The Urban Stream Syndrome – a Mini-Review

摘要

This paper reviews various impacts of urbanization on rivers and streams, which lead to symptoms summarizedby the general term “urban stream syndrome”. Growing areas of impervious surfaces cause deterioration of water recipientsflowing through urban areas. The symptoms of deterioration usually include altered chemical parameters of water andsediment, accumulation of priority pollutants in aquatic biota, changes in biological composition of the aquatic biota(lower biodiversity, changing abundance) and altered runoff regime of recipients (artificial floods versus extremely lowflows). The paper concludes that restoration is the only way to achieve good ecological status (health) of the waterways.The restoration has to focus on measures to decrease the effective imperviousness and increase the retention and later localuse of the water. The paper also highlights that effective management of urban streams includes social, economic, andpolitical dimensions and requires a broader view beyond the traditional stream ecology.