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Riverine ecology (Freshwater Biogeographic Provinces)Riverine wetlands are those systems that are contained within a channel (e.g. river, creek or waterway) and their associated streamside vegetation[1]. They can be natural or artificial and may connect to lacustrine, palustrine, estuarine and marine wetlands[3]. Water levels in riverine wetlands can be highly variable. The wetlands may contain water permanently or periodically or they may remain dry for long periods. Due to the variability in riverine wetland habitats the species they support can also be highly variable. To find out more about riverine systems in Queensland choose a wetland type conceptual model below. ![]() Some basic characteristics of riverine or lotic (flowing, moving) systems include:
The riverine ecosystems in Queensland have been divided into Freshwater Biogeographic Provinces (FBPs) using broad patterns in the natural distribution of faunal communities. Conceptual models currently exist for: Broad geographic areas such as Queensland can cover a diverse and complex array of ecosystem types which can make understanding aquatic ecosystem processes difficult. This heterogeneity is related to geographic distance and the presence of different landscape attributes. Regionalisation is a process used to divide a large area into smaller areas with similar (less variable) ecosystem types. This reduction in variability is beneficial to condition assessments because it increases the efficiency of the monitoring effort applied within a sampling program. Additional information
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Last updated: 22 March 2013 This page should be cited as: Department of Environment and Science, Queensland (2013) Riverine ecology (Freshwater Biogeographic Provinces), WetlandInfo website, accessed 13 April 2023. Available at: https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/ecology/aquatic-ecosystems-natural/riverine/ |