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F ll oodplains of l a r ge rivers are among the most produ ctive of eco s ys tem s ; they are also among the f i rst to be altered by econ omic devel opm ent and population growth.Floodplains are vulnerable not only to direct agents of change, such as agriculture and settlement, but also to changes in the hydrology or quality of water in the rivers to wh i ch they are con n ected . Thu s , even floodplains not yet cleared or diked may show drastic ecological change caused by shifts in flooding regime, sediment transport, or nutrient budgets as a result of human activities upstream.
Lewis et al. (Sat,) studied this question.