In this paper a collaborative writing group explores how we, two rivers, express ourselves over time, place and space, our energies long interpreted as veins and arteries carrying the Country’s life affirming blood. Voiced as River: I, River, this position reflects a worldview in which interrelationship with living river is normal, and River Spirit is ever-present. It is a position underpinned by Indigenous narratives as riverine expressions of place-based love. At times the paper is also voiced as writing group or individuals, with voices being interchanged where required for smooth reading. We see this as part of the decolonising process, which feels liberating and healing amongst the writers. Each writer is equally valued as co-creator, contributor, narrator and story teller. The two Rivers, being Martuwarra Fitzroy River (Kimberley, Western Australia), and Unamen Shipu Romaine River (North Shore, Québec, Canada) illustrate a common condition of being, through heritage, life, change and possibility. Through stories and voices, the socio-scientific implications of colonisation and lost connections become clear, considering the interaction, the dialogue and the cultural synthesis of living water systems that have always incorporated all life forms into rivers of life. As a way of navigating towards wholeness, Aboriginal knowledge systems and narratives for healing are used to bring together findings of this intercultural river learning journey.

Biological invasions are regarded as one of the largest threats to native biodiversity. The eradication of non-native parasites by culling of hosts are a controversial conservation strategy, particularly when using indiscriminate methods involving whole ecosystem collateral damage. While short-term effects are abundantly documented, long-term surveys are needed to detect potential wider ecosystem effects. Here, we report a six-year study on effects of the piscicide rotenone on invertebrate communities from a Norwegian water course using a Before-After-Control-Impact design. Kick-net samples of benthic invertebrates were collected from three lentic sampling stations and two lotic stations two to four times per year in both a control and a treated watershed. In general, only relatively minor short-term effects immediately after the treatment on species turnover, measured as temporal beta-diversity, of benthic invertebrates were observed both in lentic and lotic locations. However, the lotic fauna was temporarily severely negatively affected following a period of rotenone exposure from an upstream lake. Species turnover co-varied markedly between control and treatment locations, indicating that natural environmental variation override effects of rotenone treatment. Likewise, the abundance of invertebrate taxa varied considerably both over time and between control and treatment locations. Our study indicates minor short-term (i.e. < one month) or long-term (i.e. four years) effects of rotenone treatment on benthic invertebrates, but severe effects on the lotic fauna eight months after treatment. However, long-term effects are likely to be taxa-specific and vary depending on habitat connectivity and thus potential for re-colonization and will differ among locations and among taxa.

This study provides a comprehensive review of the existing river measurement data of South Korea. The specific sediment yield in the country is 5–1,500 tons/km 2·year. The watershed area decisively affects the shapes of the curves for flow duration, sediment rating, and cumulative distribution of water and sediment discharge, and it can determine the effects of topographic and anthropogenic characteristics on erosion and sedimentation processes. Regarding flow regime, small watersheds have flashy hydrographs and high sediment concentrations at a given flow discharge. The coefficient of the sediment rating curves for various rivers decreases from 1 to 0.02 as the watershed area increases from 100 to 20,000 km 2, with the exponent of the curves ranging from 1.5 to 2.0. Moreover, sediment transport in small watersheds depends on large floods. The half-yield discharge typically ranges from 5 to 40 times the mean discharge, and it decreases with increasing watershed area. This study proposes equations to calculate the annual discharges, flow duration curves, sediment yield, and cumulative distribution curves of the flow and sediment, as well as the sediment yield at reservoirs in South Korea. Additionally, the sediment regimes in the country are compared to those in other continental regions.

Numerical modeling of braided channels showed no significant differences in the number of cross-sectional branches between different water periods in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. During most of the year (wet, normal and dry periods), flow velocities in the higher-branching (HB) channels were significantly lower than in the other two branching categories, while the overall distribution of depth in the higher-branching channels maintained a high degree of consistency with the moderate-branching channels (MB), which partly explains why the HB channels are important habitats for fish spawning, nursery and baiting (lower flow velocity distribution with a wider range of depth). Based on the examination of the water surface width, the water surface width may not be a limiting factor for fish habitat within braided rivers. Simulation of the hydrodynamic parameters of the fish-spawning grounds revealed that the average cross-sectional flow velocity and water depth fluctuated the least at different flows during the fish-spawning period for the HB channels. By counting the hydraulic parameters of the spawning grounds during the spawning period, it can be seen that the most preferred flow velocity for fish in the braided river in the study section was 0.1-0.4 m/s, and the water depth was 0-1.2 m. This article analyses the characteristics of the hydraulic parameters of the braided river and provides theoretical support for the restoration of fish habitats in braided rivers.

Place identity is the emotional connection between people and a place. It is significant for local development and people’s satisfaction and happiness in where they reside. The physical environment is one of the most important factors affecting people’s emotions toward a place. In order to clarify the theoretical analytical framework of the process from village space morphology to place identity, this study takes the area of Aihui along the Heilongjiang River, China, as an example. The research was conducted regarding two aspects: First, we analyzed the space morphology of the villages in the Aihui district and interpreted their locality. On this basis, we conducted a survey of villagers’ subjective perceptions of the village space and their place identity through in-depth interviews. From the collected interview texts, we extracted, verified, and analyzed the role of morphological constituents in the construction of place identity. Finally, a comprehensive framework was established. The features of space morphology are the projections of locality in physical space. People use morphological constituents to construct an image of the village and scenes of local life; morphological constituents with local characteristics can help enhance people’s place identity.