Hydro-morphodynamic connectivity and ecosystem design in a changing environment

人类学的发展使地球上的许多生态系统支离破碎，扰乱了它们复杂的连通性。中国的黄河和德国莱茵河的生态系统象征性地证明了过去两个世纪伴随工业化而来的演变。两条河流周围的景观从辫子状和生物多样性的格局变成了单调的通航溪流，这些溪流被多用途大坝分割开来。在接下来的几十年里，全球变化预计将进一步增加水生生态系统的压力，给粮食安全带来严重后果。目前，世界各地正在进行数千个河流恢复项目，以减轻河流生态系统丧失和全球变化的风险。然而，客观的科学基础以及不同专业领域之间和地区之间的交流往往是缺乏的。该项目将在水文学家、工程师、生态地貌学家以及中国和德国之间建立桥梁，以利用新的科学概念来改善生态系统。我们的中德合作将建立一个算法生态系统设计模型，以满足全球变化对河流健康和社会经济发展的需求。它将侧重于探索水文-地貌动力河流生态系统调整的响应关系，以及如何优化这些调整以减缓气候变化。我们将建立健全河流生态系统适应的水文和地貌动力学设计方案，以减轻极端干旱和洪水造成的影响。设计方案将通过三个具体目标来实现，这些目标将提供所需的科学新颖性。这三个具体目标是(1)河流生态系统的客观、无量纲和全球适用的参数化；(2)用于局部河流生态系统优化的地貌动力学设计算法；(3)用于流域生态系统优化的水文地貌动力学算法。因此，在这个项目结束时，我们希望建立一个全球适用的科学基础，通过水文连通性和形态调整相结合来改善生态系统。全球适用性将是黄河和莱茵河之间知识桥梁的结果。

Anthropological development fragmented many ecosystems on earth and disrupted their complex connectivity. The ecosystems of the Yellow River in China and the Rhine in Germany emblematically testify the evolution that came along with industrialization in the last two centuries. The landscape around the two rivers changed from braided and biodiverse pattern to monotonous navigable streams, which are split by multi-purpose dams. In the coming decades, global change is expected to increase the stress on aquatic ecosystems even more with severe consequences for the food security. Thousands of river restoration projects are currently in progress worldwide to mitigate the risks of fluvial ecosystem loss and global change. However, the objective scientific foundation as well as the communication between different domains of expertise and between regions are often lacking. This project will build bridges between hydrologists, engineers, ecomorphologists, as well as between China and Germany to leverage novel scientific concepts for ecosystem enhancement. Our Sino-German collaboration will establish an algorithmic ecosystem design model to meet the needs of river health and socioeconomic development in the light of global change. It will focus on exploring the response relationship of hydrological-morphodynamic fluvial ecosystem adjustments and how those can be optimized to mitigate climate change. We will establish robust hydrological and morphodynamic design schemes for the adaptation of fluvial ecosystems to attenuate impacts caused by extreme droughts and floods. The design schemes will be achieved by three specific objectives that will provide the required scientific novelty. The three specific objectives are (1) an objective, dimensionless and globally applicable parametrization of fluvial ecosystems; (2) morphodynamic design algorithms for local fluvial ecosystem enhancement; and (3) hydrological-morphodynamic algorithms for watershed ecosystem enhancement. Thus, at the end of this project we want to establish a globally applicable scientific foundation to improve ecosystems through combined hydrological connectivity and morphological adjustments. The global applicability will be the result of a bridge of knowledge between the Yellow River and the Rhine.