Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
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Junk, W. J. (1999). The flood pulse concept of large rivers: learning from the tropics. Large Rivers. 11:261-280.
River-floodplain systems are specific ecosystems with very complex land-water interactions and a highly adapted flora and fauna. In temperate zones, they have been intensively modified by man for many decades, and only small areas are left in a relatively undisturbed condition. Furthermore, the impact of the flood pulse is often camoflagued by the annual temperature/light pulse. In the humid tropics there are still large undisturbed river-floodplain systems, where the impact of the flood pulse can be studied without the interference of the temperature/light pulse. The flood pulse concept is presented and its implications for temperate river-floodplain systems are discussed.