Need for Ecosystem Management of Large Rivers and Their Floodplains

Abstract

Most of the 79 large river floodplain ecosystems in the world have been altered by human activities and the rest are likely to be altered soon. Ecosystem management works to guide rather than thwart, natural processes. This article describes briefly the history of floodplain and flood plain management and then focuses on the importance of large river-floodplain ecosystems and some of the consequences of altering the natural river processes, functions, and connectivity. The species-focused management system typically employed by natural resource agencies is contrasted to the ecosystem approach to river-flood plain management. Ecological management is defined as working with the natural driving forces and variability of the ecosystems with the goal of maintaining or recovering biological integrity. Flood-pulses are also a focus because they drive the system and the great floods on several continents in the last years. 88 refs., 10 figs.