Reconnecting Europe's Broken Rivers

An international team of researchers, including experts from the University of Southampton, have found that the flow of Europe’s rivers and the movements of animals are impeded by at least 1.2 million instream barriers – with many being obsolete and beyond repair.

The results, published in Nature (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-3005-2), show that Europe has probably some of the most fragmented rivers in the world, and that small barriers – weirs, culverts and fords less than 2m high - are the main culprits, affecting fish and other wildlife.

A team of scientists at the International Centre for Ecohydraulics Research (ICER), University of Southampton, built on previous work to develop a rapid barrier assessment tool to map the impact of barriers on river networks throughout Europe.

See the full press release from the University of Southampton here.