Restoring fluvial landscapes - effects on protected areas
Thomas Hein, WasserCluster Lunz, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna (AT)
River regulation works altered key ecosystem properties. An analysis of various restoration measures along the Upper Danube River to mitigate some of these alterations shows the effects of controlled, open and partial reconnection on habitat availability, nutrient retention and aquatic primary production in different side-arm and floodplain systems. Aspects to be presented are to what extent pre-regulation conditions can be achieved, what critical constraints have been identified and what are the long-term perspectives of these measures to achieve an overall improvement of ecological conditions.