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This review presents a summary of the influences of floods on river ecology, both instream and on the adjacent floodplain, mostly in a Canadian context. It emphasizes that ecological impacts and benefits can be highly dependent on flood-generation processes and their magnitude and timing. In Canada, floods can occur under open-water or ice-influenced river conditions. The ecological impacts of floods generated from ice jamming are particularly relevant in Canadian ecosystems due to the potentially higher water levels produced and suspended sediment concentrations that can be detrimental to instream aquatic habitat, but beneficial to floodplains. Large floods provide a major source of physical disturbance. Moderate floods with shorter return periods can be beneficial to aquatic habitats by providing woody debris that contributes to habitat complexity and diversity, by flushing fine sediments and by providing important food sources from terrestrial origins. Floods also influence water-quality variables such...

DOI: 10.1080/07011784.2015.1070694 MAG ID: 1505480772