Please note that this session was withdrawn and is no longer available in the respective programme. This withdrawal might have been the result of a merge with another session.

ITS2.5/GM5.2
Large Rivers in the Anthropocene: How do we address their sustainability crisis?
Co-organized by
Convener: Stephen Darby | Co-conveners: Jim Best, Frances DunnECSECS

The world’s big rivers and their floodplains were central to development of civilization and are now home to 3 billion people. These river systems harbour some of the planet’s most diverse ecosystems, and are hot spots of resources, agriculture, trade and energy production. While it is clear that large rivers and their floodplains are precious resources, a number of anthropogenic stressors, including large-scale damming, hydrological change, pollution, introduction of non-native species and sediment mining, are posing a sustainability crisis. The scale of the challenge is so great that large-scale, and potentially irreparable, transformations may ensue in periods of years to decades, with ecosystem collapse being possible in some systems. Prioritizing the fate of the world’s great river corridors is imperative. This session will provide a platform for cross-disciplinary science to identify and address this challenge. We invite presentations on topics that identify the causes and drivers of changes to the hydrology, geomorphology and ecology of large river systems, as well as studies that present options for future sustainable management that recognise the particular characteristics and challenges of large rivers. We therefore encourage submissions from across the globe, and especially studies that integrate social and geophysical sciences.