DANUBIUS-RI: Making River-Sea Systems Work

International audienceRiver-sea systems (RSS) comprise river catchments, estuaries/deltas, lagoons and coastal seas and provide a vast array of valuable services ranging from food supply and flood protection to aesthetic value. Human uses can have several negative impacts on RSS including eutrophication, pollution by microcontaminants, altered river morphology and hydrology, and overall loss of ecosystem services. Our ability to understand and manage such impacts has been constrained by disciplinary boundaries and a lack of interdisciplinary initiatives to undertake, develop and apply the necessary fundamental and integrated research. The International Centre for Advanced Studies on River-Sea Systems (DANUBIUS-RI) will be a pan-European distributed research infrastructure dedicated to supporting interdisciplinary studies of RSS. An associated European Coordination and Support Action project is currently being funded to develop a coherent, effective and relevant scientific agenda for RSS. The DPSIR framework (Drivers, Pressures, State Changes, Impact and Human Response) has been used to identify overarching challenges that the research community will have to address to ensure that RSS remain functional over a long period. Climate change and extreme events along with activities linked to basic human needs and societal functioning (e.g., fisheries, transport, agriculture, power generation, tourism, urbanisation) were identified as key drivers in determining the various pressures affecting RSS and the associated state changes, impacts and possible human responses. Based on the complex network of relationships and feedbacks identified by the DPSIR approach, four overarching challenges in making (or maintaining) RSS functions have been identified: climate change, water sufficiency, sediments and their management, and ecosystem health. This scientifically and societally relevant general framework will allow definition of research questions, needs and practical aspects for preserving RSS and the services they provide