Preface

Summary

The study of landscape ecology has developed rapidly in the past two decades, though the limited area of riverscape has not received great attention as such. This book attempts to link river and riverscape in an integrated whole. It has more ecology (natural, cultural and historical) and less mathematics and modelling than is currently usual: reflecting my interests, and my preference for observation and synthesis.

I have worked for over 35 years on rivers, mostly on their vegetation, waters, channels and other contents. More recently I realised the interest of the wider ecosystem, of the river and the riverscape being inextricably joined, both by the water they share, and by the human impact (some interesting, most destructive) inflicted upon them. Changes have been made to allow people to survive, and indeed to live pleasantly. Great changes have also been made from ignorance or greed to remove and contaminate both water and natural heritage. The Riverscape and the River tries to reflect the interest and diversity of that natural heritage, and what has been done to it down the ages.

The book is primarily about Europe (with a little on North America).