What is your motivation for doing research related to free-flowing rivers?
I come from an area with high nitrogen concentrations in rivers and groundwater due to the intensive agricultural use in the surrounding area. This is already affecting the surrounding ecosystems but it could also affect the drinking water quality in the future. Sustainable management and protecting rivers and their floodplains is necessary to handle these problems. Working on solutions to improve this situation is my motivation to do research on degraded and free-flowing rivers.
Why should we defend these wild rivers?
Rivers and their floodplains are heterogenous ecosystems which provide habitats for a broad variety of species. Due do channelization and degradation of rivers these species are strongly endangered. Protecting these habitats is an important contribution to the conservation of biodiversity. Since so many rivers in Europe are already heavily modified it becomes even more important to protect the last free flowing rivers.