QUANTITATIVE RELATIONS OF PHYSICAL HABITAT FEATURES TO CHANNEL SLOPE AND DISCHARGE IN UNALTERED MOUNTAIN STREAMS

Two habitat gradients--channel slope and stream size--are important de terminants of physical habitat features among streams in the central R ocky Mountains. Among 48 stream reaches in 15 streams in southeastern Wyoming, 35 habitat features were assessed for their relation to chann el slope and stream size. Simple-regression analysis identified 21 hab itat features significantly related to channel slope and 12 related to stream size. Multiple-regression analysis demonstrated that both chan nel slope and stream size significantly accounted for variation in 15 habitat features. Among the 35 habitat variables, 32 were significantl y related to channel slope or stream size.