Relationships among Stream Order, Fish Populations, and Aquatic Geomorphology in an Idaho River Drainage

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Abstract
As stream order (1–5) increased, width and depth and percent of channel containing rubble increased. With increasing order, channel gradient, channel elevation, and percent of channel composed of gravel decreased. As stream order increased, the number of fish species, summer water space (depth times surface area) for fish, and the total numbers of fish increased. With increasing order, the numbers of chinook salmon, rainbow trout, and sculpin increased, but the numbers of cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden decreased. The analysis demonstrated the value of headwater streams to Dolly Varden and to cutthroat and rainbow trout and resulted in management's emphasizing protection of such waters. Stream order can be used to determine approximate stream size by providing estimate of width and depth.
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