Problems, Limitations and Modifications
Although the River Continuum Concept is a broadly accepted theory, it is limited in its applicability. It describes a perfect and even model without taking into account changing riverine disturbances and irregularities. Disturbances such as congestion by dams or natural events such as shore flooding are not included in the model.
Various researchers have since expanded the River Continuum Concept to account for such irregularities. For example, J.V. Ward and J.A. Stanford came up with the Serial Discontinuity Concept in 1983, which addresses the impact of geomorphologic disorders such as congestion and integrated inflows. The same authors presented the Hyporheic Corridor concept in 1993, in which the vertical (in depth) and lateral (from shore to shore) structural complexity of the river were connected. The flood pulse concept, developed by W.J. Junk in 1989, further modified by P.B. Bayley in 1990 and K. Tockner in 2000, takes into account the large amount of nutrients and organic material that makes its way into a river from the sediment of surrounding flooded land.
Read more about this topic: River Continuum Concept
Famous quotes containing the word limitations:
“That all may be so, but when I begin to exercise that power I am not conscious of the power, but only of the limitations imposed on me.”
—William Howard Taft (18571930)