Introduction to European Rivers

Abstract

Rivers recognize no political boundaries. This is particularly true for Europe, which has over 150 transboundary rivers (Whitton 1984). For example, the Danube is the 29th longest river globally, and it drains parts of 19 countries and 10 ecoregions. Further, 8 of the 10 largest catchments in Europe (Figures 1.1 and 1.2, Table 1.1) are in the eastern plains of Russia and the Ukraine and information on their present status is highly limited. Europe also has a long history in river training with most rivers being severely fragmented, channelized, and polluted (Petts et al. 1989; Kristensen & Hansen 1994; Tockner & Stanford 2002; UNEP 2004; Nilsson et al. 2005). Recently, the European Union launched an ambitious program called the Water Framework Directive (WFD) that requires a catchment management plan for all major European rivers for achieving 'good ecological status' by 2015.In this introductory chapter, we provide a comprehensive overview of all major European catchments included in the book (Figure 1.2), starting with the biogeographic setting, with an emphasis on physiography, hydrology, ecology/biodiversity, and human impacts.