SPECIAL ISSUE: RIVERINE HYDROECOLOGY: ADVANCES IN RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS. SELECTED PAPERS FROM THE TENTH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON REGULATED STREAMS, STIRLING, AUGUST 2006

摘要

Initiated by James Ward and Jack Stanford at the 1979 Erie Symposium, the International Symposium on Regulated Rivers (ISORS) became a major triennial conference for scientists undertaking fundamental research addressing interdisciplinary and management challenges within rivers and streams worldwide. The papers within this special issue were selected from more than 100 presented at the 10th symposium in the series held in Stirling, Scotland in August 2006. The parallel 2nd International Symposium on Wood in World Rivers (WWII), held at the same conference has published a range of papers in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (volume 32(8), July 2007). Here we publish a selection of papers presented at the Stirling ISORS, the mix of which reflects the aims and scope of River Research and Applications that is, basic and applied research on biological, ecological, geomorphological, hydrological, engineering and geographical aspects on rivers in both the developed and developing world. We inhabit a rapidly changing world. Reflecting this, the objective of the Stirling Symposium was to explore the status of the subject of river hydroecology in relation to water-related management issues facing society in the 21 st century. Contributions to the Symposium were themed, but covered a wide range of topics: hydropower, assessing ecological integrity, fish passage and river flow regulation, hyporheic and benthic habitats, fish habitat restoration, environmental flows, salmonids and physical habitat, effects of flooding regime and climate change, river ecology, dryland rivers, fish and instream habitat, river processes and morphology, benthic ecology, riparian zones and benthic ecology and integrating physical and biological models on large rivers. There was also for the first time an innovative 'rapid fire' session for postgraduates, ensuring all newly emerging researchers the opportunity to present the key elements of their work to a large international audience. This was considered especially important by the Scientific Organising Committee of the Symposium, because almost 30 years after Lake Erie, although the personnel have changed and evolved, many of the founders and early contributors to ISORS are reaching, or are close to, retirement. In this respect it is apt that Stirling marks the last of the ISORS series of conferences; from 2009 it will be replaced by an exciting new development-the recently formed International Society for River Science (ISRS).