Landforms

On the wiki, we differentiate between sites and places, and propose a specific definition of ecosystem sites based on current regional planning models:

• PSNERP uses shoreline, delta, and inlet process units to provide us with deltas, beaches and embayments, and offers a basis for identifying headlands. You can view these places on the Nearshore Portal
• The watershed characterization project differentiates between headwaters and lowland watersheds within our big river systems, and defines watershed management units (commonly called sub-basins in salmon recovery planning).
• The Floodplains by design project is taking a look at floodplains at a regional scale. Data layers defining floodplain units have not been released yet.

Our approach suggests seven different types of ecosystem site, each shaped by distinct processes, and potentially providing a distict suite of ecosystem services:

Headwaters

Headwaters are the steep foothill and mountain valleys, where precipitation falls as snow, and forestry is the primary land use.

Lowland Watersheds

Lowland watersheds contain the streams that drain the glacial plateau, with the landform created by glaciers and where precipitation falls as rain. The lowlands are urbanizing rapidly.

Floodplains

Floodplains form where the larger rivers and streams create and rework flat areas filled with their own alluvium. These are both the home of agriculture, the core of chinook salmon habitat, and where risk of flooding is highest.

Deltas

Deltas form where large river floodplains enter marine waters. Tidal flows create fluctuating water levels. Many areas are drained for agriculture, and deltas provide unique habitats at the intersection of land, river and sea.

Embayments

Embayments are those places along the shoreline where waves are muted by aspect or spits, collecting muddy sediments and marsh, often at the mouths of streams.

Beaches

Beaches form where sediment from eroding shorelines are pushed alongshore by waves, creating benches, spits and lagoons. Beaches are valued as residential property since time immemmorial, but are vulnerable to storms and are rich in wildlife.

Headlands

Rocky headlands emerge where bedrock is shallow along shoreines, along Juan de Fuca, San Juan Islands, and along the Seattle Fault. These dry stable shorelines contain pockets of beach.

This system of ecosystem sites is different from the myriad ways that people define place. We use place pages to define all other places.

Places

Humans define place using both natural and imaginary boundaries, as well as the extent of their settlements and development. Our places often contain a mixture of ecosystem sites, and define the focus of our management and governance.

a unit from the nearshore project or watershed characterization watersheds that defines a ecologically cohesive site for management

gravel, sand and finer materials moved and sorted by rivers and streams

particles of clay, silt, sand, gravel, or cobble, transported by water, are called sediment.