How does my river work?
Knowing how a river works is essential for achieving success in river restoration. It should be the first step in any restoration process, and the basis for any future river basin management plan. Important aspects are hydromorphology (river characterization), the role of vegetation, and ecosystem services.
Hydromorphology
Systematic hydromorphological characterization of a river helps in understanding how rivers respond to pressures and measures at different scales in time and space. REFORM developed a multi-scale hierarchical framework for this. We give an overview of the method and show example case studies in which the framework is applied.
Role of vegetation
In addition to the ecosystem structure, the "Ecosystem functioning" is important. REFORM focuses on the influence that hydromorphology has on plant and animal habitat. This section focuses especially on the reciprocal relation of hydromorphology and water plants. Understanding this relation is a major factor in the success or failure of restoration projects.
Ecosystem services
The ecosystem structure of your river can make it suitable for many human uses. We call these used ecosystem services as they are provided by the ecosystem. This section describes REFORM's results to valuate the services in a river system so you can assess effects of river restoration on the services provided.
