Abstract
In addition to water quality, hydromorphological characteristics are crucial for the integrity of river ecosystems: Factors such as flow diversity, substrate variety, or riparian vegetation create diverse habitats for aquatic organisms with their specific demands. These habitats are impaired by channelization, longitudinal river fragmentation, and degradation of the riparian vegetation. In the state of Rio de Janeiro, rivers are exposed to increasing anthropogenic pressures mainly caused by urban growth, intensive agricultural land use, and alterations induced by climate change. While knowledge about the resulting deterioration of the water quality is well established, the knowledge base about consequences for the hydromorphological quality is thinner. Consequently, the hydromorphological potentials and deficits have to be identified and assessed to preserve or revitalize river ecosystems. For this purpose, the applicability of the German on-site method (LAWA-OS) was tested for hydromorphological assessment of streams. This method assesses the hydromorphological state of stream sections against predefined reference conditions. Based on the assessment results, the method identifies stream sections with different ecological development possibilities such as preservation, revitalization, or restriction. This article describes an on-site application test and formulates the applicability of the LAWA-OS method in Brazil by the example of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Resumo (Português) Aplicabilidade da Abordagem de Avaliação Hidromorfológica Alemã para Rios Tropicais
Além da qualidade da água, as características hidromorfológicas também são cruciais para a integridade dos ecossistemas fluviais: fatores como diversidade de fluxo, variedade de substrato ou vegetação ripária criam habitats diversos para organismos aquáticos e suas demandas específicas. Esses habitats são prejudicados pela canalização, fragmentação longitudinal e pela degradação da vegetação ripária. No estado do Rio de Janeiro, os rios estão expostos a pressões antropogênicas sempre crescentes causadas pelo crescimento urbano, uso intensivo de terras agrícolas e alterações induzidas pela mudança climática. Embora o conhecimento sobre a deterioração resultante da qualidade da água esteja bem estabelecido, as consequências para a qualidade hidromorfológica são pouco conhecidas. Conseqüentemente, os potenciais e déficits hidromorfológicos devem ser identificados e avaliados para preservar ou revitalizar os ecossistemas fluviais. Para este propósito, nós testamos a aplicabilidade do método alemão LAWA-OS para a avaliação hidromorfológica de rios. Este método avalia o estado hidromorfológico de seções de rios em relação a condições de referência predefinidas. Com base nos resultados da avaliação, o método identifica seções com diferentes possibilidades de desenvolvimento ecológico, como preservação, revitalização ou restrição. Este artigo descreve um teste de aplicação e propõe a aplicação do método LAWA-OS no Brasil, pelo exemplo do estado do Rio de Janeiro.
Resumen (Español) Aplicabilidad del Enfoque de Evaluación Hidromorfológico Aleman para Ríos Tropicales
Además de la calidad del agua, las características hidromorfológicas también son cruciales para la integridad de los ecosistemas fluviales. Factores como la diversidad de flujo, la variedad del sustrato o la vegetación ribereña crean hábitats diversos para los organismos acuáticos con sus demandas autecológicas. Estos hábitats se ven afectados por la canalización, la fragmentación longitudinal de los ríos y la degradación de la vegetación ribereña. En el estado de Río de Janeiro los ríos están expuestos a las crecientes presiones antropogénicas causadas por el crecimiento urbano, el uso intensivo del suelo agrícola y las alteraciones inducidas por el cambio climático. Si bien el conocimiento sobre el deterioro de la calidad del agua como resultado está bien establecido, las consecuencias para la calidad hidromorfológica son poco conocidas. En consecuencia, los potenciales y déficit hidromorfológicos deben ser identificados y evaluados para preservar o revitalizar los ecosistemas de los ríos. Por esta razón, hemos probado la aplicabilidad del método alemán LAWA-OS para la evaluación hidromorfológica de ríos. Este método evalúa el estado hidromorfológico de secciones de ríos con respecto a condiciones de referencia predefinidas. Con base en los resultados de la evaluación, el método identifica secciones con diferentes posibilidades de desarrollo ecológico, tales como preservación, revitalización o restricción. Este artículo describe una prueba de aplicación in situ y formula la aplicabilidad del método LAWA-OS en Brasil a través del ejemplo del estado de Río de Janeiro.
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Birnbaum, D., Lamberty, G. (2019). Applicability of the German Hydromorphological Assessment Approach to Tropical Rivers. In: Nehren, U., Schlϋter, S., Raedig, C., Sattler, D., Hissa, H. (eds) Strategies and Tools for a Sustainable Rural Rio de Janeiro. Springer Series on Environmental Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89644-1_12
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