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The Environmental History of the Danube River Basin as an Issue of Long-Term Socio-ecological Research

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Long Term Socio-Ecological Research

Part of the book series: Human-Environment Interactions ((HUEN,volume 2))

Abstract

Only in a long-term perspective does the profound difference between pre-industrial and industrial society-nature relations become clearly visible. Long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER) extends its temporal scope significantly with contributions from environmental history. This chapter discusses the Danube, Europe’s second longest, and the world’s most international river, as a long-term case study. We approach the river as a ‘socio-natural site‘, i.e. the nexus of arrangements (such as harbours, bridges, power plants or dams) with practices (such as river regulation, transportation, food- and energy-procuring). Arrangements and practices are both understood as socio-natural hybrids. We discuss how and why practices and arrangements developed over time and which legacies past practices and arrangements had. We emphasise the role of usable energy (so-called exergy) in the transformation of socio-natural sites. Since industrialisation, the amount of exergy harvestable from the Danube’s arrangements has increased by orders of magnitude and so have the societal and ecological risks from controlling these exergy-dense arrangements. The arrangements we have inherited from our ancestors determine the scope of options we have in the present when dealing with rivers like the Danube. Current management decisions should therefore be based on the firm ground of historical knowledge.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “The Water Framework Directive [WFD] establishes a legal framework to protect and restore clean water across Europe and ensure its long-term, sustainable use. (Its official title is Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy.) The directive establishes an innovative approach for water management based on river basins, the natural geographical and hydrological units and sets specific deadlines for Member States to protect aquatic ecosystems. The directive addresses inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. It establishes several innovative principles for water management, including public participation in planning and the integration of economic approaches, including the recovery of the cost of water services.”, from: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/index_en.html

  2. 2.

    London Gazette (London, England), Saturday, August 18, 1716; Issue 5461; slightly different in Post Man and the Historical Account (London, England), Saturday, August 18, 1716; Issue 11250.

  3. 3.

    Daily Gazetteer (London Edition) (London, England), Friday, June 10, 1737; Issue 611.

  4. 4.

    Daily Post (London, England), Wednesday, July 28, 1736; Issue 5265.

  5. 5.

    Daily Journal (London, England), Monday, June 12, 1732; Issue 3569; assuming that the specifications of that fish refer to ancient English units (1 Ell c. 1.143 m; 1 lb (Pound) c. 454 g), it had a length of 6.3 m, a width of 3.1 m and a total weight of c. 440 kg; although this makes this fish a lightweight relative to its size, the measurements fit tolerably with Balon’s (1968, 245) calculations on Huso huso’s weight-size ratio from historical catch records.

  6. 6.

    Johann Georg Krünitz in Volume 22 of his Ökonomische Enzyklopaediefrom 1781; see: http://www.kruenitz1.uni-trier.de/

  7. 7.

    Daily Courant(London, England), Wednesday, November 30, 1726; Issue 7839; London Journal(London, England), Saturday, December 3, 1726; Issue CCCLXXXIII.

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Acknowledgments

The research presented in this chapter was funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) within the project ‘Environmental History of the Viennese Danube 1500–1890 (ENVIEDAN)’ (P22265 G-18). The historical reconstructions of the riverine landscape in the Machland result from the FWF-funded project ‘Reconstruction of Danube Habitats in the Austrian Machland 1715–1991’ (P14959-B06) at the Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social Ecology, Alpen-Adria Universitaet Klagenfurt, Wien, Graz, Schottenfeldgasse 29, Vienna, 1070, Austria

    Verena Winiwarter Ph.D. & Martin Schmid Ph.D.

  2. Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Max Emanuel Str. 17, 1180, Vienna, Austria

    Severin Hohensinner Ph.D. & Gertrud Haidvogl Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Verena Winiwarter Ph.D.
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  2. Martin Schmid Ph.D.
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  3. Severin Hohensinner Ph.D.
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  4. Gertrud Haidvogl Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Verena Winiwarter Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Klagenfurt, Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies (I, Institute of Social Ecology, Schottenfeldgasse 29/5, Vienna, 1070, Austria

    Simron Jit Singh

  2. University of Klagenfurt, Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies (I, Institute of Social Ecology, Schottenfeldgasse 29/5, Vienna, 1070, Austria

    Helmut Haberl

  3. Yale University, Yale School of Forestry and Environmenta, Center for Industrial Ecology, Edwards Street 380, New Haven, 06511, Connecticut, USA

    Marian Chertow

  4. , Ecosystem Research and Monitoring, Federal Environment Agency, Spittelauer Lände 5, Vienna, 1090, Austria

    Michael Mirtl

  5. University of Klagenfurt, Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies (I, Institute of Social Ecology, Schottenfeldgasse 29/5, Vienna, 1070, Austria

    Martin Schmid

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Winiwarter, V., Schmid, M., Hohensinner, S., Haidvogl, G. (2013). The Environmental History of the Danube River Basin as an Issue of Long-Term Socio-ecological Research. In: Singh, S., Haberl, H., Chertow, M., Mirtl, M., Schmid, M. (eds) Long Term Socio-Ecological Research. Human-Environment Interactions, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1177-8_5

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