Program Folder

The conference brochure including the program and all relevant information can be downloaded here:
ISRS2019_program_small_aft conf.pdf

 

Book of Abstracts

The book of abstracts can be downloaded here:
Book of Abstracts_ISRS2019.pdf

 

Keynote talks

  • Courtney Flint

    Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology, Utah State University

    A Social Ecology of Rivers: Comparing Human-River Relationships in the U.S. Intermountain West

    Abstract: What is the social ecology of rivers? Recent decades have seen a proliferation of terms that refer to an integration of ecological or hydrological, technological, and social dimensions. Tracing the goals and disciplinary origins of these terms and approaches creates a complex mosaic of approaches. Out of this mosaic, this presentation will explore a broadly conceived social ecology approach guided by four core principles – multidimensionality, diverse methodologies, systems of influence, and transdisciplinarity. Using these principles as a framework, this presentation will examine rivers in the Intermountain West of the United States at both regional and local scales. The data stories that unfold highlight variations in human-river relationships and river-related action contexts. Opportunities and challenges for transdisciplinary research and practice will also be discussed.
    Videolink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FqeAMebc0M&t=420s
     

  • Klement Tockner

    Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology & Inland Fisheries (IGB) & Austrian Science Fund (FWF)

    An engineered water future?

    Abstract: We most likely are just at the beginning of the “great acceleration” of the Anthropocene and therefore underestimate the immense environmental alterations we will face in the near future, in particular in the water sector. For example, humans re-engineer the global hydrological network through the construction of large dams, water transfer megaprojects, and other engineering projects. However, many engineering projects–in particular so-called megaprojects–are high-risk projects because they require major financial investments, demand long time frames from planning to completion, and have major socio-economic and ecological ramifications. Hence, we need internationally agreed criteria to assess the ecological, social and economic impacts of megaprojects; and freshwaters need to be managed as hybrid systems, i.e. as a resource for human use as well as extremely valuable ecosystems
    Videolink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu4aCTfBjn8&t=10s
     

  • Hervé Piégay

    National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)

    Is Geomorphology really an issue in river restoration?

    Abstract: Since the end of the 1980s, River restoration becomes progressively a critical issue in river management. Improving river status was (and is still) a social expectation, translated in legal texts  and water policies. The Water Framework Directive in Europe is a good example of such evolution. We are progressively moving from a period where we fought rivers to improve our well-being to a period where we try to live with nature to avoid collapsing, promoting integrated strategies to sustain or be resilient to changes. River restoration is therefore an emerging domain for which we had almost no real experiences and feedbacks, and monitoring effort is then a critical step to learn from our errors and improve our actions. Restoration, at least in its early stages, was mainly based on ecological knowledge. Why then should we consider geomorphology in river restoration?  The aim of this talk is therefore to explore and discuss this issue.
    Successful restoration is often demonstrated by monitoring ecological indicators…. But the sustainability of restoration is also a condition of success, on which geomorphology can say something. Some examples from the Rhône restoration implemented in the mid 1990’s and still monitored will serve to illustrate the purpose.  Some rivers are not static but responsive, sensitive and can react to restoration so that after a few years the (re)created ecological habitats are not always the ones we expected. Once again geomorphology can provide knowledge to assess restoration actions that can be appropriate, determine if it is meaningful to play with forms (habitats) or processes, to promote active or passive restoration. Geomorphology is then useful for diagnosing rivers, understanding how they are changing and also why evaluating their current behavior and determining if we can mimic past functioning or imagine a new one based on these new conditions. A large numbers of rivers are “novel ecocomplexes” that cannot recover their past conditions. Restoration is still very opportunist, we restore reaches for which local stakeholders are motivated to act, without evaluating all the problems existing at a regional or national scale to target priorities, and without taking into account river responsiveness. These different points will be illustrated by a series of examples from Belgium, France and Italy.
    Videolink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a_DwxC_aOg
     

  • Núria Bonada

    Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences at the University of Barcelona

    Challenges and opportunities for research and management in Mediterranean-climate rivers 

    Abstract: Mediterranean climate conditions are found in five large regions of the world. Rivers in these regions (med-rivers) are unique ecosystems because of their predictable winter flooding and summer drought regimes. These characteristics are key drivers of aquatic and riparian organisms, and the ecosystem functions and services they provide. Med-rivers are hotspots of biodiversity, supporting species adapted to both floods and droughts or using them for part of their life histories. At the same time, flow seasonality drives fluxes of nutrients and organic matter and, consequently, food web dynamics. Med-rivers have been affected for centuries, in some cases millennia, by multiple human activities that increasingly threaten these ecosystems worldwide. These threats include changes in land use, nutrient loads, heavy metal concentrations, salinity, water withdrawals, invasive species and, more recently, xenobiotics or emerging organic pollutants. In addition, future climate change scenarios predict increases in drought conditions and in the occurrence of extreme events, such as floods, heat waves, and wildfires. The diversity of aquatic organisms is declining more rapidly in med-rivers than in rivers anywhere else in the world and, for some taxonomic groups, Mediterranean regions have more introduced than native species. River management in med-rivers requires innovative approaches to account for both natural and human disturbances. Most research conducted in med-rivers has focused on the effects of flow seasonality and human pressures on biodiversity and ecosystem processes; however, there is a still large gap in linking basic and applied research knowledge and in engaging the general public into conservation and management practices. Little ecological and biological information is also available in several Mediterranean regions, and consequently these regions are being slow on implementing sustainable river management policies and species conservation programs.
    Videolink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_Ml-VcTdoY