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HERO ID
8031861
Reference Type
Journal Article
Title
Biomic river restoration: A new focus for river management
Author(s)
Johnson, M; Thorne, DR; Castro, EM; Kondolf, GM; Mazzacano, LS; Rood, MartaG; Westbrook, C
Year
2020
Is Peer Reviewed?
1
Journal
River Research and Applications
ISSN:
1535-1459
EISSN:
1535-1467
Volume
36
Issue
1
Page Numbers
3-12
DOI
10.1002/rra.3529
Web of Science Id
WOS:000483811000001
Abstract
River management based solely on physical science has proven to be unsustainable and unsuccessful, evidenced by the fact that the problems this approach intended to solve (e.g., flood hazards, water scarcity, and channel instability) have not been solved and long-term deterioration in river environments has reduced the capacity of rivers to continue meeting the needs of society. In response, there has been a paradigm shift in management over the past few decades, towards river restoration. But the ecological, morphological, and societal benefits of river restoration have, on the whole, been disappointing. We believe that this stems from the fact that restoration overrelies on the same physical analyses and approaches, with flowing water still regarded as the universally predominant driver of channel form and structural intervention seen as essential to influencing fluvial processes. We argue that if river restoration is to reverse long-standing declines in river functions, it is necessary to recognize the influence of biology on river forms and processes and re-envisage what it means to restore a river. This entails shifting the focus of river restoration from designing and constructing stable channels that mimic natural forms to reconnecting streams within balanced and healthy biomes, and so levering the power of biology to influence river processes. We define this new approach as biomic river restoration.
Keywords
anthrome; biogeomorphology; biome; ecosystem engineering; river management; river restoration; working with natural processes
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