Dr Kani,

What kind of riverine habitats are you studying, and at which spatio-temporal scale? 

I could definitely point to great textbooks regarding hydrology, river geomorphology and so on.

This strongly depends on the aim of your study. If you want to check, whether certain rivers/river stretches are potentially good habitats for certain animals you´ll have to use a different approach than for checking, whether rivers/river streches are in a more or less pristine condition. 

What is your main goal?

kind regards

Irene

I am going to study the perennial flow of an river; it is in India and especially in Tamilnadu, i wish to know how to assess the riverine habitat from the foothills to convergence with the bay of bengal

Dr, Kani,

This sounds like a really big task. There are several protocols to monitor the eco-morphological status of rivers, but the ones I know require, that you look at the river in the field.

Perhaps it is best to start with a Google-Earth survey on your river system.

Important features to look at could be:

- are there impondments in the course of the river?

- has the river been regulated? If so, how long is the regulated stretch?

- how close /large are cities / villages along the river?

kind regards

Irene

IN addition to the above answers, you can also do a literature survey on the aquatic ecology of the river (ie what kind of fish, amphibian, reptile and aq invertebrate communities live there), the land cover in the river basin (forest/grassland/agriculture/barren land/human habitation), and the topography of the river. usually in hill reaches or headwater catchments, one would have swiftly rushing streams with (pool , riffle, backwater and riparian habitats), followed by meandering rivers and wetlands in the lowlands. Plant and animal communities would differ greatly between different river reaches and sections. The presence of agriculture (sedimentation/agrochemicals), human habitations (urban = pollution) could all be expected stressors on the river ecosystem.