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Historical change of large alluvial rivers: Western Europe
Ecological Modelling, 53
(1991) 157 165 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
157
Book Reviews L A R GE ALLUVIAL RIVERS IN WESTERN EUROPE
Historical Change of Large Alluvial Rivers: Western Europe. G.E. Petts, H. M~511er and A.L. Roux (Editors). Wiley, Chichester, Great Britain, 1989. vIH + 355 pp., £45.00. ISBN 0-471-92163-7. The importance of knowledge about the past for understanding the present and for predicting the future has given rise to palaeohydrological and palaeolimnological research with time-scales of 10000 years and even more. Efforts must be made in order to link those investigations to observations in the 10-to-50-year time-scale by considering changes over the period of intensification of human influence extending back for at least 200 years. Especially, the potential long-term effects of river management demand a thorough analysis of the sensitivity of river systems and of their responses to human activities and environmental changes. The present book focuses on the large rivers of Western Europe, none of which is large compared to rivers of Eastern Europe or other continents. But from interdisciplinary and international scientific cooperation within the framework of the .'European Large Alluvial Rivers Network', formed in 1986, from which the book originates, first results have been derived improving the data base concerning river systems and their historical changes as well as generalizing, at least preliminarily, statements about environmentally sound management strategies and tools for large rivers. These results may also be useful for process studies and practical applications in other river systems. In the development of river reaches, geomorphological, hydrodynamical, ecological and economical effects are closely interconnected because of industrialisation, urban expansion, reduction of forest-covered area, growing water withdrawal and water pollution, river canalization, production of hydroelectric power, destruction of habitats, overexploitation of fish-breeding stocks, immigration of foreign species, and, last but not least, because of the variability of interrelations between the permanent but more or less slowly changing river channel, and the seasonally or occasionally inundated and semi-aquatic regions along its margins. Important exchanges also occur between the river and the alluvial aquifer. In 18 chapters written by 32 authors and co-authors, methods and results are examined which are suited for analysing climatically induced and human-made changes in alluvial rivers over the time-scale of about 200 0304-3800/91/$03.50
© 1991 - Elsevier SciencePublishers B.V.
15 8
COASTAL-OFFSHORE ECOSYSTEM INTERACTIONS
years. Cartographical data and remote-sensing analysis are incorporated. All those methods are explained and tested by applications to rivers of different hydrogeomorphic regions of Western Europe. Discussing effects of early river training works during the 18th and 19th Centuries in Switzerland, D. Vischer stresses the fact that adapted river engineering activities are required by local inhabitants. Hydrological and hydroclimatical changes are objects of chapters by J . - L. Probst in the continental scale, and by H. Vivian for the Rh~)ne drainage basin, one of the largest catchments in Europe. The next group of chapters is mainly concerned with methodological aspects: cartographic sources of relevant information from Britain, France and Italy (J.M. Hook and C.E. Redmond, J.-P. Bravard and J. Bethemont, G. Braga and S. Gervasoni), geochemical analysis and floodplain stratigraphy used for deriving pollution histories (M.C. Rang and C.J. Schouten), combination of palaeoecological indicators such as fossil invertebrates and plant remains (pollen, diatom frustules, algal pigments, etc.) with granulometry and chemistry of sediments (C. Amoros and G. van Urk). Methods of interpretation exemplified for the Lower Rhine by G. van Urk, H. Smit and A. Klink lead to the investigation in fish stocks and fisheries in Lower Elbe, Douro and Ebro (H. MiSller, J. Lobon-Cervia et al.). Finally, there are four case studies demonstrating the high variability of river systems: Garonne (by H. D6camps et al.), Belgian Meuse (by J.C. Micha and M.C. Borlee), Weser (by D. Busch et al.) and Rh6ne (by A.L. Roux et al.). In summary, even in Western Europe there is not a single model of river development, but a further need for better scientific knowledge of process dynamics and physical-chemical-biological interactions in rivers. Thresholds must be determined at which considerable changes of the system or of system components are to be expected. Besides plenty of interesting facts which suggest that rivers can recover from external stresses, the integration of hydrodynamics, geomorphology, cartography and ecology, though by far not completed, makes the book an outstanding one. It may encourage and advance studies of rivers worldwide. Historical analyses may contribute to improving policy and methods for preserving or restoring rivers. Printing and binding of the book are excellent. PETER M A U E R S B E R G E R
Institute for Geography and Geoecology Miiggelseedamm 260, 0-1162 Berlin, Germany
(1991) 157 165 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
157
Book Reviews L A R GE ALLUVIAL RIVERS IN WESTERN EUROPE
Historical Change of Large Alluvial Rivers: Western Europe. G.E. Petts, H. M~511er and A.L. Roux (Editors). Wiley, Chichester, Great Britain, 1989. vIH + 355 pp., £45.00. ISBN 0-471-92163-7. The importance of knowledge about the past for understanding the present and for predicting the future has given rise to palaeohydrological and palaeolimnological research with time-scales of 10000 years and even more. Efforts must be made in order to link those investigations to observations in the 10-to-50-year time-scale by considering changes over the period of intensification of human influence extending back for at least 200 years. Especially, the potential long-term effects of river management demand a thorough analysis of the sensitivity of river systems and of their responses to human activities and environmental changes. The present book focuses on the large rivers of Western Europe, none of which is large compared to rivers of Eastern Europe or other continents. But from interdisciplinary and international scientific cooperation within the framework of the .'European Large Alluvial Rivers Network', formed in 1986, from which the book originates, first results have been derived improving the data base concerning river systems and their historical changes as well as generalizing, at least preliminarily, statements about environmentally sound management strategies and tools for large rivers. These results may also be useful for process studies and practical applications in other river systems. In the development of river reaches, geomorphological, hydrodynamical, ecological and economical effects are closely interconnected because of industrialisation, urban expansion, reduction of forest-covered area, growing water withdrawal and water pollution, river canalization, production of hydroelectric power, destruction of habitats, overexploitation of fish-breeding stocks, immigration of foreign species, and, last but not least, because of the variability of interrelations between the permanent but more or less slowly changing river channel, and the seasonally or occasionally inundated and semi-aquatic regions along its margins. Important exchanges also occur between the river and the alluvial aquifer. In 18 chapters written by 32 authors and co-authors, methods and results are examined which are suited for analysing climatically induced and human-made changes in alluvial rivers over the time-scale of about 200 0304-3800/91/$03.50
© 1991 - Elsevier SciencePublishers B.V.
15 8
COASTAL-OFFSHORE ECOSYSTEM INTERACTIONS
years. Cartographical data and remote-sensing analysis are incorporated. All those methods are explained and tested by applications to rivers of different hydrogeomorphic regions of Western Europe. Discussing effects of early river training works during the 18th and 19th Centuries in Switzerland, D. Vischer stresses the fact that adapted river engineering activities are required by local inhabitants. Hydrological and hydroclimatical changes are objects of chapters by J . - L. Probst in the continental scale, and by H. Vivian for the Rh~)ne drainage basin, one of the largest catchments in Europe. The next group of chapters is mainly concerned with methodological aspects: cartographic sources of relevant information from Britain, France and Italy (J.M. Hook and C.E. Redmond, J.-P. Bravard and J. Bethemont, G. Braga and S. Gervasoni), geochemical analysis and floodplain stratigraphy used for deriving pollution histories (M.C. Rang and C.J. Schouten), combination of palaeoecological indicators such as fossil invertebrates and plant remains (pollen, diatom frustules, algal pigments, etc.) with granulometry and chemistry of sediments (C. Amoros and G. van Urk). Methods of interpretation exemplified for the Lower Rhine by G. van Urk, H. Smit and A. Klink lead to the investigation in fish stocks and fisheries in Lower Elbe, Douro and Ebro (H. MiSller, J. Lobon-Cervia et al.). Finally, there are four case studies demonstrating the high variability of river systems: Garonne (by H. D6camps et al.), Belgian Meuse (by J.C. Micha and M.C. Borlee), Weser (by D. Busch et al.) and Rh6ne (by A.L. Roux et al.). In summary, even in Western Europe there is not a single model of river development, but a further need for better scientific knowledge of process dynamics and physical-chemical-biological interactions in rivers. Thresholds must be determined at which considerable changes of the system or of system components are to be expected. Besides plenty of interesting facts which suggest that rivers can recover from external stresses, the integration of hydrodynamics, geomorphology, cartography and ecology, though by far not completed, makes the book an outstanding one. It may encourage and advance studies of rivers worldwide. Historical analyses may contribute to improving policy and methods for preserving or restoring rivers. Printing and binding of the book are excellent. PETER M A U E R S B E R G E R
Institute for Geography and Geoecology Miiggelseedamm 260, 0-1162 Berlin, Germany