A hierarchical framework for stream habitat classification: viewing streams in a watershed context

The framework for stream classification presented here entailed an organized view of spatial and temporal variation among and within stream systems. The habitat systems, defined and classified on several spatiotemporal scales, were associated with catchment geomorphic features and events. Variables selected for classification defined relative long-term capacities of systems, and not simply short-term states. Streams and their catchments were classified within the context of a regional biogeoclimatic landscape classification. The approach was related to recent trends in that it emphasized the role of physical processes in ordering biological systems and the role of spatiotemporal scales in understanding these phenomena.