Review and evaluation of long-term developments in four renaturalised alluvial landscapes; [Überprüfung und Bewertung langjähriger Entwicklungen in vier renaturierten Auenlandschaften]

Abstract

In the years 2016 and 2018, four trial and development projects on the restoration of floodplains were evaluated for their long-term success and general development trends 13 to 23 years after the restoration measures. The focus of this evaluation was on assessing the development of the floodplain biocoenosis. The projects largely met their original objectives. However, although they did achieve a fundamental upgrading in the study areas, and the groups of organisms benefited as a whole, the promotion of floodplain biodiversity was often only successful on a small spatio-temporal scale. In this context, societal demands upon watercourse use emerged as the decisive and limiting factor. The findings confirm the need to ensure functional unity of floodplain and watercourse. In order to restore such unity, it is essential that shortcomings pertaining to the watercourses themselves are taken into account in restoration planning and that compensatory measures are provided for. © 2021 W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart.