Morphological, hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological changes and challenges in river restoration – the Thur River case study
River restoration can enhance river dynamics, environmental heterogeneity and biodiversity, but the underlying processes governing the dynamic changes need to be understood to ensure that restoration projects meet their goals, and adverse effects are prevented. In particular, we need to comprehend h...
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Series: | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
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doaj-30de4636417c4a70983e01eeb4d039602020-11-24T23:14:30ZengCopernicus PublicationsHydrology and Earth System Sciences1027-56061607-79382014-06-011862449246210.5194/hess-18-2449-2014Morphological, hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological changes and challenges in river restoration – the Thur River case studyM. Schirmer0J. Luster1N. Linde2P. Perona3E. A. D. Mitchell4D. A. Barry5J. Hollender6O. A. Cirpka7P. Schneider8T. Vogt9D. Radny10E. Durisch-Kaiser11Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, SwitzerlandSwiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) 8903 Birmensdorf, SwitzerlandUniversity of Lausanne, Institute of Earth Sciences, Applied and Environmental Geophysics Group, 1015 Lausanne, SwitzerlandEcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Group AHEAD, 1015 Lausanne, SwitzerlandLaboratory of Soil Biology, University of Neuchâtel, 2000 Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandEcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Faculté de l'environnement naturel, architectural et construit (ENAC), Ecological Engineering Laboratory, 1015 Lausanne, SwitzerlandEawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, SwitzerlandUniversity of Tübingen, Center for Applied Geoscience, 72074 Tübingen, GermanyEawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, SwitzerlandEawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, SwitzerlandEawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, SwitzerlandEawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, SwitzerlandRiver restoration can enhance river dynamics, environmental heterogeneity and biodiversity, but the underlying processes governing the dynamic changes need to be understood to ensure that restoration projects meet their goals, and adverse effects are prevented. In particular, we need to comprehend how hydromorphological variability quantitatively relates to ecosystem functioning and services, biodiversity as well as ground- and surface water quality in restored river corridors. This involves (i) physical processes and structural properties, determining erosion and sedimentation, as well as solute and heat transport behavior in surface water and within the subsurface; (ii) biogeochemical processes and characteristics, including the turnover of nutrients and natural water constituents; and (iii) ecological processes and indicators related to biodiversity and ecological functioning. All these aspects are interlinked, requiring an interdisciplinary investigation approach. Here, we present an overview of the recently completed RECORD (<b>RE</b>stored <b>COR</b>ridor <b>D</b>ynamics) project in which we combined physical, chemical, and biological observations with modeling at a restored river corridor of the perialpine Thur River in Switzerland. Our results show that river restoration, beyond inducing morphologic changes that reshape the river bed and banks, triggered complex spatial patterns of bank infiltration, and affected habitat type, biotic communities and biogeochemical processes. We adopted an interdisciplinary approach of monitoring the continuing changes due to restoration measures to address the following questions: How stable is the morphological variability established by restoration? Does morphological variability guarantee an improvement in biodiversity? How does morphological variability affect biogeochemical transformations in the river corridor? What are some potential adverse effects of river restoration? How is river restoration influenced by catchment-scale hydraulics and which feedbacks exist on the large scale? Beyond summarizing the major results of individual studies within the project, we show that these overarching questions could only be addressed in an interdisciplinary framework.http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/18/2449/2014/hess-18-2449-2014.pdf |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
M. Schirmer J. Luster N. Linde P. Perona E. A. D. Mitchell D. A. Barry J. Hollender O. A. Cirpka P. Schneider T. Vogt D. Radny E. Durisch-Kaiser |
spellingShingle |
M. Schirmer J. Luster N. Linde P. Perona E. A. D. Mitchell D. A. Barry J. Hollender O. A. Cirpka P. Schneider T. Vogt D. Radny E. Durisch-Kaiser Morphological, hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological changes and challenges in river restoration – the Thur River case study Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
author_facet |
M. Schirmer J. Luster N. Linde P. Perona E. A. D. Mitchell D. A. Barry J. Hollender O. A. Cirpka P. Schneider T. Vogt D. Radny E. Durisch-Kaiser |
author_sort |
M. Schirmer |
title |
Morphological, hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological changes and challenges in river restoration – the Thur River case study |
title_short |
Morphological, hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological changes and challenges in river restoration – the Thur River case study |
title_full |
Morphological, hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological changes and challenges in river restoration – the Thur River case study |
title_fullStr |
Morphological, hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological changes and challenges in river restoration – the Thur River case study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Morphological, hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological changes and challenges in river restoration – the Thur River case study |
title_sort |
morphological, hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological changes and challenges in river restoration – the thur river case study |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
series |
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
issn |
1027-5606 1607-7938 |
publishDate |
2014-06-01 |
description |
River restoration can enhance river dynamics, environmental heterogeneity
and biodiversity, but the underlying processes governing the dynamic changes
need to be understood to ensure that restoration projects meet their goals,
and adverse effects are prevented. In particular, we need to comprehend how
hydromorphological variability quantitatively relates to ecosystem
functioning and services, biodiversity as well as ground- and surface water
quality in restored river corridors. This involves (i) physical processes
and structural properties, determining erosion and sedimentation, as well as
solute and heat transport behavior in surface water and within the
subsurface; (ii) biogeochemical processes and characteristics, including the
turnover of nutrients and natural water constituents; and (iii) ecological
processes and indicators related to biodiversity and ecological functioning.
All these aspects are interlinked, requiring an interdisciplinary
investigation approach. Here, we present an overview of the recently
completed RECORD (<b>RE</b>stored <b>COR</b>ridor <b>D</b>ynamics)
project in which we combined physical, chemical, and biological
observations with modeling at a restored river corridor of the perialpine
Thur River in Switzerland. Our results show that river restoration, beyond
inducing morphologic changes that reshape the river bed and banks, triggered
complex spatial patterns of bank infiltration, and affected habitat type,
biotic communities and biogeochemical processes. We adopted an
interdisciplinary approach of monitoring the continuing changes due to
restoration measures to address the following questions: How stable is the
morphological variability established by restoration? Does morphological
variability guarantee an improvement in biodiversity? How does morphological
variability affect biogeochemical transformations in the river corridor?
What are some potential adverse effects of river restoration? How is river
restoration influenced by catchment-scale hydraulics and which feedbacks exist on
the large scale? Beyond summarizing the major results of individual
studies within the project, we show that these overarching questions could
only be addressed in an interdisciplinary framework. |
url |
http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/18/2449/2014/hess-18-2449-2014.pdf |
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