Author(s): Zuzana Polednikova; Tomas Galia; Lukas Vaverka; Adriana Holusova

Linked Author(s): Zuzana Poledniková, Adriana Holušová

Keywords: Ecosystem services; Meandring river; Odra; Assesment

Abstract: Rivers provide many ecosystem services to society, for example, food, flood mitigation, or recreation. It is known that the river in good condition provides a higher number of ecosystem services. The goal of the study is to: (i) assess ecosystem services and (ii) compare the channelized and natural segments of the Odra River. The Odra is one of the major European rivers (840 km). The upper part of the river is in Czechia and is characteristic of its preserved meandering belt and unique fluvial landscape. However, the Czech government considers constructing a Dunaj-Odra-Labe waterway here. This planned waterway represents a possible threat to the river and ecosystem. Our study reach (50-km-long part) located between the city of Odry and the confluence with the Ostravice River in the Moravian-Silesian region, Czechia. We chose to assess four segments of this river for their contrasting character. Some river segments create meanders with large wood and gravel bars. On the other hand, other segments are channelized due to flood protection of the Ostrava city (280,000 inhabitants). We adapted the methodology of Keele et al. (2019) combined with more precise evaluations. From these data, we calculated the final score of ecosystem services for each river segment. In summary, these results show that channelized and natural segments achieved different capacities in provisioning ES. Natural segments provide a better function in flood mitigation and recreation than channelized segments. This conclusion advocates for the preservation of the meander bends and fluvial landscape of the Odra River.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/IAHR-39WC252171192022927

Year: 2022