The goal of this project is to better to determine whether deltas and backwaters represent significant areas of riparian and wetland habitat on a landscape scale, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Further, we hypothesize that early successional woody riparian species, which are declining along many regulated river reaches below dams, will be comparatively abundant where reservoirs experience large fluctuations in pool elevations. Understanding the drivers of delta-backwater vegetation can facilitate a predictive understanding of these habitats in response to, for example, changes in water management or in hydrology upstream from reservoirs.
