Intermittent rivers, those channels that periodically cease to flow, constitute over half of the total discharge of the global river network and will likely increase in their extent owing to climatic shifts and/or water resources development. Burgeoning research on intermittent river ecology has documented the importance of the meteorologic, geologic and land-cover components of these ecosystems on structuring ecological communities, but mechanisms controlling flow permanence remain poorly understood. Here, we provide a framework of the meteorologic, geologic and land-cover controls on intermittent streamflow across different spatio-temporal scales and identify key research priorities to improve our understanding of intermittent systems so that we are better able to conserve, manage and protect them.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

To understand the dynamics of fire in red pine ( Pinus resinosa Ait.) forest ecosystems that once dominated areas of the northern Lake States, we dendrochronologically reconstructed the fire regime prior to European settlement (pre-1860), after European settlement (1860–1935), and postrefuge establishment (post-1935) for different portions (wilderness and nonwilderness) and landforms (sand ridges and outwash channels) of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) in eastern Upper Michigan. Using data from 50 sites, we found that the cumulative number of fires showed a slow rate of accumulation from the 1700s to 1859, a steeper pattern suggesting higher fire occurrence from 1860 to 1935, and a return to fewer fires after 1935. Prior to European settlement, the fire cycle (FC) of sand ridge landforms interspersed within a poorly drained lacustrine plain in the Seney Wilderness Area was 91–144 years. This was longer than on glacial outwash channel landforms (53 years) and on sand ridge landforms interspersed within lacustrine plains located outside of the wilderness (47 years). The FC was also shorter (30 years) during this period and has subsequently increased (149–1090 years) after SNWR establishment. Differences in fire regimes among landform types were minor relative to the temporal variation in fire regimes among the three time periods.