The water's edge habitat (hydrosere) of lotic environments is the extension of the streambed habitat onto the shore and is also referred to as the water's edge component of riparian zones, characterized by hydrophytic vegetation. The edge habitat in rivers and streams is most obvious where deposition or streambed gradient allows for zonation to occur.

In slow-moving streams, the lotic hydrosere contains a diversity of plant communities, many located in the shallow channels and back-waters of the floodplain margins. In fast-moving streams, primary production is low because conditions such as coarse, mobile substrate restrict plant growth. The quality of these ecosystems is directly affected by an increase in water temperature caused by the removal of shade trees from the stream banks.

This Document Includes:

Formation
Physical Aspects
Ecosystem
Successional Sequence

Plants
Animals

Special Features
Distribution

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Additional Keywords:
rushes, sedges, Water mosses, Chara, blackfly, dragonfly, mayfly,, stonefly, caddisfly, waterbugs, water beetles, leeches, oligochaete worms, molluscs, freshwater mussels, sponges, ectoprocts, Mink Frogs, Wood Turtles, mergansers, Black Duck, Spotted Sandpiper, Belted Kingfisher, Water Shrew, Star-nosed Mole, Muskrat, otter, mink, beaver, Lake Chub, White Sucker, Threespine Stickleback

Associated Topics:

T8.1 Freshwater Hydrology
T8.2 Freshwater Environments
T9.1 Soil-forming Factors
T10.5 Seed-bearing Plants
T10.7 Pteridophytes (Ferns and Their Allies)
T10.8 Bryophytes Mosses, Liverworts and Hornworts
T10.9 Algae
T11.5 Freshwater Wetland Birds and Waterfowl
T11.11 Small Mammals
T11.13 Freshwater Fishes
T11.15 Amphibians and Reptiles
T11.16 Land and Freshwater Invertebrates

Associated Habitats:

H3.1 Open-water Lotic (Rivers and Streams)
H3.3 Bottom Lotic (Rivers and Streams)
H3.6 Water's Edge Lentic (Lakes and Ponds)
H4.1 Bog
H4.2 Fen
H4.3 Swamp
H6.1 Hardwood Forest