The land–river interface

A conceptual framework of environmental process interactions to support sustainable development

Bibliographic Data

ID12950469
AuthorsR Grabowski (0000-0002-0926-1202, Cranfield University, corresponding author), Kim Vercruysse (0000-0001-9716-5191, Cranfield University), Ian Holman (0000-0002-5263-7746, Cranfield University), Adani Azhoni (0000-0001-9198-3273, National Institute of Technology Karnataka), Brij Bala (Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya), Vijay Shankar (0000-0002-9509-6804, National Institute of Technology Hamirpur), John Beale (0000-0003-4154-8032, Cranfield University), Shrikant Mukate (0000-0003-2998-1765, National Institute of Technology Karnataka), Arunava Poddar (0000-0002-6246-4543, National Institute of Technology Hamirpur), Jian Peng (0000-0003-0332-0248, Peking University), Jeroen Meersmans (0000-0001-6614-1453, University of Liège)
Year2022
Volume17
Issue4
Pages1677-1693
Publication date2022-05-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSustainability Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1862-4057 • E-ISSN: 1862-4065
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s11625-022-01150-x
OpenAlexW4280495825
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited113

Rivers and their surrounding lands are focal points of human development in the landscape. However, activities associated with development can greatly affect river processes, causing significant and often unintended environmental and human impacts. Despite the profound and varied environmental impacts that development-related alterations cause through hydrological, geomorphic, and ecological processes, they are not widely acknowledged outside of river management and affect resource availability and hazard exposure to people. In this paper, we propose a novel, interdisciplinary conceptual framework of river–land process interactions to support sustainable management and development. We introduce the term ‘land–river interface’ (LRI) to describe areas of the landscape in which river processes affect land, vegetation, and/or fauna, including humans, directly or indirectly. The multiple links between LRI processes and factors at the river basin, valley, and river channel (i.e. reach) scale are synthesized and a conceptual zonation of the LRI based on the process is proposed to serve as a framework to understand the impacts of human activity. Three examples of development-related activities (urbanization, dams and aggregate mining) illustrate how alteration to the form and functioning of river basins, valleys, and channels cause a range of impacts to be propagated throughout the landscape, often spatially or temporally distant from the activity. The diversity and severity of these impacts on the environment and people underscore the need to incorporate river processes, as represented in the LRI concept, into broader environmental management to better anticipate and mitigate negative impacts and maximize positive outcomes to deliver the benefits of sustainable development across society

Conceptual framework · Drainage basin · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Land use · Landscape ecology · Sustainable development · Urbanization · Environmental Science · Fish Ecology and Management Studies · Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes · Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies · Ecology