1173 | Rivers in the Anthropocene: human pressures, fluvial landscape changes, and need for restoration in a climate-change contest | Andrea Mandarino (1)
Rivers are widespread over most of the Earth’s surface. They shape the landscape and connect the uplands to the sea, people, and cultures. Rivers have immense ecological, cultural, socio-economic and political significance; moreover, they store freshwater and constitute a reserve of biodiversity. The geomorphological features of rivers and, in general, fluvial landscapes depend on several drivers that condition fluvial morphogenetic processes. Furthermore, fluvial landforms and deposits may represent evidence of ancient landscapes and no-longer existing morphoclimatic environments.
Human activity has extensively modified rivers over the last centuries, although the spatial pattern of modification varies across the world. Now just one-third of the world’s longest rivers remain free-flowing and only 23% still flow uninterrupted to the ocean. The rest are altered by infrastructure or water withdrawals that degrade riverine environment, endanger aquatic wildlife, and undermine many of the invaluable services that rivers provide. Moreover, global warming is threatening river health and riparian communities.
Today there is a general recognition of the environmental damage derived from the use and control of rivers. In this light, need for sustainable and effective management of rivers aiming to restore freshwater ecosystems is now widely recognized, although it remains a utopia in many cases. Moreover, the widespread social disconnection between people and rivers along with the common citizens’ negative perception of rivers, generally associated with flood events, require an effort to be wiped out.
In this framework, this session aims to gather a broad range of contributions that focus on historical, recent, and future evolution of riverine landscapes from the environmental, geomorphological, and social point of view at various spatio-temporal scales. Submissions from early career researchers and students are encouraged.
Contributions on one or more of the following issues (but not restricted to) are particularly welcome:
– Historical and recent changes of fluvial landscape
– Historical and recent geomorphological evolution of rivers and river corridors, along with possible future trends; influences of natural and anthropogenic driving factors
– In-channel sediment dynamics; sediment (dis)continuity; sediment management
– Floods; flood-induced geomorphic effects; geo-hydrological hazard and risk assessment
– Catchment and riverbed management; river policy; river corridor definition and management
– Preservation and restoration of rivers
– Urban rivers; city-river relations; agriculture-river relations
– Social connectivity; human interactions with rivers
– Rivers and global warming
– Methodological advances and future challenges in geographical research on rivers Session type: oral presentations (and posters if possible/necessary)Language: english
Andrea Mandarino (1)
(1) Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences – University of Genova
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