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This open access book surveys the frontier of scientific river research and provides examples to guide management towards a sustainable future of riverine ecosystems. Principal structures and functions of the biogeosphere of rivers are explained; key threats are identified, and effective solutions for restoration and mitigation are provided. Rivers are among the most threatened ecosystems of the world. They increasingly suffer from pollution, water abstraction, river channelisation and damming. Fundamental knowledge of ecosystem structure and function is necessary to understand how human acitivities interfere with natural processes and which interventions are feasible to rectify this. Modern...
This definitive environmental history of medieval fish and fisheries provides a comprehensive examination of European engagement with aquatic systems between c. 500 and 1500 CE. Using textual, zooarchaeological, and natural records, Richard C. Hoffmann's unique study spans marine and freshwater fisheries across western Christendom, discusses effects of human-nature relations and presents a deeper understanding of evolving European aquatic ecosystems. Changing climates, landscapes, and fishing pressures affected local stocks enough to shift values of fish, fishing rights, and dietary expectations. Readers learn what the abbess Waldetrudis in seventh-century Hainault, King Ramiro II (d.1157) of Aragon, and thirteenth-century physician Aldebrandin of Siena shared with English antiquarian William Worcester (d. 1482), and the young Martin Luther growing up in Germany soon thereafter. Sturgeon and herring, carp, cod, and tuna played distinctive roles. Hoffmann highlights how encounters between medieval Europeans and fish had consequences for society and the environment - then and now.
The assessment of the ecological integrity of running waters is a prerequisite to an understanding of the effects of human alterations. The evaluation of degradation processes provides key information on how to avoid further negative impacts. The success of future conservation, mitigation and restoration activities will rely on sound assessment methodologies and their ecological relevance and applicability. Assessment methodologies are therefore an integral part of sustainable river management. This book synthesizes and discusses state-of-the-art experiences in assessment methodologies. Including the latest knowledge on structures, processes and functions of running waters as a fundamental basis for developing adequate assessment methods, the book focuses on method development, application, and in particular on integrated assessment methods. This book is directed at scientists and managers with the aim of more effective preservation, restoration and maintenance of the ecological integrity of running water ecosystems.
Based on the interdisciplinary approaches between earth science, engineering, physical geography, ecology and management, this text focuses on the theoretical questions, case-studies, challenges, and constraints taken from river restoration. It is illustrated with reports of new ground-breaking research covering spatial and temporal scales of physical processes in river catchments, coupling catchment and fluvial processes, grain dynamics and fluvial forms and on geo-ecology and restoration in mountain gravel-bed river environments. Each chapter includes discussions and comments providing experience and feedback from the fundamental research. This book covers scales of analysis for gravel-bed rivers, physics and modeling of processes at local and point scales, sediment delivery and storage, eco-geography and eco-hydraulics, and channel management and restoration.* Major topics in the field are presented by recognized scientific leaders* Chapters cover theories, practices, and methodologies in river management and restoration* Interdisciplinary approach includes case-studies on new, ground-breaking research
The Karkheh River Basin is the third largest basin in Iran after Karoon and Dez, and occupies a strategic position on the western boundary of the country. The basin has seen remarkable ancient feats of engineering, and has a long history of wheat and barley production, complemented by horticulture. With the growth of the modern nation-state of Iran, water development has progressed steadily in tandem with rising populations and urbanization. The report aims to understand the historical setting and present situation of water development and allocation, in relation to rural development and agrarian policy. It provides the contextual backdrop for further research on the management of water to improve livelihoods in the basin through integrated and sustainable management of land and water resources. It provides further information on the changes in surface flows out of the component subbasins and looks at the development, use and consequences of groundwater abstraction.
National studies have demonstrated their inability to correctly understand global phenomena, and the way in which they affect societies. This chronologically ambitious book investigates methodological and theoretical issues from Roman times to the present, in terms of globalization. In this context, one of the most relevant parameters of change emerges: the itinerancy of culture and knowledge. Therefore, this volume argues that itinerant agents carry with them cultural baggage, transporting and transmitting it to other spaces. In this way, interconnection begins, producing active changes in global history and visual culture. Contributions to this book focus on comparative studies, the evolution of global phenomena, historical processes in their diachrony, regional studies, changing economies, cultural continuities, and methodological questions on globalization, among others. In addition, the book opens with a contribution from Professor Peter Burke.
Consisting of 12 chapters, the book presents the rise and development of environmentalism, environmental history as a discipline, and the history of environmental movements in the Central and South Eastern European region from an international point of view. The chapters—written by scholars from Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, Greece and Turkey—cover a wide range of topics including the creation of protected areas, increasing environmental consciousness, the evolution of humanity’s relationship toward the environment, and perceptions of environmentalism by different disciplines. This international approach highlights the region’s complex development from...
Ecotones are interface zones between different ecosystems. Their ecological role and significance with regard to ecological management and conservation has become increasingly appreciated. For the management of freshwater resources, for example, an improved understanding of the role of land/inland water interfaces, will be essential for reducing negative human impacts by engineering, nutrient loading, siltation, etc. The management of ecotones, on the other hand, offers the possibility to control aquatic system processes via stock control of fish populations. Fish apparently are both excellent indicators of ecotone quality as well as determiners of its structure and function.
Der heutige Zustand der Donau, ihrer Landschaften und ihrer Fischfauna ist das Resultat vieler menschlicher Eingriffe. Diese passierten teils erst in den letzten Jahrzehnten, manche reichen aber auch Jahrhunderte zurück. Mit dem neuen Buch „Österreichs Donau. Landschaft – Fisch – Geschichte“ gehen die Autoren/in der spannenden Frage nach, wie sich das Ökosystem der Donau und ihrer Auen im Laufe der Zeit verändert hat und wie es in der Zukunft weitergehen kann. Dabei werden nicht nur die vielfältigen Eingriffe in Form von Regulierungen, Kraftwerkserrichtungen und deren Auswirkungen auf die Fischfauna beschrieben, sondern auch die geologische und fischökologische Entwicklung im gesamten Einzugsgebiet der Donau. Bisher umgesetzte Revitalisierungsmaßnahmen und Vorschläge für eine umfassende ökologische Verbesserung der Flusslandschaft mit den Menschen als Teil des Donaulebensraumes zeigen das zukünftige Potenzial dieses großen europäischen Stromes. Umfangreiche Illustrationen mit alten Stichen, historischen Karten und aktuellen Fotos bereichern das Buch.