Biome

River

Freshwater and Wetland Biomes

The river biome, known to ecologists as a lotic freshwater system, covers flowing fresh water from small headwater streams down to wide lowland channels, unified by the continuous one-directional movement of water that shapes everything living in it. Current speed, water temperature, dissolved oxygen and channel structure change markedly from a river's cold, fast, rocky headwaters to its warmer, slower, sediment-laden lower reaches, so a single river can host very different communities along its length, from cold-water trout in the mountains to catfish and freshwater mussels in the lowlands. Rivers are the biome's own kind of freshwater life, distinct from the still-water lake biome, and they link terrestrial, wetland and, ultimately, marine biomes together as they carry water, sediment and nutrients from mountain to sea.

Facts

Climate

Typical Low Temperature (C)

4 1

Source describes a lake vertical summer temperature range; used as a representative freshwater temperature band for the river biome generally, since river water temperature varies enormously by latitude, season and elevation.

Typical High Temperature (C)

22 1

Same source and passage as temperature-low-c; the top-of-water summer figure is used as the high end of this biome representative range.

Disputed

Annual Precipitation (mm)

1143 2

1143mm is the midpoint of the cited source stated 10 to 80 inch (254mm to 2032mm) freshwater range. Rivers exist on every continent and in every climate, so no single figure is fully meaningful; this matches the identical reasoning and source already used on the Freshwater biome entity.

Connections