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Preface
People have deliberately manipulated rivers for centuries in an attempt to enhance
specific river functions, including navigation and water supplies, and to limit hazards such as flooding and bank erosion associated with rivers. A narrowly focused
conceptualization of rivers as primarily channels that convey water downstream is
one result of this history of river management. Although river channels do convey
water, they also transport and store solutes, sediment, and organic matter; create
aquatic habitat; interact with the adjacent floodplain and underlying hyporheic
zone; and support abundant and diverse biotic communities. River management
focused only on water conveyance and hazard mitigation has led to a plethora of
problems and to loss of river ecosystem services, prompting scientists, managers,
and the public to seek more holistic conceptualizations of rivers as ecosystems.
This book summarizes the state of river science with regard to river ecosystems
and argues that management centered on a more holistic perspective of rivers will
more effectively sustain river ecosystems and water resources. The book is designed
to be accessible to students of river science and to river managers, as well as to scientists from diverse disciplines related to the study of rivers. Following the introductory chapter, succeeding chapters summarize river science, the ways in which
human activities directly and indirectly alter river ecosystems, and new management approaches for rivers.
In writing this book, I have benefited from decades of stimulating discussions
with research colleagues, graduate students, and natural resources managers in the
United States and other countries. I feel fortunate to be able to study rivers and to
work with people who are passionate about rivers. I would like to thank Sherestha
Saini for the invitation to contribute to the SpringerBrief series, which led to the
idea of writing about river ecosystems and river management, and Professor
Jacqueline King, Dr. Katherine Skalak, and an anonymous reviewer for detailed and
insightful comments that improved this book.
Fort Collins, CO
Ellen Wohl
Preface
People have deliberately manipulated rivers for centuries in an attempt to enhance
specific river functions, including navigation and water supplies, and to limit hazards such as flooding and bank erosion associated with rivers. A narrowly focused
conceptualization of rivers as primarily channels that convey water downstream is
one result of this history of river management. Although river channels do convey
water, they also transport and store solutes, sediment, and organic matter; create
aquatic habitat; interact with the adjacent floodplain and underlying hyporheic
zone; and support abundant and diverse biotic communities. River management
focused only on water conveyance and hazard mitigation has led to a plethora of
problems and to loss of river ecosystem services, prompting scientists, managers,
and the public to seek more holistic conceptualizations of rivers as ecosystems.
This book summarizes the state of river science with regard to river ecosystems
and argues that management centered on a more holistic perspective of rivers will
more effectively sustain river ecosystems and water resources. The book is designed
to be accessible to students of river science and to river managers, as well as to scientists from diverse disciplines related to the study of rivers. Following the introductory chapter, succeeding chapters summarize river science, the ways in which
human activities directly and indirectly alter river ecosystems, and new management approaches for rivers.
In writing this book, I have benefited from decades of stimulating discussions
with research colleagues, graduate students, and natural resources managers in the
United States and other countries. I feel fortunate to be able to study rivers and to
work with people who are passionate about rivers. I would like to thank Sherestha
Saini for the invitation to contribute to the SpringerBrief series, which led to the
idea of writing about river ecosystems and river management, and Professor
Jacqueline King, Dr. Katherine Skalak, and an anonymous reviewer for detailed and
insightful comments that improved this book.
Fort Collins, CO
Ellen Wohl