers as the stream dries.

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »